The Toilet

For those that pay attention to details, especially those that pay close attention to the culture of toilets, I have found the explanation why toilets differ from country to country. Zizek explains us why French toilets flush differently then German ones. He argues that there is a certain embedded social rationality in the way toilets function.

"Hegel was among the first to see in the geographical triad of Germany, France and England an expression of three different existential attitudes: reflective thoroughness (German), revolutionary hastiness (French), utilitarian pragmatism (English). In political terms, this triad can be read as German conservatism, French revolutionary radicalism and English liberalism....

In a traditional German toilet, the hole into which shit disappears after we flush is right at the front, so that shit is first laid out for us to sniff and inspect for traces of illness. In the typical French toilet, on the contrary, the hole is at the back, i.e. shit is supposed to disappear as quickly as possible. Finally, the American (Anglo-Saxon) toilet presents a synthesis, a mediation between these opposites: the toilet basin is full of water, so that the shit floats in it, visible, but not to be inspected" (source).

The master of toilet philosophy, of course, Luis Buñuel. If you get the chance, I recommend you to watch his Phantom of Liberty. However if you are more interested in the 'The Political Economy of Defecation', please click here.