The Gender and Toilet Issue

[Bryan90]

I have stumbled across a connundrum that I hope some females on this site can help me understand.

Whenever I am sharing a washroom with a female, I am always told to put the seat down whenever I am done. I generally agree as I don't mind it so much.

But what baffles me is that it is that hard to put the seat down before you go? Clearly I am not a female, so there might be more to it than that. But if it's really just putting the seat down, then I don't understand! It's equally as hard for males to lift the seat hard before going isn't it? So wouldn't it be fair game if whoever needs to go lift/put the sit up/down? How come so many females expect males to put the sit down after the male goes, and then lift the sit up before the male goes?

Is there something more than just the effort of moving the seat? This is what I am trying to understand...

Often times, the problem results in late night bathroom breaks*. You are sleepy and none too aware and you expect the seat to be down. As such, you just sit down without noticing and BAM! Cracked tail bone. It has nothing to do with the effort for me, but the risk of accidental back-cracking pain.

I'd gladly agree to putting the seat up if I could have assurance that my mind would be totally alert during the night.


*Also when drunk.

[kettlkorn]

I always thought there was some sort of chivalry component to it. It's not that women mind putting it down on their own, but that men are supposed to do it out of respect. But I can't tell ya cuz I ain't a chick.

[Danny19]

we think alike. why do we have to go through the trouble of putting the seat down? why do we have to remember to put it down instead of them, right? I live with 2 girls, my mom and sister. Now its a habit of putting the seat down for me. However i usually put both tops down, so this way we can all do some work. lol.

uhm.. i don't generally lift the seat in the first place. it's still a pretty big hole to aim for.

[otc877]

Originally Posted by paco

uhm.. i don't generally lift the seat in the first place. it's still a pretty big hole to aim for.

This. Whenever it's down I think of it as somebody challenging my pee-aiming abilities.

Though, if I'm at somebody's house or if I know I'll have company over (even if it's a guy), I always put both lids down. I'm not sure why I do that, but it's something I've always done...

It's not so much the chivalry thing, but ti just seems so much cleaner with both seats down.

[Morphim]

I'm actually more annoyed by a seat left down. I can't touch any part of the toilet seat without using toilet paper or watching my hands insanely afterwards, so lifting it is annoying. ^^
Of course, I leave it down when I'm done, because my family members don't think like I do.

[Owen]

My mother and I once got into a huge argument over this issue because she saw me leaving the seat up as a personal affront on her, since she is a woman. I think she's just bitter because, with my sister out of the house, she has had to live with two men for the past few years (she admits herself that this is a source of aggravation for her), but I started doing it just because putting the seat down is less effort than arguing with her. I'm a very logical person, while she's a very emotional person, so when we disagree on something and try to come to an agreement, it's like we're speaking two different languages.

The way I see it, if you leave the seat up and a man comes in to pee, no effort is expended, while if a woman comes in to use the bathroom, she has to put the seat down, and therefore one person has expended effort. If you put the seat down and a man comes it to pee and wants to lift it, he has to expend effort to do so, while a woman wouldn't need to expend any effort, meaning that either one or two people, respectively, have had to expend effort. By putting the seat down, you are guaranteeing that the total effort that will be expended on moving that toilet seat will be greater than or equal to what it would have been otherwise. That's why I leave it up.

[UnAmourFatal]

I just piss sitting.

[Phoenix]

I don't lift the seat up at my house, only when I'm at other people's house. My aim is good enough that I get it in when the seat's down plus I live with two women so it's easier to leave it down.

Wow. It is like everyone completely ignored my post.
Really, guys. It isn't about anything complicated like 'expending energy'... It's about preventing injury.
Sheesh. Why do I even bother?

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Numfarh

Wow. It is like everyone completely ignored my post.
Really, guys. It isn't about anything complicated like 'expending energy'... It's about preventing injury.
Sheesh. Why do I even bother?

I'll admit, I ignored your post because you were right, and I couldn't put forth a logical argument against you. Rather than admit defeat in the midst of my furious writing, I ignored your post to avoid changing the tone of mine. Mei culpa.

But still, I sit down when I go pee in the middle of the night because I know I can't aim in the dark to save my life, and I don't want to turn the light on, so I know a thing or two about sitting down on the toilet in the middle of the night. I suppose my thinking has always been, if I can know better than to assume that the seat is down while still groggy due to having been asleep not thirty seconds ago, why can't other people? Maybe I'm just more awake when I wake up in the middle of the night than other people are.

Originally Posted by Numfarh

Wow. It is like everyone completely ignored my post.
Really, guys. It isn't about anything complicated like 'expending energy'... It's about preventing injury.
Sheesh. Why do I even bother?

I lived with a girl once. I always left the seat up. She fell in the toilet one night. I always put the seat down.

[Krissie]

It's more hygienic to keep the lid down when no one's using it, especially if you have a sink or bathtub/shower nearby, otherwise vapors from the toilet will disperse around the room and make it filthy (even if it looks clean).


edit: OOPS thought this was about the toilet lid.. nevermind

[Eric]

Uhm... Am I the only male who gets annoyed when people leave the seat up? I was raised mainly by women, so I was maybe a little sensitized to it. It doesn't require much energy, thought, or what have you, just put the seat down.
And don't forget to flush. <____<

[Frer3]

Question: Is it weird for a guy to sit when he goes? Cuz I'm too lazy to stand anyways.

[xCrazyInsanity]

Oh man I thought this was going somewhere entierly different. Silly me.

I really don't get why either side bitches about it. Yes, i can see the "drunk/tired" argument, that's why i CLOSE THE DAMN TOILET before going to bed :P

[Enaithor]

Originally Posted by kettlkorn

I always thought there was some sort of chivalry component to it. It's not that women mind putting it down on their own, but that men are supposed to do it out of respect. But I can't tell ya cuz I ain't a chick.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this
Imho, chivalry is totally ridiculous and outdated, so I don't pay any attention to it
Common courtesy, yes
But obviously, the whole energy expense thing means that in this case, just leave it however you put it.

Also, in a way, chivalry is an insult to women. Saying that they are too weak and pathetic to do something as simple as putting down a toilet seat or open a door without assistance

When I'm at someone else's house, I always put both lids down though, because it isn't my toilet.

[Bryan90]

Originally Posted by Gamer am I

I'll admit, I ignored your post because you were right, and I couldn't put forth a logical argument against you. Rather than admit defeat in the midst of my furious writing, I ignored your post to avoid changing the tone of mine. Mei culpa.

But still, I sit down when I go pee in the middle of the night because I know I can't aim in the dark to save my life, and I don't want to turn the light on, so I know a thing or two about sitting down on the toilet in the middle of the night. I suppose my thinking has always been, if I can know better than to assume that the seat is down while still groggy due to having been asleep not thirty seconds ago, why can't other people? Maybe I'm just more awake when I wake up in the middle of the night than other people are.

I actually have a logical argument against this. I propose that it is because some females are so used to having the sit down all the time (having accomodating people in the house) that they develop a habit of not looking before they sit.

Evidence: Males sometimes have to use the toilet for a particular purpose where we'd be sitting, and the stories of such males nearly falling into the toilet is generally less than females who experienced this.

And maybe the chivalry component is part of it, but I've had two feminists told me that they'd prefer the sit down now... Perhaps gender equality, like any other ideology stops at the inconvenience caused to those who advocate it? And I understand especially if you've been brought up in that environment and developed the habit for decades... But yeah.. it's food for thought in my opinion.. especially for feminists :P

[Rikudo]

I gotta lift up the seat it's like a firehose down there.