MY dear departed dad passed down many things to me; my love of landscape and fondness for Thomas Hardy both come from him.

But I also inherited something eminently less pleasant and arguably more impactful: the Taylor Bladder.

This unfortunate family legacy usually shows up in childhood, afflicting victims with a pea-size (rather than pee-size) organ. I still live by my grandmother’s maxim of “never pass a toilet”, which has in its own way brought an extra dimension to life. Where some people are nerdy about motorbikes or vinyl, I get geeky around toilets. And wherever I am in the world I take particular note of the quality, positioning and number of lavatories, the ratio of male to female facilities and overall user-experience.

With this in mind, you won’t be surprised to hear that I have recently been following events in France closely. Earlier this month, officials in Paris attempted to tackle the city’s public urination problem by installing open air urinals or “uritrottoirs”.

The French, of course, have a long history of providing the most public of conveniences. Indeed, circular troughs known as pissoirs were as common as croissants in 19th century, disappearing over time as public mores changed. And now Paris is as notorious as any other European city for the number of gentlemen who see fit to relieve themselves wherever they fancy after a few beers on a Friday or Saturday night.

The new urinals come in the form of composting boxes, which supporters say will help the environment. After all, a year’s wee from the average person contains enough nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to fertilise 400 square metres of wheat. Each box has a sign above, complete with cute cartoon of a chap going about his business. What it doesn’t have, however, is the old modesty sheet that protected users and onlookers alike.

And I suspect this is behind the high number of complaints from local residents demanding their removal. “This is a historic neighbourhood,” said one Parisien whose flat overlooks a box near Notre Dame cathedral. “Seeing people urinating at your front door is not the nicest thing.”

Perhaps it isn’t. But for me, by far the most offensive and controversial element of these new pissoirs is the glaring fact that they service only men who are caught short. But I shouldn’t be surprised; putting male bladders first appears to be the priority just about everywhere, including Scotland.

For time immemorial wherever you seem to go, whether it be a bar, restaurant, cinema, theatre or shopping centre, while your male companion zips in and out of the loo in seconds, as a woman you must invariably join a queue that moves tortuously slowly.

I’m not ashamed to admit I often pop into the gents’ if the queue is too long, often to find it empty and in possession of the same number of stalls as in the ladies’, but with a row of urinals, too, thus offering twice the facilities. Why do architects continue to show women such contempt? And why do women allow themselves to be treated this way?

The situation is compounded by the fact that the number of public toilets in this country continues to plummet. Indeed, recent figures show facilities have halved since 2000. In Aberdeen, for example, an astonishing three quarters of public loos shut during this time. Most businesses, meanwhile, still object to people coming in just to use the toilet.

It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. The US may have a president who shows no respect for women, but its corporate leaders and public designers do, at least when it comes to cludgies. Anyone who has visited America can’t fail to notice the abundance of toilets in just about every public space or building, as well as most shops, no matter how small or remote. Businesses there see it as their duty to provide toilets. On a recent month-long visit I was also struck by the fact that women’s toilets are often bigger and more easily accessible than men’s.

My husband is American and though I currently have no wish to move there, who knows what the future needs of the infamous Taylor Bladder may require.

I’ve never understood why public and corporate spheres here don’t follow suit. Surely it is in their interests to keep customers (especially women, who shop and socialise more than men, and due to physiology often have to use the toilet more frequently) happy?

It’s time we took a leaf out of our American cousins’ book and built more toilets, specifically those women can use. The authorities in Berlin are already working to combat toilet sexism with a policy that requires unisex loos to be available wherever there is a male urinal. Surely we Scots could adopt a similar approach?

I don’t much care whether the facilities I use are gender specific or unisex. I’d happily use a pissoir of any type as long as it didn’t have a long queue. I get, however, that other women may not feel the same.

Whatever happens, we need to talk about toilets. Only then will we ever achieve bladder equality.