Fecal Matters

    Society and culture has proven to affect even the smallest and most daily routines. David Ingles discusses in his book, “Culture and Everyday Life”, about social faux pas and the integration of Freud’s concept of cultivation (superego) battling our animalistic instincts (id). Two topics Ingles pinpoints are sex and toilet culture. I am going to elaborate on toilet culture. This is a topic worth looking into because our American culture says it is crude and inappropriate to discuss in detail and in public, but our animalistic instincts continue on making these feces and urinations occur.  I once had a friend from Mississippi say that he’d convinced himself that girls didn’t actually use the bathroom when they went in there- they just clean the seat, wash their hands, and gossip. Needless to say, he didn’t seem comfortable with the idea of a female defecating or urinating, although it is completely natural and necessary to our body’s survival.  Proof of America’s uncomfortableness is embedded in our business affairs, our dating norms, everyday conversation, and even in some governmental laws.
    Every culture has a norm in what is considered desirable and most comfortable when looking even into the physical bathroom itself. To further study and analyze this topic, I separately interviewed two of my friends Jacob and Katelyn to get a glimpse of their personal incite and views on toilet culture, which were most likely instilled in them by their surrounding culture(s). I just want to compare and contrast some of the interesting things they said from a sociological perspective.
    As far as backgrounds go in relation to toilet culture, Katelyn and Jacob are quite different. Jacob claims that in his home full of guys, it is normal to just leave the door open. One might wonder if being in a male dominated environment would result in an individual is more open-minded and less private about defecation. Katelyn stated that she and her mom were the only two females in her family. However, through listening one might speculate that Katelyn’s mother instilled a dominating standard that it is inappropriate to discuss or publicly display bodily functions in  any way. Katelyn stated, “My mom doesn’t even like the words ‘crap’ or ‘pee’!”. Jacob did not have a motherly figure in his household. According to the results of these two interviews, the presence of a female motherly figure highly affects how bathroom habits are practiced.
    One theme that came up in both interviews was the importance of cleanliness in the bathroom. I asked both interviewees about what disgusts them about bathrooms and their ideal bathroom.  Both went into much detail about specific things that should be clean in the bathroom. For example, both interviewees expressed their dislike of pee on the toilet seat. There were a lot of other interesting and entertaining things said in the interviews, but not enough space to further elaborate, so I suggest you read the interviews which are included at the end.
    So what does all this toilet talk have to do with sociology? How does our culture affect even the most private and ‘natural’. I’ve noticed that even in writing this analysis, my style and word choice suggests that I am not writing totally as a objective third party, but as an active integrated member with similar cultural norms as the interviewees. So, even my attempts to keep my language as appropriate as possible and inoffensive (using words like ‘defecate’ instead of ‘doo-doo’) are affected by my own culture. To refocus though, these interviews definitely exemplify how our different surrounding environments can affect how we view going to the bathroom. Specifically in these interviews, the existence of a motherly figure plays a big role in how one views the restroom and how appropriate it is to publicly discuss toilet matters. When asked at the interview if discussing bodily functions and the habits associated with it was bothering or refreshing Katelyn immediately exclaimed “It’s not refreshing!” whereas Jacob comfortable stated, “Right now it is refreshing. Exponentially refreshing. I would consider it an art- an honor that someone is interested in my art.” Humorously, I think it is important to note that Jacob is the guy who texts people while he is defecating about his ‘doo-doo’.

this is the interview (my apologies for any typos or grammatic errors):
Interview
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself. You’re background? Where you come from?
Jacob: This is my 4th year at UCM. My parents have been divorced and married different people. I have 3 step brothers and 1 biologically related brother. I’ve lived with my dad all my life. I’ve always had a male figure in my life but not always a female figure in my life. We never shut the door when we went to the bathroom. That was just the thing. We were used to that. Music education major blah blah blah…that sort of thing. I’m in the UTT building and Hendrix a lot.
Katelyn: I’m from Missouri. Have been all my life. I grew up outside of St. Louis and moved to Independence area later in my life. I’ve always lived in the suburbs I guess- nothing real rural. I have two brothers. My parents have been together for 24 years. I’m a senior Speech Path major. I like sports. I’m pretty physically active. I have really long hair quite obviously- it’d down to my knees.

2. Do you have some sort of routine when you use the restroom? If so elaborate in detail.
Jacob: Well typically when I have to go the bathroom in a public restroom I take 6 squares and put them on each part of the toilet seat because I do not want my bare bottom on the toilet seat. Sometimes guys tend to pee on the toilet seat so that is more for my own comfort. I always make sure I have my cell phone. I flush the toilet first. At home I don’t poop in my own bathroom because I’m afraid of toilet clogging and it stinking up my apartment so I always use public restrooms. If there is no one around I will use the women’s restroom. That is where I feel most safe, because they don’t typically pee on the seat and the lighting is better in the BSU. As for whipping I’m not incredibly concerned with whipping. I stand up to whip. I stand up. Whip down, not up. I don’t wanna go against the grain. It gets very messy. When I wipe I look at the mess to see how much is there. I always flush before the wipe because I have a tendency to clog the toilet with feces and toilet paper in there at the same time. On average I usually use about 6 squares per wipe. I fold it twice then wipe. I usually just wipe once unless it appears not as clean. If I have to wipe 3 or 4 times I usually take a shower afterwards because they are messy ones. 
Katelyn: Well I go in, pull my hair to the side/ out of the way, pull my pants down,     uses the bathroom, use toilet paper, flush, put the toilet seat down, then wash my     hands. Public restrooms don’t typically bother me. I don’t use a lot of toilet paper.     I prefer my own bathroom, but yah public restrooms don’t bother me.

3. What types of things gross you about a bathroom?
Jacob: I don’t like it when there is stuff all over the toilet seat. Just a clean bathroom in general. Poop smears in the toilet is a bad sign. No pee drops on the floor. That is why I try to avoid going into a bathroom barefooted. I’ve done that before and it was not good. No dead animals. That would be gross and smell pretty bad.

Katelyn: People who leave tampons and stuff on the toilet. I hate it when guys pee on the seat. Tampons should be wrapped back in their wrapper and thrown in the trash. Nobody wants to see a bloody tampon—eeww (shakes head in disgust). I don’t like the sound of people going to the bathroom. On a random note: I’m not that grossed out by peeing in the woods standing up.

4. Is there a certain place(s) or environment(s) that this most often seems to be the case?
Jacob: Gas stations or Truck stops are typically not the greatest places. Restaurants are hit and miss, but mostly good. Sometimes girls bathrooms aren’t the best. If they are on their period that can get pretty gross. Kind of a ‘red light’ per say. (interviewer says “pun!”). Ah dang good one.
Katelyn: Girl’s bathrooms in the dorms. I don’t see nastiness as much in public restrooms. Some of my worst experiences were with female African American suitemates. That is not to say black girls are all like that. Just in my experience they have been less cleanly. I also tend to think low-income housing as not as clean sometimes.

5. What is your ideal bathroom look like?
Jacob: It needs to be well lit. There needs to be a coat hanger on the door to put your bad on, because you don’t want to wear your bag. That would get in the way. I don’t like the automatic flushers. I prefer the hard toilet seats. Not the padded ones. I like a big bowl with plenty of water in it, but not back up. Enough to where it doesn’t splash you from the poop hitting the water. I like the handicap restrooms because it has more space. I would want the crack between the door and the stall eliminated. I hate it when people stare at me. Maybe a shelf for things like my phone. When things get really bad its nice to have something like a bar to hold on to.
Katelyn: Fluffy towels. Probably some scented plug-in or candle- preferably a candle. Things like cleaning solution and plungers put out of sight if possible. Not fluorescent lighting- I like soft lighting. Maybe a CD player. Magazines like Reader’s Digest or humorous literature. Cleanliness! Clean smell, Clean sink, and the toilet seat down.

6. Do you tend to distract yourself from the bodily task you have at hand (i.e. reading a magazine, drawing, singing)?  What are some of those things you like to do while defecating or urinating?
Jacob: When I am defecating I usually like to tell people via my cell phone. That is when I like to remind people I am thinking about them. There are a couple ways I do this. In my phone I have a group called “Poop for a Group”. It is a mass texting line. I takes something they are familiar with and contorts it into something that makes them know I am pooping. For example John Denver wrote a song “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy” but I would change it to “Doodoo on my shoulders makes me happy.” I also use popular phrases like “A doodoo saved is a doodoo earned” or movie quotes like “you want the doodoo? you can’t handle the doodoo” Christmas songs are great for that kind of stuff. It is certainly not limited to texting. Sometimes I’ll take a picture of it (poop) and send it to a select few who wouldn’t be uncomfortable with me sending them a picture of poop. Sometimes I’ll get song ideas and record them on my phone and send them to people- like the “whip it song”. I changed that one up to “Doodoo. Doodoo good..”
Katelyn: I am usually in and out pretty fast, so I don’t really read any magazines or anything like that usually. The only time I might read a magazine is if I’m at home and bored and avoiding something. Reader’s Digest is most preferred.

7. Is it weird to be openly discussing your bodily functions in this way? Does it bother you or is it refreshing?
Jacob: Right now it is refreshing. Exponentially refreshing. I would consider it an art- an honor that someone is interested in my art. Poop in a lot of ways is a dirty thing. It is a vulnerable topic. Knowing that you have the regular ability to produce something that smelly. The fact that someone could walk in on you and be exposed. But I like being exposed. The more I am exposed to a person, the more close I feel to that person. Being open about poop is just an example of me being vulnerable.
Katelyn: It’s not refreshing! It doesn’t bother me either. Where I come from, discussing bodily functions in detail is highly inappropriate. My mom doesn’t even like us to use the words “crap” or “pee” around her.