While I agree that Americans are especially prude, its not like these toilets are noticeable more common in Europe. Of course the French have their bidet...
I'm French- there's a bidet at my grandparents' house which is never used, and there used to be one at my parents' house but they removed it when they remodeled the bathroom because they never used it (it was there when they bought the house).
I've only ever used a bidet to wash my feet (or as kids, we would put our swimsuits in it to dry). I'm not even sure what its original purpose is.
Spanish here. I agree, we use the bidets basically for washing our feet too.
The original purpose was for women and their period... those kind of things on a time in witch using large quantities of water inside the building(for shower) was not that common(shower needs high water pressure too).
The bidet becomes increasingly rare, although there's an obvious reason why: it takes real estate.
In india, they have a dedicated cup and tub near the floor. A godsend for the many visitors catching turista: you can only sustain so much dry wiping before getting a serious rash...
Here in Uruguay most houses have a bidet too (since we copy the Spanish model), and I find it very useful.
It's purpose is similar to that of the Japanese toilet, though way more primitive - the Japanese solution takes less space and is more advanced generally, but way more expensive.
