There's this long war over the toilet seat between men and women, apparently. I personally don't understand what the war is about. I mean, we're living in the day and age of equality, right? Surely then we should apply equality to the toilet seat issue.
The first claim is that men should raise the toilet seat when they go #1. Well, this much is obvious. You're not supposed to pee through the toilet seat as a man, unless you're sitting on it. The point of contention here isn't raising the toilet seat, however, but lowering it. The classic "nag" you hear over and over is about men leaving the toilet seat up.
Well, let's look at it, shall we?
Option A
- Man goes to the toilet for a #1
- Man raises the toilet seat, left down by the woman
- Man does his business
- Man lowers the toilet seat
- Woman goes to the toilet for her business
- Woman does nothing to the seat
- Woman does her business
- Woman does nothing to the seat
Conclusion: In this model, men do all the work, while women do absolutely nothing. This is the womens' preferred model, of course, and this is what the classic "nag" is all about.
Option B
- Man goes to the toilet for a #1
- Man raises the toilet seat, left down by the woman
- Man does his business
- Man leaves the seat up
- Woman goes to the toilet for her business
- Woman lowers the toilet seat, left up by the man
- Woman does her business
- Woman leaves the seat down
Conclusion: In this model, men raise the seat, women lower the seat. Equal amount of work for both parties.
Option C
- Man goes to the toilet for a #1
- Man raises the toilet lid as well as the toilet seat, left down by whoever visited the toilet last
- Man does his business
- Man lowers the toilet seat as well as the lid
- Woman goes to the toilet for her business
- Woman raises the toilet lid, left down by whoever visited the toilet last
- Woman does her business
- Woman lowers the toilet lid
Conclusion: If you have a lid on your toilet, why is it ever open? It's there for a reason. You're meant to close it when you use the toilet, preferably before flushing, mainly because during flushing, a very large amount of water vapor, and with it bacteria as well as fecal matter and the sort, is sprayed out from the toilet due to the rushing water. There are very graphic examples of this online if you're interested. Thus, this model is equal for both parties, as well as the most hygienic.
So there you have it. As I said in the beginning, I personally don't understand what the fuss is about, since where I live, we have lids on our toilets, and for me it's obvious to close the lid after I use the toilet. I do admit though that more than often I run to a toilet where the lid isn't closed, and the seat is either up or down (up if it's a men's toilet, up or down if it's a unisex toilet). Still, the lids are there for a reason. They should be used.
What's your preferred model of toilet seat etiquette?