Lowering Toilet Seats

Abstract

Many people who stand to pee raise the toilet seat so that they have a larger target to aim at. However, if the seat is left in this position, any subsequent toilet user who defecates or pees sitting down will need to lower the seat. Some of us believe that this inconvenience should not be visited on those who pee sitting down, while others deny that there is anything wrong with leaving the toilet seat in the position that you used it. This article offers the first scholarly defense of the seat-down norm. In so doing, it shows that recent claims that this norm would be unfair and inefficient are unwarranted. Keywords: Toilet seats; Toilets; Bathrooms; Gender Inequality; Urination; Defecation; Expensive tastes; Stehpinkler; Sitzpinkler