# How would urine run down a woman's leg if the legs are spread wide so there's enough space? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790 "2019-03-08T21:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/81 "2019-03-11T03:22:34Z")
As a kid, I went through a period where I decided that if I couldn’t BE a boy, at least I could PEE like a boy. I successfully peed standing up for a couple weeks. But all it took was ONE failure, and getting pee shoes as a result of it going all down my legs, that I decided this experiment was now over and I would not pee standing up any more. This is why any sensible woman when asked why they don’t pee standing up will say, “I don’t, because I would/could get pee on my legs.” The risk is not worth the reward in a modern society where toilets are easy to find. That you don’t get it means, well, you’ve got either an obsession or a fetish. Even a 1% chance of pee soaked shoes will deter any normal person. It’s common, as mentioned, for the labia to divert the stream. That you haven’t experienced it yet simply means you have not peed standing up enough yet. It’s like a guy saying they’ve never had their pee stream come out in two directions, ever, in their life, and they never will. Nah. They will. One day. At least once. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/82 "2019-03-11T13:18:25Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Her labia must be so small as to be nonexistent. > > #notalllabias Oh my god, Becky, look at her labia. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/83 "2019-03-11T16:03:52Z")
> [@jordan20](#): > > It makes no difference for me if I’m peeing slow. I tried peeing with like no force because I thought maybe that’s how some people pee, but it still didn’t run down my leg. Some of it drips down the buttocks, but it stops there. I don’t know why it stops for some people, but with others it keeps sliding down. Some of it drips down the buttocks even when I’m sitting. I’m having a hard time understanding this, so perhaps you can clarify. How can urine drip down your buttocks, then just stop? Where does it go? If you are standing up, wouldn’t gravity cause the urine to either drip off onto the ground or run down your leg? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/84 "2019-03-11T16:59:46Z")
Don’t forget another key question - how does it get to the top of her buttocks to then drip down them? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/85 "2019-03-11T17:34:33Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Don’t forget another key question - how does it get to the top of her buttocks to then drip down them? Enquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/86 "2019-03-11T18:07:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Oh my god, Becky, look at her labia. Well, I can’t unthink that, Dung. I have decided my experiment will have to occur outdoors on the deck to minimize the mess. It’s too cold today. Thank God there are no neighbors. I hate to admit it but I have been on the deck with no pants on, before. For reasons you don’t need to know.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/87 "2019-03-11T18:42:27Z")
Putting a scientific angle on this, it could be [surface tension](https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-do-liquids-sometimes-run-down-the-side-of-the-container-when-they-are-poured-out.html). [SFW] ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/88 "2019-03-11T20:13:15Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Putting a scientific angle on this, it could be [surface tension](https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-do-liquids-sometimes-run-down-the-side-of-the-container-when-they-are-poured-out.html). [SFW] Nice picture. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/89 "2019-03-11T20:48:25Z")
It is entirely possible that your experimentation on this involves spreading your legs wider than any of the other women in your conversation have ever tried, and that they are extrapolating from what experience they do have and are simply unwilling to consider trying this with wider and wider stances to prove themselves wrong about a topic they don’t really care about. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/90 "2019-03-11T21:02:14Z")
> [@naita](#): > > It is entirely possible that your experimentation on this involves spreading your legs wider than any of the other women in your conversation have ever tried, and that they are extrapolating from what experience they do have and are simply unwilling to consider trying this with wider and wider stances to prove themselves wrong about a topic they don’t really care about. I suspect that’s it. “Tried urinating while standing once. It ran down my leg / went onto my shoe.” Unless the woman in question is a true outdoorsy type, or otherwise often doesn’t have access to a toilet, I imagine that the solution is, “don’t try that again,” rather than, “I’ll change my stance next time.” ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/91 "2019-03-11T21:24:06Z")
Not the “wide stance” explanation again. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/92 "2019-03-11T21:32:55Z")
It’s the squat that makes the difference. IMHO. And from experience. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/93 "2019-03-12T17:38:22Z")
> [@naita](#): > > It is entirely possible that your experimentation on this involves spreading your legs wider than any of the other women in your conversation have ever tried, and that they are extrapolating from what experience they do have and are simply unwilling to consider trying this with wider and wider stances to prove themselves wrong about a topic they don’t really care about. Not to mention that in order to get a wide stance, you have to take your pants completely off. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/94 "2019-03-12T17:50:59Z")
Yeah, that’s what’s been bothering me all along. Dunno how true it is for all women, but when I pee I lower my pants like all the way to my calves/ankles (skirts get hoisted, no prob) and my panties to at least my knees. How in the world WOULDN’T you end up all the cloth between your legs being pissed on if you stood up straight? ---
**Author:** ![jordan20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@jordan20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordan20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/95 "2019-03-14T00:49:09Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The male meatus has a couple of lumps of flesh that normally press together to hold it shut when not in use. They can be substantial enough in bulk that the pressure of the stream is not enough the separate them completely, so the stream exits at the less bulky areas above and below them, which results in the split-stream effect. This will tend to be more noticeable in men whose foreskin has been removed. > > There are a number of pages on the 'net that discuss the art of women peeing while standing. It appears that one key to doing this is to rock your pelvis back, so that the stream is somewhat less vertical. And, of course, pull the inner labia away from the urethra to expose it (which should be done with very clean fingers, to avoid UTI risk). I’m a woman and I don’t need to spread my labia. Urine doesn’t run down my leg if the labia are together. Some of it drips down the buttocks, but that slows it down and it stops there. Some of it drips down the buttocks even when I’m sitting so that makes no difference. ---
**Author:** ![jordan20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@jordan20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordan20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/96 "2019-03-14T00:51:51Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > As a man, I should probably stay the hell out of this thread, but I will observe that men with enlarged prostates have weak urine streams and, in plain language, they dribble. > > Of course, women don’t have prostates, but isn’t it possible that some women have weaker streams than others, and thus have more problems with, umm, “trickle”? It doesn’t matter if it trickles for me, it wouldn’t run down my leg, but it does for some. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/97 "2019-03-14T00:54:22Z")
I think you’re standing on your head in order to get the drip that you’re describing, or laying on your back, possibly? ---
**Author:** ![jordan20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@jordan20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordan20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/98 "2019-03-14T00:54:41Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Not to mention that in order to get a wide stance, you have to take your pants completely off. My legs aren’t spread that wide, maybe like two feet apart. I wouldn’t have to take my pants off, but maybe women with bigger legs would. Everyone is different. ---
**Author:** ![jordan20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@jordan20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordan20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/99 "2019-03-14T00:57:02Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I think you’re standing on your head in order to get the drip that you’re describing, or laying on your back, possibly? I mean the part of the buttocks right below the labia. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790/100 "2019-03-14T01:00:28Z")
I pee outside more often than I do inside (in season). I have peed IN my shoes as well as on my shoes. And splashing (watch that substrate!) is an issue, along with not correctly assessing the slope, so you rise up from a urine pool around your feet. I’m pretty good though. The issue as I see it, is that in western cultures we do not spend a lot of time squatting. To pee really well, you have to squat very low and wide. Try to squat high, so you don’t tip over, you’ll often get the running down the leg effect, due to the angle of the the thigh being so attractive to the stream. Few western women who are not yogis are going to be able to squat low enough for consistent misses. Lucky for me, I was born with very loose hips so I did not need many years of yoga to perfect the extra low squat. If your hips are flexible enough you don’t have to take your pants off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-urine-run-down-a-womans-leg-if-the-legs-are-spread-wide-so-theres-enough-space/830790.md?page=6)