Pollee female urinals

[Ms. Tito 2,040]

So I just found out about these female urinals called "Pollee," and they were surprisingly successful and well-recieved by women. Developed by Peebetter and UIWE, They debuted at the 2011 Roskilde music festival in Denmark, where three prototypes were unveiled. These were: 

Pollee Shy – "for those who appreciate privacy" a fully enclosed open-air variant for those hesitant to bare all in front of possibly hundreds, thousands of people. 

Pollee Topless – "a good view, yet some discretion" a middle ground between shy and naked, that offers some privacy but still fairly open. 

Pollee Naked – "the fast one for the free spirits" a version that sacrifices privacy for speed, a potential favorite for active exhibitionists, those who have zero shame (I mean this in a good way, body positivity fuckin rocks), and those too drunk to care alike. 

Normally female urinals tend to flop, but this one stands out to me because it was very well received. 

"Quite frankly: the girls' response at the festival was overwhelming. We have talked to hundreds of girls and although we received ideas for improvement, the overall message was: We use it and we love it!" — Christian Pagh 

I saw this and thought y'all might be interested. I think this Pollee thing is a really cool idea. 

Here's the wiki article  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollee 

[Foobar 687]

I really want to see the Pollee Naked in action.

I agree exhibitionists would love it, because even popping a squat would be more discreet.

 

[vanessa9 825]

To the best of my knowledge, the pollee urinals don't exist anymore. They made a unique appearance at Roskilde Festival in 2011, and probalby in some street festival in Denmark also, but I haven't read nor heard about them for a long time.
I attend Roskilde Festival regularly since years, and I used the three versions of the pollee urinal that year. My favorite was the "naked" version, probably because I am a bit of an exhibitionist, specially at a festival. In addition, there was even less queue for that one than for the other two versions, and we could pee in it while continuing chatting with friends !
Lately, the "Lapee" initiative seems to have replaced the pollee. This is a bright pink three-station urinal for ladies. Look for it on the internet, this thing has huge visibility now. There were a lot of them at Roskilde Festival in 2019 (?), spread across the entire festival area. Last year, there were only 2-3 of them. Using the Lapee is not as "daring" as using the pollee naked, the user's private parts are fairly protected from prying eyes (this was one of the design goals). I think some of them have been installed in cities, parks...

[glad1 2,597]

33 minutes ago, vanessa9 said:

My favorite was the "naked" version, probably because I am a bit of an exhibitionist...

Let me know your festival schedule. 😁

[vanessa9 825]

On 10/24/2023 at 6:23 PM, glad1 said:

Let me know your festival schedule. 😁

Most probably attending Roskilde Festival next year...

[awkwood 9]

So, I got curious and looked up the Pollee online and I see what it looks like, but I'm a bit puzzled how it's supposed to be used.  I couldn't find any photos or videos of it in use.  Does the lady face the device or back into it?  And if that's optional to the individual user, which way do most ladies prefer to use it? 

And is the "Pollee Naked" version where the lady is totally exposed to onlookers as she pees?

Can someone please post a photo of it in use?

 

 

[Carb0nBased 514]

I don't know if there are any videos of it in use (unlike the Lapee, women can't see out while using it, so you also can't see their heads unless you're inside, in which case they don't have that much privacy, even in the "shy" one). However, in this article there's a picture showing women pretending to use it (with all their clothes still on): https://guestofaguest.com/new-york/nightlife/reasons-the-pollee-the-new-womens-urinal-will-never-take-off. So I assume this is the way they're intended to be used. It's possible that some women with really forward streams would opt to use them facing toward the center instead, but I assume this would be very rare, because then they can't see what's going on around them for safety, and they also would be sticking their rear ends in the faces of everyone who goes past.

[Brutus 2,110]

On 12/23/2023 at 10:35 PM, Carb0nBased said:

I don't know if there are any videos of it in use (unlike the Lapee, women can't see out while using it, so you also can't see their heads unless you're inside, in which case they don't have that much privacy, even in the "shy" one). However, in this article there's a picture showing women pretending to use it (with all their clothes still on): https://guestofaguest.com/new-york/nightlife/reasons-the-pollee-the-new-womens-urinal-will-never-take-off. So I assume this is the way they're intended to be used. It's possible that some women with really forward streams would opt to use them facing toward the center instead, but I assume this would be very rare, because then they can't see what's going on around them for safety, and they also would be sticking their rear ends in the faces of everyone who goes past.

I read the article to see why the author had a negative view of it. Seems she missed the intent of simply reducing toilet queues for women at big events. She's whining that it's no good for tending to periods, that the floor will be messy with stray streams, being too close to other women, and difficulty with clothing. All of these problems have to be faced in stalls as well. Any stall with high traffic is guaranteed to be a messy disaster, women know this. Basically she's upset it's not perfect for every situation, and that's not what it's for. If you're on your period, want more privacy, more space, opt for a stall, no one is forcing you to use the urinal. This is simply a supplement that some women will be okay using, thus wait times and conditions of stalls will improve. She's choosing to complain, yet it was highly praised upon its first deployment at the Roskilde Festival.

Regardless, I don't think urinals for women are something that will ever catch on to the point of being the norm. Female anatomy, likelihood of messes while standing, menstrual concerns, and needing to have their bare ass exposed to other women and kids with mothers, combined are just too many obstacles to overcome. The funnel devices make things easier but still women have to deal with a messy device to clean, and who wants to see pissy funnels being cleaned in the sink? Maybe if they make disposable ones and stock them beside urinals with tissue and a trash bin close by, then it might become appealing enough for widespread adoption.

[UnauthorisedGuy 473]

According to Lapee's website, the only Lapee supplier outside of Europe is PJT Green Plumbing located in Melbourne, Australia. As an Aussie, I thought this was interesting, so I had a look at PJT's website. I couldn't find any mention of Lapee urinals, so it seems it's not a big part of their business.

[Loller 371]

Just my two cents as a man but I prefer the Missoir female urinal. It's more closer to male urinals in the sense that there's less privacy as you are right next to other ladies and you have the opportunity for some chatting while peeing just like guys can do.

Anyway, more female urinals would be a great step in making public restrooms more equal.

 

[F0rester 140]

6 hours ago, Loller said:

Just my two cents as a man but I prefer the Missoir female urinal. It's more closer to male urinals in the sense that there's less privacy as you are right next to other ladies and you have the opportunity for some chatting while peeing just like guys can do.

Anyway, more female urinals would be a great step in making public restrooms more equal.

 

I'm not sure what this pissing through a window screen solution solves other than some pooling. Same footprint as a toilet with the negative of squatting. 

[Sophie 23,043]

10 hours ago, Loller said:

Just my two cents as a man but I prefer the Missoir female urinal. It's more closer to male urinals in the sense that there's less privacy as you are right next to other ladies and you have the opportunity for some chatting while peeing just like guys can do.

Anyway, more female urinals would be a great step in making public restrooms more equal.

 

Photo of this being used, well, they have their clothes pulled down at least.

 

[DoctorDoctor 1,069]

2 hours ago, Sophie said:

Photo of this being used, well, they have their clothes pulled down at least.

 

I like the fact that it has handholds and the grates covering the in-floor troughs.  If the grates are designed correctly, they could significantly reduce splatter.  I would suggest wastebaskets for used tissue and sanitary supplies.  The other question on my mind is facing towards the wall or towards the possibly queue of waiting women, which could be uncomfortable.  Seems like facing the wall is more private.

[gldenwetgoose 20,247]

It definitely gets my vote.   I mean, the idea of ladies on nights out peeing between parked cars, bus stops, kerbs outside takeaways and literally anywhere else gets my vote too.

But a clean safe environment where ladies can pee without risk of abuse has to be a good thing too - right?

A couple of years ago I'd been at a friend's house in Edinburgh and was catching the train back to where my car was parked in Glasgow (long story) and as I walked through Edinburgh old town to Waverley station, the idea suddenly struck me of opening a disused shop, equipping it with a floor grate and supplies of tissues. It'd be largely for use after pub closing times, conveniently on the way back to the station and taxi ranks.  No fee for using it, although of course there would be a little perk involved for any staff - I kind of figured that the ladies who'd use it wouldn't be over fussy, recognising the odd guy there staffing the place catching a glimpse and quietly smiling was better than a jeering drunk crowd of guys.

The amazing thing is - these images my mind's eye came up with on the hour long train journey are pretty much exactly the pictures posted above.  Great minds...

[Carb0nBased 514]

21 hours ago, Loller said:

Just my two cents as a man but I prefer the Missoir female urinal. It's more closer to male urinals in the sense that there's less privacy as you are right next to other ladies and you have the opportunity for some chatting while peeing just like guys can do.

Anyway, more female urinals would be a great step in making public restrooms more equal.

 

According to one poster here, this is what a lot of Asian bathrooms are like (squat toilets out in the open, without any real dividers between them). I never knew how much to believe that poster, as the female toilets in Asia that I've actually seen in video had stalls just like Western bathrooms, even when the toilets were of the squatting style. I don't know whether the screen helps or hurts the mess relative to an uncovered trough.

[vanessa9 825]

On 12/23/2023 at 11:48 PM, awkwood said:

Does the lady face the device or back into it?  And if that's optional to the individual user, which way do most ladies prefer to use it? 

And is the "Pollee Naked" version where the lady is totally exposed to onlookers as she pees?

The usual position is back to the urinal. I have seen a couple of girls peeing standing, facing the urinal, with the tip of the urinal between their legs, but this was the exception.

Yes, with the pollee naked, we were totally exposed, but not anymore than when peeing on the grass or in front of the toilet blocks. This device was intended to be used on a festival, so no big deal.

 

On 12/25/2023 at 6:04 PM, Brutus said:

I read the article to see why the author had a negative view of it. Seems she missed the intent of simply reducing toilet queues for women at big events.

Fully agree with you. This may not be adapted to every situation, but it greatly helps to reduce the waiting line and the pressure on toilet stalls. As for guys, nobody forces us to use urinals. We can always use a stall, for any of the perfectly valid reasons exposed in the article.

I also don't believe female urinal will be the "norm" any time soon, but they are certainly catching on, and are increasingly visible at concerts and events.

13 hours ago, Sophie said:

 

I have seen this type of urinals many times. This is also typically a festival / concert thing, so expectations of privacy are somehow relaxed for a lot of us.

In some cases, they are not even completely enclosed, and no dividers, just a screen on the back. Usually installed in such a way that the user is not facing the crowd, but some fence or bushes area. Basically, just a line of squat toilets in the open. Last summer, at a metal concert, there was a urinal area with a row of four of those for ladies, and a trough urinal of similar length, just 2-3 meters in front of it. So while peeing, we had the pleasure of having a line of guys peeing in front of us (although a rear view...)

Regarding the "peeing through a floor grate" thing, I remember there used to be a female urinal trailer installed in Roskilde Festival some years ago, with a dozen stalls where we just squat and peed through the floor. Not very public, as the stalls had doors and could be locked, so it made not a lot of difference from a regular toilet stall. Certainly easier to clean, though, and at least you didn't walk on puddles of pee.