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“Be right back, I’m going to go pee like a girl.” This was something a friend of mine announced while he and I binged many episodes of a show I’m too embarrassed to confess. Without inquiring, I knew exactly what he meant: my friend was going to pee sitting down, probably while scrolling through Instagram. As a long-time supporter of this practice (toilets are designed to be sat on, after all), I had no snide remarks. I simply responded, “Do your thing, man.”
I’ve never understood why it’s considered feminine or taboo for men to sit down to pee. It’s comfortable, there’s zero mess, and if I’m particularly busy that day, I can multitask and send an email or two. I’m also lazy and slightly disgusted when I miss the bowl and have to dab the toilet seat dry for the next patron. Not to mention, I’m not fond of casually making eye contact with another man peeing at an adjacent urinal.
If my own personal argument isn’t enough to sway you, peeing while sitting is actually the more beneficial option in some cases. In 2014, researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that sitting down to pee actually helps men with lower urinary tract disease. Sitting creates a more favorable “urodynamic profile,” which helps ward off prostate problems and can even equate to better sex.
Besides, standing to pee in public isn’t great for your body. According to experts, standing to pee activates a host of muscles in the pelvis and spine that prevent urine flow, especially in public restrooms where men flex these muscles more often to prevent themselves from ripping obnoxious farts in close proximity of others.
However, Michael Ingber, urologist, reveals to Playboy that one study showed men who sit to pee may not fully empty their bladders. Researchers found the residual volume left over was 29.5mL in men who stood to urinate, and 47.5mL in men who sat. “This difference does not mean anything clinically, however, as any residual bladder volume under 100mL is relatively normal in men,” he says.
Sitting creates a more favorable “urodynamic profile,” which helps ward off prostate problems and can even equate to better sex.
“The reason it’s considered feminine for men to sit is simply socialization,” Bryan Shepherd, sociologist, tells Playboy. “Socialization is the process by which humans learn society’s unwritten rules. Every human who isn’t raised by wolves goes through it. In the case of whether to sit or stand, a lot of information about ‘socially acceptable’ ways of using the bathroom comes from our parents.”
Shepard details that some of this socialization happens directly during potty training and some of it indirectly through observing others’ bathroom behaviors. “Children get messages about what is socially acceptable to do in the bathroom from other places, too,” he adds. “Even environmental things, like the fact that men’s bathrooms have urinals and women’s don’t, reinforce the differences in acceptable ways for men and women to take care of business. Of course, societies differ and some groups, no doubt, see less of an issue with men sitting to pee.”
In Europe, it’s more customary for men to sit to pee, and the influence is believed to have begun in Germany. “The women’s movement there was trying to get men to sit down when they tinkled because they claim men were soiling the toilet seats,” Dr. Stephen Soifer of the University of Maryland told Vice.
As for the origins of the practice in places like Japan and Taiwan (49 percent of wedded Japanese men pee sitting down; up 15 percent from 1999), Soifer believes this is due to the regional prominence of rigid toilet associations. Yes, that’s right, associations dedicated solely to proper bathroom behavior exist. Soifer says the U.S. has a toilet association of their own, but admits it’s rather dormant. In other nations, standing to pee can even be considered a religious matter. As Vice explores, the most prominent example is Islam, in which some interpret the hadith—guidelines for life based on the deeds of the prophet—as encouraging men to squat and pee so as to avoid contact with unclean urine.
Objectively, sitting down to urinate is only considered feminine because women have no other option. There is nothing inherently effeminate about the act, it’s merely a social rule derived from baseless gender norms. What I mean to say is: If you want to pee sitting down, pee sitting down.