We could put urinals in our bathrooms 
Thing is, I don’t understand why there’s this incessant yammering (as spavined put it). I don’t really understand what’s so hard for us women to just put the seat down when we need to use it, and for him to put it up when he needs to. (Plus, my cat seems to like the clean water there better than in her bowl…and given those stats that the toilet can be cleaner than the sink, why not?)
It seems to me it’s more about power struggle than about actual politeness (women force men to be polite and considerate and don’t do it themselves).
As for the nighttime thing…if you’re in the habit of checking, you can generally tell if the thing’s up or down my feel. Sometimes accidents happen, but oh well
that’s BY feel not MY feel DOH!
Summarizing for seat down
1)So the women don’t fall in
2)Because the rim is frequently dirty (clean up your dripage, men!)
3)Panache45’s stats (women need the seat down All the time, men about Half the time)
and for seat And lid down
- reducing the number of “icky missles”
- keeping the pets out
and adding
6)discouraging small children from exploring the area
7) courtesy- everyone starts from a neutral point each time
Seems like 7 good reasons to me, and adding
- It just pisses us off, so Do It.
And there, good people, is the ONE legitimate reason.
I agree mostly with the OP (and so does Dear Abby, make of that what you will).
As a man, I look at it this way. Caution: dangerous generalizations to follow.
Women, more than men, appreciate the little gestures in life that show consideration. Picking up socks, changing the toilet paper roll the right way up, rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, remembering birthdays on time, what have you. I believe women are more likely to take it personally when something as simple as the toilet seat gets ignored: after all, he’s standing right there and it takes about two seconds to do it, it weighs less than a can of beer fercryinoutloud, it’s not out of his way, it shouldn’t inconvenience him, therefore if he can’t be bothered to put the seat down when it’s obviously so simple, it must be because he’s rude, insensitive, thoughtless, or doesn’t care about me any more.
In order to make the issue personal, women bring up the “I could fall in and hurt myself! Don’t you care?” argument. If the man still won’t reform it’s a clear indication he’s just a jerk.
Men don’t see it this way, I feel, because we’re idiots. We don’t read motivation into simple behavior. We see it as something simple, so why can’t you do it yourself, if it’s such a big deal to you? If we find the toilet seat down and we want it up, we damn well do something about it; we don’t often say, “hey! what thoughtless bugger used this thing last?”
As a result of these dangerous generalizations, my guess is that women are likely to see the toilet seat as a bone to pick within a relationship. If this is what you’re arguing about, though, maybe there’s something else going on, something bigger, that you should think about instead.
I remember Dear Abby’s take on this, too. (God, I’m so embarrassed.) She said any woman who falls into the toilet deserves to for not looking; and there’s no reason why she shouldn’t be considerate to her husband in this regard.
Okay, enough dangerous generalizations. Attack me if you like; I realize there are exceptions to the above statements. As a result of them, though, I have come to the conclusion that women care about the issue a hell of a lot more than I do, and it’s not like I’m mowing the lawn or building a patio, so I put the seat and lid down. (Of course, I have a seat cover decorated like a fish, and I wanna show it off, too.)
FISH
[hijack]
Fish, how is your seat decorated like a fish?
[/hijack]
And yes, I believe women tend to take things like that a bit more personally. I don’t, but then, I’m pretty low maintenance.
Seat cover, I mean.
[responding to hijacker]
skeptic_ev, the toilet cover is yellow and bright magenta, with teal fins that stick off both sides. It has bulgy white eyes, literally white puffballs attached with black dots for pupils. When the seat is up the eyes bump the edge of the tank lid (so the toilet lid doesn’t like to stay up, anyway). It’s got a set of magenta fishylips that stick out in front, too.
I should say it’s a toilet lid cover, not a seat cover, too.
[/responding]
FISH
When I first got him, I had to train my then boyfriend (now husband) in this matter. He was willing, but he just kept forgetting. Call me irrational - as Fish, my brother in law, did when I had to train him, too, but this one matters to me. Has to do with growing up with a just a mom and a sister - no toilet seats up, ever, in that home.
I found the coolest little diabolical device. A little plastic thing that stuck to the bottom of the seat and had a timer and a beeper. If the seat had been vertical for more than 60 seconds, it started beeping and didn’t stop until it (and the seat) was horizontal again. Worked wonders - thank you Dr. Pavlov!
Because methinks toilet water isn’t good for anyone to drink, even a dog, especially a dog who’s not terribly discriminating. It’s not like it’s pure water! What it everything didn’t flush? Hm?
Yay someone quoted me from my older thread.
And I will hijack, why don’t homes come with urinals?
Urinals are becoming “cool” in upscale bathrooms. I think it’s a great idea.
The seat stays up. Why? Because everyone in my family (yes, all 7 of us) looks before they sit, even my half-assed sister.
Put things in perspective:
Guys: If the seat is up, good for the girls. We don’t wet the rim. If the seat is down, I put it up, take a pee and refuse to put it down. It’s 3am, and putting it up means I have to open my eyes wide enough so I can see the rim (you can pee with your eyes closed, because your thighs will tell you when you’re in front of the bowl)
Girls: If the seat is up, my sis puts it down and does her stuff. she leaves it down, which is fine by me. If it’s down, good for her. she leaves it down. we don’t blame each other.
Hey, once in a while even we guys need to take a midnight shit, and we are botehred enough to open our eyes and check if the seat is down, so why can’t the women do likewise? If you just leave the seat in the position it is after you’re done everyone should be fine with it.