A Rose by Any Other Name....

A Rose by Any Other Name?

One of the greatest `out-takes,` in the history of cinematic bloopers is when Peter Sellers and some of his cohorts are in a lift and the former audibly farts. He does, of course, crack up (if you will forgive the pun) completely, reducing everyone else to tears of agonized hilarity. I doubt if there are many people on this planet who don`t at least crack an inward smile at this demonstration of human fallibility. Both the act and the reaction allow us to enjoy and share a great deal of pleasure. And I will say right at the outset that this is not an all-male preserve. There is legitimate research that indicates women laugh more than men at farting, the experiment being testing of reactions while being shown movie examples of the genre.
So, why is it that `farting,` has become socially ostracized both verbally by being re-named `breaking -wind,` and behaviorally by it`s being relegated to a category of children`s naughtiness that adult`s are supposed to be embarrassed about? Does this presuppose that `farting,` is something we grow out of if we are `normal?` I cannot see any scientific basic for this stance. On the contrary, I know of thirty year old plus adults who gleefully do farting contests over the phone when no-one is around. After a drink too many one may even get a hilarious story of unintended `follow-through.` Is this just a man`s world secret, or do women have little shared moments of fart humor that they hide from men? It is quite logical for the latter to be the case since women are inundated on a daily basis with how womanhood is about looking and smelling beautiful from those multi-national whale-killing corporations.
One reason to resent others farting around one is that the smell may be genuinely unpleasant. Coupled with this drawback is that there does appear to be more than one variety of fart extant. These can be placed fairly precisely on a paradigm of decibel level intersecting tenacity. An unusually tenacious fart will not go away and will follow one around as though unwilling to leave the pseudo-womb of the owner. This may even have something to do with the viscosity of the gas impregnating for example, heavy denim jeans, although little research has been done in this area. At the opposite end we have noiseless efforts that don`t smell very much and it is perhaps here that one comes to some implications concerning a deeper social issue. Much of the nasal-inflaming gas is a result of eating meat and poultry. That`s why if you go into a gents toilet after a forty plus has taken a dump you may wish to lie down peacefully at Ypres. The rotting flesh and putrid eggs are a grim testament to man`s inhumanity to the natural world.
But let`s get back to the crucial point here. Farting makes people laugh, if they would only admit it. Not just a quick smile, but a deep, belly bending gurgle which is somehow resonating in sympathy with the origin of the noise and smell, which is basically a few degrees lower. We know that belly laughing is so powerful it can be used as an aid to healing and emotional well -being and yet we are denied so few opportunities to produce one during our daily grind to work, to bed, then home and bed. The world would be a much happier place if we just swallowed our pride (and our lentils) and let rip a few good snorters on the stairs and in boring business meetings.
As Shrek and is lovely bride remarked so frequently, `Better out than in.`