# Mortal sin: leaving the toilet seat up: why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900 "2013-06-25T18:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/21 "2013-06-25T20:46:11Z")
My wife has never once mentioned a preference, so I do as I wish. ---
**Author:** ![Altivu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Altivu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altivu)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/22 "2013-06-25T20:47:35Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > Sure–but my question was more along the lines of why not putting the seat down was such a horrible sin in the eyes of women; I wasn’t debating whether it might or might not be sensible to do so. Apparently, toilet seat malfeasance is a worse sin than accidentally setting fire to the cat. It seems to me (unreconstructed caveman) that it’s more along the lines of mildly careless/mildly thoughtless. Yet, I’ve heard, and heard of, some pretty vehement reactions, and I do believe those reactions’ disproportionate nature is due to their “all men are animals/scum” reinforcing quality. > > Women have got to understand that it’s quite the major step to get us cavemen to use the toilet at all. Unsupervised, we would all probably just pee out the window. Well, you’ve answered your own question in a sense. While I haven’t exactly seen this “horrible sin” reaction (although I put the seat down anyways), I’d relate it to the “Ladies First,” gentlemen-like attitude. You know, holding the door for them and whatnot… Besides, it looks more sanitary keeping the seat down. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/23 "2013-06-25T21:00:19Z")
It has to do with ratios. Women need the seat down 100% of the time. Men need the seat down 50% of the time. So, that’s 3/4 of the time the seat needs to be down anyway. It only makes sense then to follow the majority and insist that it remain down at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/24 "2013-06-25T21:04:39Z")
This is really a thing? I thought it was just a gag in poorly written sitcoms and unfunny comedienne routines. Just like the “men never ask for directions” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/25 "2013-06-25T21:13:21Z")
I always do it because it makes my wife happy and is simple to do. It’s the little things doncha know? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/26 "2013-06-25T21:13:51Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > It has to do with ratios. Women need the seat down 100% of the time. Men need the seat down 50% of the time. So, that’s 3/4 of the time the seat needs to be down anyway. It only makes sense then to follow the majority and insist that it remain down at all times. I don’t sit down 50% of the time. More like 20%. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/27 "2013-06-25T21:15:03Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > It has to do with ratios. Women need the seat down 100% of the time. Men need the seat down 50% of the time. So, that’s 3/4 of the time the seat needs to be down anyway. It only makes sense then to follow the majority and insist that it remain down at all times. Never thought of it this way but…yeah! I like the seat down because it looks tidier and hides the pee splashes that get up around the rim and hinges, but more importantly I do pee at night in the dark, pretty often. And by pretty often I mean at least twice a night. Sitting down on a toilet with the seat up sucks and is gross. Just put the seat down. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/28 "2013-06-25T21:25:32Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > Do women habitually go to the bathroom in the dark and thus fall in when they sit down? Yep. If staggering in half-asleep, plopping down, and staggering back to bed still half-asleep were a viable option, would _you_ turn on the blinding-ass light? > [@](#): > > (My own theory is that the toilet seat sin is a stand-in, a scapegoat if you will, for all the various chauvinistic acts and thoughtlessnesses that are routinely committed by–ick–_men_.) Well, you’re sort of on the right track. It’s not a stand-in for thoughtlessness, it’s just the most universal demonstration of it. Shared traits get talked about more than unshared ones. > [@ombre12](#): > > The one problem with both parts being down is in the middle of the night when a guy is in a hurry, doesn’t take time to turn the light on, (like the ladies are unable to do or so it seems)’ knows where the hole in the toilet is supposed to be and just lets it go. It takes a few seconds to realize that IT is bouncing off the top of the toilet seat and going absolutely everywhere except into the toilet. > > Gawd what a mess to clean up in the middle of the night. Yeah, starting to pee on the way down because you’re about to explode and peeing even harder when falling scares you half to death, and then splashing down into not just freezing cold water, but a mixture of freezing cold water and warm piss isn’t all that fun to clean up in the middle of the night either. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/29 "2013-06-25T21:26:33Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > . . . Do women habitually go to the bathroom in the dark . . . Sure. Also while half asleep, so that the fall is literally a rude awakening. Seriously, if you turn on the light, it’s too bright to see until your eyes adjust, which is not a good thing when in a hurry. And then when you turn the light back out, you’re blind on the way back to bed until your eyes adjust back. Not to mention other folks in the house that can be awakened by the light coming on, even the light leaking under two sets of doors. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/30 "2013-06-25T21:27:10Z")
I’m a woman. Men leaving the toilet seat up doesn’t bother me. Drops of piss on the floor, on the other hand… (I did once fall in a toilet where the seat was left up, but I was very young at the time. And I don’t pee in the dark.) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/31 "2013-06-25T21:47:13Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Yep. If staggering in half-asleep, plopping down, and staggering back to bed still half-asleep were a viable option, would _you_ turn on the blinding-ass light? I mostly don’t. And if it’s dark I sit down to pee. And if I do, I check whether the seat is down using my awesome sense of touch. Which is why, although I habitually leave the seat up in daylight, I’ve never fallen in at night. Seriously gals, you want the right to try out as SEALs and you can’t manage your own toilet safety? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/32 "2013-06-25T21:56:14Z")
> [@Altivu](#): > > Well, you’ve answered your own question in a sense. While I haven’t exactly seen this “horrible sin” reaction (although I put the seat down anyways), I’d relate it to the “Ladies First,” gentlemen-like attitude. You know, holding the door for them and whatnot… So, putting the seat down is a condesending vestige of patriarchy? No self-respecting feminist should tolerate a man putting the seat down? I can live with that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/33 "2013-06-25T22:03:46Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > Women have got to understand that it’s quite the major step to get us cavemen to use the toilet at all. Unsupervised, we would all probably just pee out the window. the window is too far away and unusable in cold winter climates. houseplants are good to have around. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/34 "2013-06-25T22:08:40Z")
I’m a lid down sorta guy. Wife leaves it up. I growl softly under my breath and close it up and get on with my life. Iv’e sat on a seat up arrangement before. Didn’t enjoy it, got up, dropped the seat continued with my business. While doing so I corrected the toilet roll from under to over. Went on with my life. As a result of inadvertently accessing seat-up, I now check the seat. If I’m beeling bold and want to pee in the dark, get this: I check the seat and sit down and pee like a girl. I don’t check the toilet roll on such occasions because, well, dripping is all part of male privilege. > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Yeah, starting to pee on the way down because you’re about to explode and peeing even harder when falling scares you half to death, and then splashing down into not just freezing cold water, but a mixture of freezing cold water and warm piss isn’t all that fun to clean up in the middle of the night either. Good gawd woman–just go when you get the idea you’re gonna hafta go. Nothing good can come of waiting til the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/35 "2013-06-25T22:50:37Z")
So the seat can’t be up because of the way it looks but we never turn on the light in the bathroom. Am I the only one who sees the contradiction here? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/36 "2013-06-25T22:56:07Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > I’ve done this. It’s annoying. I think it’s worse though that my husband never replaces the toilet paper roll. In fact, this reminds me to call my lawyer about that divorce I’ve been knocking around since the last time he forgot- thanks! Well you should be darn glad he never replaces the toilet paper roll, since you know that males will _always_ hang it the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/37 "2013-06-25T22:57:42Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > So the seat can’t be up because of the way it looks but we never turn on the light in the bathroom. Am I the only one who sees the contradiction here? And no-one ever heard of a night-light in the bathroom. What is up with that? Fortunately for me, I don’t share my toilet with anyone. Also, our household is all men. So wherever the seat is, is fine with me. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/38 "2013-06-25T22:58:57Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Good gawd woman–just go when you get the idea you’re gonna hafta go. Nothing good can come of waiting til the last minute. Hey, sometimes you don’t wake up until the need is urgent–much like the poster I was responding to who pissed all over the bathroom because he was in too much of a hurry to even turn on a light so he could see where he was aiming. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/39 "2013-06-25T23:06:51Z")
I don’t get the complaints about peeing in the dark, or complaints about turning on the blinding light in the night. Just get a little night light in the throne room. Is there a problem with that? Myself, I keep the lid down. Not because I’m evolved or anything like that, mind you. It all has to do with fear of ghosts and/or earthquakes. See, ghosts and earthquakes commonly cause an up-lid to fall into the down position, which always happens with a great big\*\*BANG!\*\*that resounds throughout the whole above, rattling the timbers, waking one up in the middle of the night and whitening one’s hair. I should have mentioned this in that other nearby thread (where we are asked to divulge our greatest fears). Maybe I’ll copy this post there too. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900/40 "2013-06-25T23:17:52Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > Men need the seat down 50% of the time. Not true. People generally don’t poop the as many times as they pee during the day. Men need the seat down 1 maybe 2 times a day (unless they have diarrhea) up a hell of a lot more than that. Then when you consider there are some people, of both genders, who stand up to wipe after a deuce, which means they need to raise the seat lest the wad of soiled TP hit the seat on its way to the bowl, you’ve probably got a near wash of people who end their toilet usage with the seat up as with the seat down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortal-sin-leaving-the-toilet-seat-up-why/661900.md?page=3)