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As wikipedia states, the bidet is quite common in southern European countries (in Italy for example, it is found in 95% of households), in the Middle East and in East Asia. Conversely, bidets are quite rare in Northern Europe. Why the discrepancy in usage?

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I guess because it is really unpleasant to sweat on your genitals (so it's not related t history). In colder climates sweating in general is less of a problem. I'd also risk a connected observation that we have less cultural preference towards perfumes and deodorants. On some occasions I've found them unbearably, and I mean UNBEARABLY, strong in southern countries. – kubanczyk Jan 21 at 22:48
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As kubanczyk said, the question isn't really on topic. What does washing your anus have to do with History? However, you probably could change the question to something like, "What historical reason did the bidet..." That might work. – Russell Jan 23 at 11:34
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Based on the intimate knowledge of the area I gained from watching Crocadile Dundee movies, I'd say it isn't very common in Australia either. :-) – T.E.D.♦ Jan 28 at 20:34
@Russell if a simple word-change trick makes it in-topic, then it was on topic even before. – Lohoris Jan 29 at 12:47
So, it's putting the emphasis somewhere else. The first one had the emphasis on washing your anus and the form I suggested had more of an emphasis history. To use a coding analogy (not that I'm qualified :) ), it doen't matter where you put the pointer astrix, but it definitely helps readability. – Russell Jan 29 at 14:31

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