BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?

Subject: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JudeL
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:21 AM

Last weekend, I was at a 2 day conference in one of the colleges in Cambridge. Because of the distance involved (and the travelling time) the organisers had booked us rooms overnight. The rooms turned out to be student accomodation which were a bit cramped (just room for a single bed, built in cupboard, and fixed shelf at desk height) but ok, except for one thing. None of the rooms had a bath, instead they had a tiny shower room with washbasin & toilet. This shower room was probably originally part of the main room. The shower wasn't a cubicle within the room but merely a shower head fixed about 7ft off the ground and a curtain to help restrict the (very feeble & tepid) spray. If the shower was used the whole floor (which was tiled) became wet. The whole shower room was less than 4ft square. Although none of us were very impressed with this set up, it was clean & private, and for overnight accomodation it was adequate, but in the course of the discussion one point seemed to emerge. While almost all the women were concerned at the lack of bath, as they all preferred that to a shower, the men in the group while not being impressed with lack of telly and the shower leaving a wet floor for if you later wanted to use the loo, didn't care about there being no bath as they all seemed to prefer showers. I'm now wondering is this apparent gender difference of preference something that just happen to occur within our group or is this more common.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:38 AM

For speed and convenience a shower is easier, but it depends on the time of day and circumstances -- I find that a shower wakes me up, but a bath relaxes me.

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:44 AM

Greek showers all seem designed to flood the whole bathroom (and often the rest of the accomodation),lack curtains and drain away from the plug'ole.
Perhaps the Papadopoulos Bros got the contract for the Cambridge hostel?
(and for your survey, I prefer a shower, Herself prefers a bath - now we're too old to want to share!)
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:46 AM

I like a shower to get clean and a bath to relax.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: artbrooks
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:50 AM

Shower...and we spent a lot of time when we were last house-hunting looking for a place that had one big enough for two! I can't imagine anything quite as gross as sitting in a tub of water...full of my own crud that has been inadequately washed off...as it goes from hot to warm to tepid. Now, a good hot tub-that's another thing entirely.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: treewind
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 09:55 AM

Just to put this in context, typical college rooms when I was there (Kings, 1971+) didn't have any built in showers or baths. You had a bathroom or two per staircase or corridor and that was it. No doubt in the days when the colleges were built it would have been considered the lap of luxury to take a cold bath once a month whether you needed to or not...

As for telly - ???!!!
Students have better things to do with their time!

I'm a regular shower user myself. I really like to lie down and have a long soak in a bath, but it takes up too much time.

Anahata

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:11 AM

I can get lost in a bathtub. Hours and hours and hours. Sometimes I refill the tub three or four times with new hot water when the old water gets cool. Or I used to at least.

I can't seem to find myself in a living arrangement that gives me the option of either having a good soaking bath or a shower. For the last twenty or so years, it's been one or the other, but not both. Before that, I only took showers.

My ideal arrangement would be to have a good soaking tub to use maybe once or twice a week, and a shower to use the rest of the time. Given a choice between only one or the other, I'll take the shower. Showers are much quicker and more convenient.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennyO
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:12 AM

I shower most of the time to get clean and occasionally when I have the time, I like a good soak in the bath. Unfortunately I don't seem to have the time very often. I've never had the impression that it was a gender thing.

My son and his wife just bought a house where it appears that the bath was taken out and a double shower put in. It is fitted with a shower head and taps at each end, so they each have their own end with the shower set at the right height and with their own shampoo and stuff. Apparently, though, they rarely shower at the same time. And still so young, too!

Sharing a bath is definitely overrated - not enough room in a normal size one.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Jeanie
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:13 AM

What's all this ? En-suite facilities in student accommodation ?
LUXURY ! Now, when I were a lass, it were a half mile trek down t' dark dank corridor to 't freezing communual washroom.... with 4 washbasins, one flushing and two blocked loos for fifty... IF you were lucky ....

To answer your question: I'd choose a shower any day, unless it's a bath with one of those fizzing bath balls that sprinkle out real rose petals, that you can get from a wonderful shop in Covent Garden, called "Lush".

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:13 AM

P.S. yeah, artbrooks. With a hot tub, you get to sit in a bunch of other peoples crud (and sweat). Ick.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:17 AM

Carol -- three or four refills? Don't you get awfully wrinkly?

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JudeL
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:20 AM

Art: you are entitled to your opinion as am I. Mine is that showers are hard work to feel completely clean as you need to direct the water to every individual place (if it will reach & you can get at it), and if it's the fixed head type I never feel completely clean after using one. They are also a pain if you have long hair as you either have to wear a shower cap, which leaves me feeling hot and sweaty, or spend ages trying to rinse the soap out (and it never quite does). I guess if you don't have much hair that's not a problem. All this far from waking me up tends to leave me tired and wanting a rest. With a bath I can run it while I have my morning juice, put my hair up out of the way, soap, dip and I'm done. Much quicker if I've not much time. Not being a morning person, I also like to wake up in a calm manner which sets the tone for the day. Showers leave me feeling stressed and frazzled, rather than invigorated. I guess if you've been working somewhere that you get coated with something, oil or mud or such, then rinsing the "crud" off first would make sense, but to completes the job and get everywhere, thoroughly, I still feel a bath is better.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: MMario
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:25 AM

now *my* opinion is that a shower leaves you much cleaner, much faster. A bath always leaves me feeling a bit "coated" - makes it next to impossible to rinse my hair; and if preffered only when I need a good long hot soak to relax sore muscles.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:31 AM

Hey Bullfrog. Of course you do! That's part of the magic. But the wrinkles always go away after you get out of the tub ;-)

I have hair almost down to my waist, and it's very thick. I never wash it in a tub. I can't get it clean by dipping, and I have to use conditioner, which needs to get rinsed off too. If I'm using a bath instead of a shower, I have to wash my hair in the kitchen sink. I hate that.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:37 AM

I have a shower every mornig and I have a bath about 3 or 4 times a week. I like to relax in the bath but I have to wash my hair in the shower or I can't get all the shampoo out.

When I was at uni we had ensuite rooms. THe bathrooms were adaquete and the shower didn't flood the entire room BUT if the person living next to you was having a shower at the same time the water was a mere drizzle!!

Cat

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: GUEST,Kim C
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:52 AM

It's hard to shave your legs in a Greek shower.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 10:55 AM

I grew up without showers, in old homes which only had bathtubs.

When Rog and I hooked up and lived on his ranchette where we had to haul all of our own water, I quickly became used to showering with him to conserve water. We still do this, although we usually just get in one at a time, right after the other. It still helps to conserve water, something I feel we all need to do, esp. in the West, in the drought.

Still, I love a good soak in the tub every few weeks with candles, crystals, a cat or two sitting on the edge playing with bubbles. Rog enjoys a good soak now and then, too. If we are esp. grimey, a quick rinse in the shower, after the soak, takes care of it, esp. using a detachable showerhead/hose.

I never feel as though my hair gets rinsed in the shower and I shower at night, but wash my hair in the morning, so it's the kitchen sink for me for that, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: gnu
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 11:01 AM

I have no agender.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 11:04 AM

I'm with MMario. I'll soak in a hot bath if I've got sore muscles or a chill, but they do leave me feeling grimey. I always finish a bath with a quick shower to the crud off. I've never been in a hot tub, the seem awfully unhealthy to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 11:08 AM

Oh, and another thing. I find a bath relaxes me to the point of not wanting to do anything but sleep when I get out, where a shower is invigorating. I can't really get going with my day until I've had a shower. I'm just not completely myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennyO
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 11:13 AM

Well who are you then?

boom boom

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 11:16 AM

No one has answered the question of whether or not this is a gender thing so I'll try. Before WW2 no one took showers because no one had then, mostly. For reasons of time, space, and cost, the military offered nothing else. When the war was over and the troops came home, young boys looked at the 'real men' who had won the war and saw that they preferred showers, now. (WW2 also destroyed the men's pajama's business). This kind of thing is more important than most of us think. The trend started then is still going strong.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Burke
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 12:30 PM

Continuing misophist's history. I think showers are more universal in the US than the UK. This may simply be because the US housing stock is newer & after 1940's showers were included in almost all new construction. Most older construction has been updated. I suspect showers are less universal in the UK.

My grandfather never did switch to showers. Most younger folks I know shower mostly with baths as an occasional indulgence. Mine are very occasional.

Showers use lots less water. Showers are faster, especially if there are others needing to use it. How clean you get depends on how you want to feel afterward. Baths will soak the dirt out but leave one with a film. Showers rinse it all off, but can need to get directed to some locations.

I lived in an apartment with just an old footed bathtub for a few years. I did get so I could be pretty quick about it and wash my hair, but the shower is easier. It sure was fun to do a long soak in that nice big tub. Most newer tubs are shorter & harder to really sink down into.

My sister once had a place where a shower had been added in the basement. It was just a curtained area off with the drain. Was that ever cold when you got done!

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 12:45 PM

strictly from an environmental point of view, a bath uses up far more
water than a shower (unless you shower for 20mins). Part of my daily ritual is sharing the shower with my sweetheart, so were doing our part to conserve. At the same time I do like the odd bath, usually to relax (after a long hike etc).
cheers
Petr.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: YOR
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 01:05 PM

When I added a second bathroom to my house in a new upstairs dormer we wanted a shower only. There was not enough room for both, I tried. The plumber convinced me to go with a tub/shower because it is a better resale value. I think that was a good call, my wife, daughter and I like to take a bath now and then. I love them for sore muscles after a long day of yardwork or working in the garage and standing for hours on a concrete floor.

That reminds me, I have to get a new water saving shower head. When the last one split and leaked I stole the one from the downstairs shower, which no one uses because the tub and tile needs work. A 'to do list' that I don't want to do. And now feel guilty about, go figure.

My Wife and children take much to long in the shower!

Roy

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 02:08 PM

I hate showers, nasty fussy things which always work wrong, freezing you or scalding you in an arbitrary way. You have to work at getting clean, whereas get in a bath and you know you're wet all over, so you can take it easy.

I suspect strongly that it wasn't that the men at the conference preferred showers to baths, but rather that they weren't that fussed about washing at all - the conference would be only a couple of days after all. Whereas not having a telly, that's different...

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Grab
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 02:23 PM

Burke, showers actually are near-universal in the UK - it's rare for a bathroom not to have one. The situation is basically the same as what you describe, with younger ppl preferring showers and older folks preferring baths. However it's usually a combined bath-and-shower, (a) bcos they're easier to install, and (b) bcos if you took the bath out completely, the house would be more difficult to sell.

Our place doesn't currently have a shower - we've not yet had the time to fit one - so it's baths only ATM. The amount of soap in the water after I've had a bath, I don't feel clean until I've had a rinse off afterwards (there's a jug kept by the bath for that purpose). Unless you have a shower afterwards to rinse off, I don't see how that can be good, bcos there's all that soap still crusted over you.

If all you want is to get clean, a shower has to be the best answer. Maybe the guys at the conference were just responding to the practicality? They didn't want a long soaky relaxing experience, they just wanted to clean the road sweat off and get to dinner! I do know that both myself and my wife prefer showers.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Mr Red
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 03:02 PM

'safunny thing but ex-wifey used to spend hours in the bath - I was forced to use the shower room (I wus affluent before she took all my money).

Even funnier was the bad things she listed to the solicitor like I never bathed. Not that she would know (or care) what I was doing while she luxuriated in the tub.

So no, in my case I chose not to argue, even though I would have like a bath had there been any hot water left. Not that I bear a grudge, much.....

Currently it has more to do with the hot water system and the infinitely more instant electric shower.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 03:12 PM

Okay, I'm male, and on the whole I prefer baths, but it depends on the situation.

I get cold easily, being thin. Because of this, I have a hell of a time with showers, which are frequently undependable as to temperature. You adjust the damned thing so you think you've got it right (freezing to death all the while), then all of a sudden somebody turns on a tap somewhere, and you are alternately either boiled alive like a lobster or again frozen! You frantically struggle with the tap to correct the situation, but it keeps changing. This happens repeatedly. The only way to have a shower in peace is to be Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin or someone like that and pass a law that no one else is to use water when you are in the shower, on pain of death. Even then, the shower may deliver a pitiful stream of water, insufficient to wash even a hamster in less than half an hour (if you could get the hamster to cooperate, which I doubt).

Now baths...baths are totally controllable as to temperature and volume of water, and thus are a gloriously sensual and relaxing experience in every way, and they DO get you clean, but the long hair thing can be vexing...

Carol, here is my suggestion. You take a lengthy bath, wash your hair thoroughly, then let out the bath water. Then rinse your hair, using either the shower head or the bathtub tap. Use a little more shampoo, if needed. Works quite well, I think.

Now showers can be good, if they're fairly strong, but not so strong that they flay you alive. Such showers are not easy to find. When staying in a hot place like Trinidad, showers are great, and I found myself taking 3 or 4 of them a day. In this case, a quick refreshing shower was the perfect thing, and cool water not a problem.

But in Canada...it's baths, baby, baths! Unless you have a VERY efficient shower.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Sooz
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 03:32 PM

My day is not complete until I've spent at least half an hour in a hot bath with bubbles and a good book. I've never found a shower yet where I feel properly wet let alone clean. They can indeed flay off your skin but that is so messy!

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: C-flat
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 03:32 PM

Well it would seem to be a question of gender in my household. My partner Julie prefers to take a bath, while I use the shower.
The only time I use the bath is when I want a bit of piece and quiet with a book. The bathroom can sometimes be a sanctuary!

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: GUEST,Kim
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 03:56 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 04:52 PM

I read an article years ago that said that the way to REALLY get clean is to soak in a bath and then shower to rinse off the film, but we all know how likely that is for most people.

Showers vary tremendously in their efficiency and controllability. We have a 60 gallon water heater and good pressure, so someone running water in the kitchen is not a problem....but I have lived places where it was a real danger!

As to preference....hmmmm....I like both, but seldom allow myself the time for a good, long bath anymore. Just the time thing, I guess. And it is far easier to wash hair in a shower.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 04:57 PM

I like both, but baths leave my hair claggy and showers leave my skin dry... so usually shower first to clean, then long soak with bath oils to soften up. And yes, I stay there for hours, yes, I top it up several times and yes, I do go wrinkly. Do I care?

Guess.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 05:40 PM

Thanks for the tip, LH. Unfortunately, I need the water I bathe or shower in to be extra filtered. Most municipal tap water makes me sick if I don't use a shower filter (even filtered, it still plays hell with my skin). If I tried to fill the tub with water from the shower filter, A. it would be cold before the bath was filled, and B. it would cost a fortune in replacement filters to have to filter that much water.

But even if I didn't need it filtered, we don't have a good soaking tub where we're living right now. It's too short and the ends are too straight up and down for me to be able to submerse myself in the water. If I can't submerse myself up to my neck, I get cold too easily. I ain't going to all that trouble unless I can really enjoy it ;-)

The shower we have here isn't a problem though. We each try to avoid using much more than a small stream of water for other purposes when the other is taking a shower, so we don't really get that hot and cold thing. Our water pressure isn't the best, but it does the job quite nicely.

My fantasy is to have a tub that's perfect for soaking, with really good spring water that hasn't been treated with chemicals coming from the tap. I had that arrangement in some of the places I've lived in the past, and it was sublime. But I would still want to have the option of taking a shower if I wanted convenience.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 06:38 PM

Shower, every morning to wake me up and get me going. I dislike baths except for soothing sore muscles. I agree - ICKY sitting in your own filth and whatever was growing on the side of the tub before you filled it.

And to keep this musical:
I'm forever blowing bubbles
When April showers come your way
Splish Splash I was taking a bath

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Joe_F
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 06:41 PM

ObSongs:

The tingle of the scrubbing-brush, the flannel's soft caress --
To wield the lordly luffa is a joy I can't express.
How truly is it spoken what is next to Godliness
In the bath, in the bath!

-- Flanders & Swann

I hated showers when I was little, but they were all we had in the high school I went to, and I have regarded them as the normal way of bathing ever since. I have a bathtub in my apartment, but haven't used it yet.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TALKING HOT TUB BLUES (Nelson)
From: Deckman
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 06:48 PM

YIPPEE! I finally get to post a song that I actually wrote! I write very few songs, and the ones I have written are usually judged to be simply awful! So, with that warning, here is one of my awful attempts. This is a talking blues, as in the "Original Talking Blues" as recorded by Woody.

THE TALKING HOT TUB BLUES

If you want to get in trouble, let me tell you how to do it,
Just get yourself a hot tub, then you're into it,
'Cause you soak all day and you soak all night,
And come out lookin' such a fright ...
Kinda' prune like ...

Now this hot tub thing is a new kinda toy,
That's bringin' everybody a new kinda joy,
But there's a couple of problems, 'twixt you and me,
That make me think it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Now the number one problem, as I've observed,
Is almost silly, it's so absurd,
For the people keep wonderin', and the question is pressed,
'Bout what you should wear, to be considered well dressed.

Well, you can wear your new suit, if you're inclined,
Or your hat and coat, folks won't mind,
Or your diamonds and baubles, to show off your loot,
But best of all, is your birthday suit.

For it'll never shrink, much as you might wish,
Or never stain, if you spill a dish,
It'll always fit, and it's ready to wear,
And try as you might, it won't even tear ...
The best seersucker.

Now the number two problem is really number one,
For it sure can spoil an awful lot of fun,
For some folks think, when they jump in a tub,
That they's like to do more, than sit, and scrub ...
If you get my meanin'

But there's a strange phenomenon, that's mostly male,
That makes this really a horror tale,
For sittin' in a tub, at a hundred and five,
Can make you appear more dead than alive ...
Called the wet noodle syndrome.

Well I've got no answer for this kind of thing,
Except to sit here ... And write ... And sing,
But if you'll give me a clue, 'for I go 'outta my tree,
Maybe this job won't be ... So ... Hard on me.

For I'll have the answer, to restore my power,
And I can stop taking those damned cold showers,
And I can jump in the tub, with an easy mind,
For I'll know what to do ... If I'm inclined.

Written by Bob Nelson, Everett Washington. Sing it, if you dare, and enjoy!

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 06:48 PM

I suppose it's whether you are into bathing as comfort and bathing as cleansing. I suppose if you're primarily geared to cleansing showering might seem a more efficient and speedy way of doing it.

I don't think gender has much to do with it. Temperament has. And of course, what you are used to. We've never had a shower in any home I've lived in. Most times in a hotel, I find when I open the bathroom it's a shower, and I curse.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Sam L
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 07:07 PM

Someone I knew had a gender theory for every occasion, and baths and showers were one.

I like baths, short, very hot, big bear-claw tubs, more invigorating than showers, I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennieG
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 08:20 PM

When Himself and I were first in lust a million years ago we tried showering together but it wasn't a success as we each prefer different water temperatures.....I like the water much hotter than he does. What he thinks is comfortable I consider shivery, and what I think comfortable he considers scalding. So we decided to love, honour and cherish each other and take separate showers/baths. Other women I have mentioned this to find the same as we did; that it's always the she that prefers the water hotter.
Probably always used to being in hot water...
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 08:28 PM

Gee Jennie ... maybe I'm a woman in disguise ... but I seriously doubt it. I just about can't have it hot enough, no matter where I am: baths, showers, house. Perhaps it comes from being a deck builder, meaning a carpenter who works year round in the outside! I dunno! CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennieG
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 12:07 AM

You are probably always in hot water too Bob? I am always the one who pulls the covers up in bed too, Himself always pushes them back. So there we have the Richards household - a cold blooded she who loves a nice long warm soak and a warmer blooded he who has a quicker cooler shower. I don't know if body temperatures are gender related?
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 12:35 AM

Body temperatures ARE often gender related, but more often they are just individual. I can tolerate wide variations in air and water temps, but I have had friends, both male and female, who could not. It seems to be a combination cultural/genetic thing....and sometimes changes in later life.

I do like my shower to be reasonably hot...but can stand it if the water is only tepid. I just turn off my 'notice' until I am finished.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 02:17 AM

I hate very hot or cold showers, they have to be warm, and I like the sort over a bath, where I can put the plug in and soak my toeses at the same time..

Bathing together is much nicer than showering together, you can face and talk to each other and do the mutual grooming thing as well... showers are usually too cramped for anyone over medium/large.... when you get to large/extra large, it's too uncomfortable... you never know who's washing whose limbs. Once you get past XXL you're on your own!!!

Mind you... it has to be something you are prepared to do or used to.... the first (and last) time I climbed in with Manitas, he was horrified!


LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bert
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 03:10 AM

Nope it's not gender thing. It's more of a common sense thing.

A shower get you wet all over quickly and makes you FEEL clean.

A tub lets the dirt soak off and makes you REALLY clean.

If you tub fairly regularly you shouldn't have too much of a problem with built up crud. I like a tub every day, but on sometimes have to go a day or two. After a good clean in a tub it takes at least three days before the human smell kicks back in and a day or two more than that to get really stinky.

If you wash your hair FIRST, then you shouldn't have any problems, other than it's not so much fun to relax with wet hair.

Showers were rare in England when I was there (I left in '73) because
the water authorities required a header tank for a water heater and it was illegal to connect your possibly contaminated header tank (it was usually up in the loft and could, and sometimes did, contain a dead rat) to the authority's nice clean cold water supply.

So, many showers in those days were illegal. I don't know how things have changed since I left.

Regarding temperature differences when sharing. Yes, they do occur, but the benefits usually outweight the discomfort.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 04:29 AM

When I was in the UK and Europe a couple of years ago, I found that it was a lot harder to get a decent shower because a lot of the shower heads were not fixed and if you tried to sit them up there they sagged and wouldn't point the right way, and the water pressure wasn't as good as what I am used to in Sydney. I'm lucky here because we have gas hot water, which is plentiful, the pressure is good, and my bath, when I feel like a soak, is old fashioned and deep (I hate those new short, shallow ones).

I like my shower hot, except when it is really hot weather - which we do get a lot of here. I also prefer to wash my hair in the shower,as well as brush my teeth and shave my legs.

I would have a bath more often in winter than in summer, and when I do, I have essential oils, candles, the whole bit, and I keep adding more hot water as I need it, and my fingers do get prune-like for a while - but who cares. I must admit I do feel super clean after a long soak.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 06:37 AM

You'd think that, having more subcutaneous fat than men, women would be more resistant to cold. And that would fit in with the clothes they sometimes wear - must be bloody freezing in a skirt in this weather.

I still think the main thing about baths and showers and that is that maybe women tend to worry more about being clean than men do.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:02 AM

My little brother who is 6'6" always dreamed of having a bath that was long & deep enough to soak in. He got married & had 2 children & a mortgage, which put an end to things like golf, skin diving & plans for a luxurious bath.

I have a shower set over a nasty modern short & shallow bath. I like showers (I feel more clean), but as some folks said, a bath is great for soaking sore backs etc, except when it's a modern short, shallow bath. I can sit & stretch my legs out & the rest of me gets cold, or I can get my back under water & my legs stick up & get cold. So I just shower & as I live alone, don't run out of warm water.

At Easter thousands of Australian folkies head to Canberra, where it is autumn, but winter to those from hotter climates, some years we get frost! The reason is the National Folk Festival, & we camp out & join long shower queues where a thin trickle of usually cold water is part of the fun. (fun?)

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:07 AM

I suspect that the preference can depend upon the water pressure and whether or not the hot turns cold when someone elsewhere turns on a tap.

The last can be worked out (hotels do it, for instance, at least here in the States), but I've noticed that water pressure seems to be an issue in Ireland and the UK, at least.

Both, however, are far ahead of the US in that "local" water heaters are pretty common: you can heat up water for your bath or shower right there, and not have to wait for it to come from a central hot water tank. Thankfully, this is slowly being put into place in US homes.

When I was at Cambridge (Girton, for a meeting) the baths were down the hall, as was the loo, and OLD they were, too! When I was in college (we had to fight dinosaurs just to get to class, so you know how long ago THAT was) there were communal toilets and baths in the dorms (ha! I lived at home, with a communal toilet and shower). In the Army -- well, things were definitely communal.

Showers. Definitely showers, unless I want to REALLY relax or soak out some kinks. FWIW, we have both a large shower and a shower/tub combination.

Someday, I'd like to find a tub REALLY made for soaking, tho....

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: GUEST,T-boy
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:47 AM

Per-leeeezzz !!! People don't have gender. Nouns have gender, people have sex.

So it's not a gender thing, it's a sex thing.

Except I don't think it is a sex thing so much as an age thing (younger people are more likely to prefer a shower) and to some extent a nationality thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 08:29 AM

Oh, I think it's a sex thing too. If you have a large shower that's my preference. Sex in a tub can be dangerous especially if both individuals are a long way past svelte. The only problem I ever encountered with sex in the shower was in a house we were renting just after we got married. It had a combo tub/shower and the plastic tiles on the walls had allowed way too much moisture onto the drywall behind. After many years the drywall was soft and I must tell you that it is a strange sensation when your ass goes through a wall.

Still, on the whole, I'll stick with showers.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 08:35 AM

Well GUEST,T-boy, you might be starting a trend here. This could be the beginning of all sorts of research - maybe folkies vs blues folks, or short haired people vs long haired people or cat owners vs dog owners, or fiddle players vs bodhran players or.. or.. or.......
The list is endless!

Ah Sandra, not so fond memories of freezing showers at the National! It's a good thing the weather is nice and warm at the moment or I wouldn't want to be reminded.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: JudeL
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 12:04 PM

Wow I am amazed, 53 replies in less than 24 hours. I never realised this was such a sensitive subject.

Guest T-boy : to paraphrase your own post
   Per-leeeaze... gender is a description ... sex is an activity.... at least it in when speaking English...not that I'm objecting to the activity but if you are going to be pedantic and issue corrections you may as well get it right.

Spaw : thank you for your "dry"wall contribution, I needed cheering up and the mental picture your post conjured up did that with a vengence.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 12:54 PM

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the can't stand too hot or too cold thing indicates some out of balance conditions in the body. I have noticed since I've been going to an acupuncturist that my feet are no longer too hot all of the time and my overall body temperature seems to have lowered a bit, too, which feels great.

The only problem is, with poor circulation, once my feet get cold, there is no warming them up except by hot bath, heated husk pillow or some such. It is a myth that "padded" women should stay warm more than skinnier men. Temperature has much more to do with ability to circulate the blood than anything else. If a person is say 260lbs, it's as though they are trying to water a football field with a garden hose...very difficult for the heart to do in order to stay warm as the warmth is so dissipated.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 01:16 PM

you know, one side issue has been hinted at and danced around a bit in this thread, but not really approached head-on.

There seems to be wide divergence of opinion about what constitutes 'clean'....Some folks bathe or shower every day, and sometimes twice a day, and some only every other day or two.

I know that different occupations often dictate what is needed, but there is also a notion, strongly promoted by soap and shampoo manufacturers, that the only acceptable body odor is NO body odor. It is a fairly new concept in human history, and may be actually changing the way we relate to each other, since very frequent bathing removes some the signals by which we once used to identify and bond. Pheromones, for example, are not as important to us as they are to other animals, but they are still part of our heritage and do play a role.


I, for one, do not usually mind if someone has a 'natural' odor....I can tell when it goes beyond this to stake and offensive....and I DESPISE heavy perfumes, whether used to disguise OR enhance natural odors.
I'm curious if others have opinions about how much B.O., if any, you are willing to tolerate in others...or in yourselves.

Yes, it's a delicate topic...feel free to be a 'guest' if necessary.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 01:27 PM

True enough, gender just meant "kind" to start with, but the use of the term to indicate "which sex" is pretty estabished now.

It's a way of avoiding the jokey replies, such as people writing "Yes PLease" under "Sex" on forms.

Pedantically, I suppose, it ought to be "Sexual gender".

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bert
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 06:29 PM

The fifth lady's name was Penelope Pender
She went in there to adjust her suspender
but she got it caught up in her feminine gender
and nobody knew she was there.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 07:42 PM

Hmmm? There's probably enough material here for me to write another song? Maybe a talking blues? Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 16 Jan 03 - 11:19 AM

Once, when I was visiting some friends up in Maine about 30 years ago [something about being their best man] the only washing facility in the whole house as a very short, shallow tub in an old fashioned bathroom. I suspect that in the era this house was built, only children were bathed. Somewhere there is a picture of 6' + me in this tub. [horrid concept, what?] Very awkward.

I enjoy a tub when I have the time but a shower is business when I am alone.

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 03:17 PM

dissappeared when Mudcat crashed...any more thoughts?

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 03:26 PM

Well Bob, for your talking blues I can contribute this based on my above post:

I was havin' a shower with my wife,
We was havin' the time of our life.
My willie was standin' proud and tall
Til my ass went through the shower wall.
....went right between a couple of 2 by 4's
....got splinters
....was a real bad form of Coitus Interuptus

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 03:49 PM

Here's back to you ...

So there I was hangin' outta the wall,
Tryin' to remodel the shower stall,
I was feelin' mighty old, and downright cold,
Ans worst of all, I was showin' it all!
CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 03:57 PM

AND ...

My wife started laughin', and I did to,
Just what the heck was I supposed to do?,
I grabbed and stud, and looked for blood,
And just headed for the loo ... mortification! (spoken)

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 04:03 PM

AND ...

As time went by, I started to dry,
My wife was laughin', I thought she'd cry,
Soon came a neighbor, tryin' to do us a favor,
And you, know, I thought I'd die!

CHEERS again, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 04:08 PM

That whole thing left us kinda' sauer
So we ain't havin' no sex in the shower.
But our bed's done collapsed and left us sore
So I reckon we'll be doin' it on the floor.
....at least the carpet is pretty soft
....probably get rug burns

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 04:11 PM

AND ...

My tale is done and the tubs rebuilt,
And I've gotten rid of most of my guilt,
The only problem now, is trying to figure how,
To get rid of the damned bathroom tilt!

(thanks, I needed that! ... anybody want a cigarrette?) CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Roxanne
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 05:18 PM

I like the shower best (must be large enough for two, you can stay under it for as long at it takes and it never gets cold.

The bath is nice to share also) all depends on how energic you feel like being!!!! ;o)))

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: GUEST,Bill
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 07:54 PM

Always remember in the shower you do it standing up.
Bill (the sound)

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Tinker
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 09:00 PM

Not debatable in the old house I'm in now. We've got 3.5 baths no showers. The last kitchen and bath remodel was around 1920. The first and third floors have deep short tubs which this short lady finds perfect for reading.

Second floor claw is more to my six foot husband's liking and with inner dimensions 24wx63Lx15D there's still room for two. Now if we could just agree on which bathroom to redo and get a shower....And
have a bonus come in to cover the cost...

Spaw, it would have been worth it all if I could have had to that tell my former landlady....

Tinker

Subject: RE: BS: Bath Vs Shower, a gender thing?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jan 03 - 09:38 PM

But Spaw, where did they put the towels??

LTS