October 28, 2006
More on farting...
I'm obsessed with the fart, so please share your gassy stories with me.
Doesn't everybody?
There are certain things that women say they won’t do around men. Some women would actually swear that they can’t do these things in public, and possibly not in private, but as a woman, and a human, I know this not to be the case. These are things like belching and nose picking, peeing and farting. And while I can pick with the best of them, belch with the rest of them (well, occasionally), and pee in front of him, it’s the farting thing that I can’t quite let go. Do women fart in front of their partners (sometimes), and if so, when and where does it start?
One of my favorite friends doesn’t even go to the bathroom in front of her man let alone pass some gas. Another intelligent writer friend of mine added, “I'd rather explode than fart in front of my boyfriend. When I was married, my husband and I eventually got over that, but since then, I will do everything I can to avoid the situation. I carry gas-x with me and have it stashed around the house, and I have a dog so there's always an excuse to just step outside with the dog for a moment. Conversely, I couldn't care less if the man has bodily functions. I hardly notice, I only giggle if it's really, really funny, but otherwise, I don't even think twice about it. A wise woman once told me that she doesn't toot around her husband because "if he had a mistress, I'm sure she wouldn't toot in bed.”
Others like Anna appreciate their bodily functions. “Seriously, I’m a gassy girl and it hurts to hold it in. I literally stress about having to hold it, or to be all secretive about it. I don't take it to extremes, like farting in my mate’s face (gotta have some boundaries); I tend to feel more comfortable around men who are comfortable with the body process. Geez, I get gas! I’m not smearing feces on him.”
Okay, yeah, that would be worse.
Truthfully, it's not easy for me to fart in front of my boyfriend. I mean, he knows I fart, but only recently have we actually discussed that I do it. Still, I don't like to do it in front of him. Occasionally one slips out, but it's generally something beyond my control, and I don't even feel it getting out of me. I'm learning not to care. He's seen me early in the morning, and late at night, and passed out drunk on the bed, so what's a fart really, besides some air being released from my butthole.
And every relationship has a timeline. Perhaps the fart is the starting point of most super serious relationships. It’s a time when you bond over something so silly, so human, so "everybody does it". I find it so strange that we’re conditioned to think it’s so wrong. And a lot of us women do think it's wrong. But we all do it. So when does it become less wrong?
Posted by jamye at October 28, 2006 06:33 PM