Public toilets are disgusting so most women learn at a young age to simply hover over them. As long as you clean any fly away pee, everything's fine, right?

It turns out, hovering or the half/semi squatting essentially trains your pelvic muscles to remain tensed why you urinate. Because this isn't natural, you can actually weaken your bladder

So what are you supposed to do to keep from touching nasty toilets?

The most popular/well known option is the toilet paper barrier method. Just be sure to use your foot and either some toilet paper or a wet wipe to wipe off any remaining pee or toilet water from the previous user. After you’re finished with that barrier, don’t forget to nudge it down the toilet with your foot.

Another, less popular, option is to use a female urination device (FOD). These are mostly used to make it easier for women to pee while camping but they can definitely be treated as a faux penis in traditional western restrooms. All you have to do is pee into the collection cup and your pee will fly through the connected tube to the toilet you're aiming it at. As the linked video states, this device can be used for nasty toilets but it can also be used for urinals and bathrooms in other countries that seem a bit too scary at first

While hovering can give you a quick thigh burn and keep your bottom away from nasty toilet seats, it’s really not the best for your bladder. I know it’s becoming common knowledge that it’s very unlikely you’ll catch anything from putting your bare bottom on the seat but the germaphobe in me can not fathom that. So if you too are not about straight up sitting on the toilet seat, maybe consider the two options above.