# When only public bathrooms are available, do women act on their urge quicker than men? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333 "2012-07-05T18:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/21 "2012-07-06T01:30:48Z")
> [@gallan](#): > > This is part of the conundrum for me. Women’s restrooms at major events often have enormously long lines, and yet I’ve observed that despite numerous jokes on the subject, women often “handle their business” as fast, if not faster than men. So I tend to think along the lines of the OP, that women just take the opportunity more often than men…l. But the lines still are relatively longer…Eppur si non mueve. What you’re saying is that the lines are longer, but (broadly speaking) the women on the lines arrive with a lesser urgency? So they waste more time on line, but are not squirming as much as would men on similar queues? (I’m aware that upthread it was suggested that men do go more often than women…) ---
**Author:** ![gallan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@gallan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/22 "2012-07-06T02:04:24Z")
Well what I was trying to say was simply that I think women go more often than men when they know there won’t be an opportunity to go later. The theory I hear most often is that women take longer because they’re fixing their make-up or have more complicated clothing or because there are fewer stalls or because they stop and chat. That just hasn’t been my observation though. Having stood outside countless women’s rooms waiting for friends/relatives/girlfriends/dates/etc, I’ve noticed that women don’t really spend that much more time than men when using a public restroom during an event where a line may form. Just as an example, a few weeks ago I was at an opera with a pretty packed house, and during intermission, most women lined up at the restroom. Men, on the other hand, were divided. Most either stayed in their seats, waited outside the women’s room for someone, or lined up at the bar. The line at the women’s room moved fairly quickly, but there were far more women who headed to the bathroom than there were men. So my opinion, based solely on my own observations, is that men tend to think, “I can hold it” while women tend to think, “I should go now.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/23 "2012-07-06T04:05:47Z")
Some of you guys are clearly not old enough to have prostate problems. Everything changes. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/24 "2012-07-06T04:06:49Z")
When there is a crowd, it only takes a small number of slow bathroom-goers to cause a back up. It’s kind of like a traffic jam, in that small delays can compound into a big jam that persists long after the triggering event. If one out of twenty women is doing something complicated, that might be enough to cause a problem. I’m not sure women are more likely to go to avoid lines, but I think they will go if they anticipate there won’t be an acceptable place to go in the future. For example, if I’m walking home a couple miles at night, I might do a safety pee, where a guy might figure he can pee in a park en route if it comes up. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/25 "2012-07-06T04:43:11Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > why the hell they can’t at least go to the end of the platform and piss off the edge is beyond me. Because what they are doing is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/26 "2012-07-06T05:04:24Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > he can pee in a park en route if it comes up. Hmmm…if it “comes up” I don’t think peeing is much of an option…:D:D ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/27 "2012-07-06T05:08:18Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Because what they are doing is illegal. So’s peeing against a pillar - if it’s a case of one or the other, which is better? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/28 "2012-07-06T05:22:04Z")
> [@Even seven](#): > > Because what they are doing is illegal. Um. So doing it where someone can see you, since it’s illegal, and where you leave evidence, is better than going to the end of the platform where there are no trains stopping or passengers walking/waiting and going off the edge so there’s no puddle. OK. Got it. I wish I could say the guys I’ve busted doing this were homeless or ill, but the vast majority are not. Of course there have been a couple, but most of them are just regular guys you wouldn’t look twice at, looking otherwise like anyone else on their way home or to visit someone in the neighborhood. I don’t mess with ones who look homeless, with the flashlight trick - but seriously that’s been maybe two in the two years I’ve lived down the alley from those dumpsters. On the train platform, I just point at the nearest camera and tell them to “smile!” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/29 "2012-07-06T05:35:43Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Also, the guys that you are seeing peeing in public aren’t going because they’re in pain because they have to go so back, and they checked, like, three places, and the gas station was closed, and McDonalds said they had to buy a coffee first, but they only had $0.11. They’re doing it because something is probably wrong with their heads. Although I have seen at least one chemically and/or neurochemically impaired homeless woman peeing right out in the open. The ones I see are doing it because they’re rude pigs. A portapotty two hundred meters away, a bit further what may be the only row of restaurants/bars in Barcelona where toilets aren’t “customers only”, and they have to irrigate the bushes? (Sagrada Familia square, Barcelona) ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/30 "2012-07-06T05:37:35Z")
(Don’t worry, **sven** , I’m not mixing you up with the newbie) > [@even\_sven](#): > > I’m not sure women are more likely to go to avoid lines, but I think they will go if they anticipate there won’t be an acceptable place to go in the future. For example, if I’m walking home a couple miles at night, I might do a safety pee, where a guy might figure he can pee in a park en route if it comes up. This is part of why I’ve come to the conclusion that dudes have less bladder holding power, though. It if were the other way around and a woman didn’t do a “safety pee” because, let’s face it, that’s not always available, she will still be able to hold it until she gets home rather than piss behind a bush. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. I’ve been known to seek a bush or dumpster on rare occasion, but I can count the times on one hand in my 41 years. I don’t know a single man who could possibly give even a ballpark figure on how many times he’s peed outside of a toilet/urinal/bathroom/“acceptable” peeing place. Whether it’s right or wrong, in my head, men have a much more urgent need to go when it hits, and can’t seem to hold it for long after the urge strikes. Possibly it’s a training issue they never have to address. They don’t crowd the bathrooms at intermission because they can just let loose in the parking lot, side of the road, at a stoplight, in a bottle, whatever, on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/31 "2012-07-06T06:42:19Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The ones I see are doing it because they’re rude pigs. A portapotty two hundred meters away, a bit further what may be the only row of restaurants/bars in Barcelona where toilets aren’t “customers only”, and they have to irrigate the bushes? Heck in the US, I’d be happy if they irrigated the bushes. It would be less odorous than peeing on the sidewalk or other hard surfaces. I used to live in back of a gas station. Guys would regularly pee on the wall rather than ask the station attendant for a key to the facilities. ---
**Author:** ![gallan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@gallan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/32 "2012-07-06T08:21:53Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > This is part of why I’ve come to the conclusion that dudes have less bladder holding power, though. It if were the other way around and a woman didn’t do a “safety pee” because, let’s face it, that’s not always available, she will still be able to hold it until she gets home rather than piss behind a bush. Couldn’t at least a little bit of this be attributed to the logistical difficulties associated with a woman peeing without a toilet available? Not that I think it’s terribly difficult, but it is certainly \*more \*difficult than the process a man has to go through to pee without a toilet, and it seems to me that a woman would be much more exposed and have a diminished reaction time if caught, compared to a man. So perhaps for some men it’s not so much an inability to hold it, but an unwillingness to hold it when it would be easier not to, while with women it’s easier and less risky to just hold it until they get home? It just seems odd to conclude that men \*can’t \*hold it because they sometimes choose not to. That’s like concluding that women are less capable of getting a job because the number of women who choose to be stay-at-home parents is significantly greater than the number of men. In both cases, you’re making assumptions about ability without regard for preference. Besides, even if \*some \*guys pee in inappropriate places, regardless of the reason, I don’t understand the assumption that this is something common among \*all \* or even \*most \*men. I, for one, can count on zero hands the number of times I’ve peed in an “unacceptable” peeing place. I’m a 31-year-old male and I have never peed behind a dumpster, or at a bus stop, or on a bush that wasn’t in the woods while camping. I’m willing to concede that perhaps it happened when I was a small child, but if so, I don’t recall. And there have certainly been lots of times when I’ve thought, “Hey, I should just pee on that tree in the middle of the park instead of waiting to get to a bathroom” but not once have I ever acted on that impulse. I honestly never realized that there were non-homeless men who did, but then again, I’ve never lived in a big city. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/33 "2012-07-06T08:35:46Z")
I have seen women jump the line for men’s rooms, announce themselves and use the stalls in the men’s room since most of us are using the urinals, making the stalls superfluous. In my experience such incursions have never been met with anything other than good humored acceptance; i have often wondered why more women don’t just Bogart their way into men’s rooms, do what they need to do and leave. Seems like a good idea to me. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/35 "2012-07-06T09:27:01Z")
[QUOTE=SeaDragonTattoo] I don’t mess with ones who look homeless, with the flashlight trick - but seriously that’s been maybe two in the two years I’ve lived down the alley from those dumpsters. On the train platform, I just point at the nearest camera and tell them to “smile!” [/QUOTE] Maybe a camera flash would have a better effect. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/36 "2012-07-06T10:33:01Z")
> [@gallan](#): > > Couldn’t at least a little bit of this be attributed to the logistical difficulties associated with a woman peeing without a toilet available? Not that I think it’s terribly difficult, but it is certainly \*more \*difficult than the process a man has to go through to pee without a toilet, and it seems to me that a woman would be much more exposed and have a diminished reaction time if caught, compared to a man. So perhaps for some men it’s not so much an inability to hold it, but an unwillingness to hold it when it would be easier not to, while with women it’s easier and less risky to just hold it until they get home? It just seems odd to conclude that men \*can’t \*hold it because they sometimes choose not to. That’s like concluding that women are less capable of getting a job because the number of women who choose to be stay-at-home parents is significantly greater than the number of men. In both cases, you’re making assumptions about ability without regard for preference. > > Besides, even if \*some \*guys pee in inappropriate places, regardless of the reason, I don’t understand the assumption that this is something common among \*all \* or even \*most \*men. I, for one, can count on zero hands the number of times I’ve peed in an “unacceptable” peeing place. I’m a 31-year-old male and I have never peed behind a dumpster, or at a bus stop, or on a bush that wasn’t in the woods while camping. I’m willing to concede that perhaps it happened when I was a small child, but if so, I don’t recall. And there have certainly been lots of times when I’ve thought, “Hey, I should just pee on that tree in the middle of the park instead of waiting to get to a bathroom” but not once have I ever acted on that impulse. I honestly never realized that there were non-homeless men who did, but then again, I’ve never lived in a big city. Really? Do you drink? I don’t think I know even one guy who hasn’t one time or another, ducked behind a tree in the park, hidden behind a dumpster or whatever. I’ve certainly done it a few times ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/37 "2012-07-06T10:47:51Z")
> [@canadiankorean](#): > > I always figured that it takes more time for women to go pee. > Woman: Put away purse, clean toilet seat, take off pants/lift skirt, etc. Pull _down_ her pants, not take them off. At least baring an accident that requires changing your pants or maybe being too drunk to know what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/38 "2012-07-06T10:59:44Z")
For guys there is also always the option of pissing in the bathroom sink. Man, I need to hang out in classier bars. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/39 "2012-07-06T11:32:47Z")
A lot of the pissing in alley’s is the difference in drinking habit. Guys are just much more likely to drink a gallon two of beer, and if it hits on the way home, then watering the walls it is. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/40 "2012-07-06T11:46:12Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I have seen women jump the line for men’s rooms, announce themselves and use the stalls in the men’s room since most of us are using the urinals, making the stalls superfluous. In my experience such incursions have never been met with anything other than good humored acceptance; i have often wondered why more women don’t just Bogart their way into men’s rooms, do what they need to do and leave. Seems like a good idea to me. I’ve never got this. Why is it more acceptable for women to sneak into men’s toilets than the other way round? Women do all the embarrassing stuff behind closed doors but men don’t get that luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333/41 "2012-07-06T12:09:04Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I’ve never got this. Why is it more acceptable for women to sneak into men’s toilets than the other way round? Women do all the embarrassing stuff behind closed doors but men don’t get that luxury. But it is not more acceptable, or not everywhere: it is more frequent, because it tends to happen when there is a line at the women’s and not at the men’s and there tends to be a line at the women’s more frequently. I’ve seen guys come into the ladies’ when their room was being cleaned; nobody said anything other than “me” in response to “who’s last?” (this being in Spain, our queues tend to be nonlinear). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-only-public-bathrooms-are-available-do-women-act-on-their-urge-quicker-than-men/627333.md?page=3)