Everybody poops
Heh, so I was very intrigued to see this article on women's bodily functions linked at ontd_feminism today. It seems ironic to put this discussion under a cut, given that the whole point is "we should be able to talk about this," but I'll spare you.
Confession time: Ever since I was a kid, I've had bathroom stage fright. I am one of those people who CANNOT PEE if there's someone in the stall next to me. And up until recently, I absolutely would not poop in public.
Let me tell you, it is remarkable how much an intestinal condition will snap you right out of that shit (no pun intended). It's amazing the things you can get comfortable with when you don't have a choice. My body will do what it needs to do, and it doesn't care if I'm not at home.
Thanks to the diagnosis process I went through, I have gotten bizarrely comfortable (maybe too much so, lol) with talking about bodily functions. I don't have a choice. I have had to talk about it in excruciating detail with my doctors, my parents, and occasionally my friends (I am telling you, when you vomit on someone in public and they STILL LIKE YOU the next day, this is a true friend).
But it's also still an incredibly awkward thing. Because even telling someone I have Crohn's usually necessitates an explanation of what it is and what it does, which I often end up skirting around by saying, "It causes unpleasant intestinal things," and let them fill in the details in their imagination. How soon in a relationship is it appropriate to spring the "vomiting and diarrhea" discussion on someone, lol? I don't know.
I remember when I was in the first stage of this whole deal (the C. diff infection), reading in a discussion forum about how shameful it is for a lot of people to talk about their condition, because it involves gross bodily functions. And that can be incredibly isolating, because you can't really tell people how you feel. Sometimes, when someone asks how you're doing, you would like to actually tell them, rather than wave it off with, "Eh, kinda crappy," (which is, heh, often more literal than they realize). But it's just too icky for most people, which is why I've found I tend to latch on to people with other intestinal problems and we have this crazy "OMG ME TOO!" conversation, and it's such a relief to finally just be honest, you know?
So... yeah. Moral of the story, don' t be afraid to talk about poop. Everybody does it.
Confession time: Ever since I was a kid, I've had bathroom stage fright. I am one of those people who CANNOT PEE if there's someone in the stall next to me. And up until recently, I absolutely would not poop in public.
Let me tell you, it is remarkable how much an intestinal condition will snap you right out of that shit (no pun intended). It's amazing the things you can get comfortable with when you don't have a choice. My body will do what it needs to do, and it doesn't care if I'm not at home.
Thanks to the diagnosis process I went through, I have gotten bizarrely comfortable (maybe too much so, lol) with talking about bodily functions. I don't have a choice. I have had to talk about it in excruciating detail with my doctors, my parents, and occasionally my friends (I am telling you, when you vomit on someone in public and they STILL LIKE YOU the next day, this is a true friend).
But it's also still an incredibly awkward thing. Because even telling someone I have Crohn's usually necessitates an explanation of what it is and what it does, which I often end up skirting around by saying, "It causes unpleasant intestinal things," and let them fill in the details in their imagination. How soon in a relationship is it appropriate to spring the "vomiting and diarrhea" discussion on someone, lol? I don't know.
I remember when I was in the first stage of this whole deal (the C. diff infection), reading in a discussion forum about how shameful it is for a lot of people to talk about their condition, because it involves gross bodily functions. And that can be incredibly isolating, because you can't really tell people how you feel. Sometimes, when someone asks how you're doing, you would like to actually tell them, rather than wave it off with, "Eh, kinda crappy," (which is, heh, often more literal than they realize). But it's just too icky for most people, which is why I've found I tend to latch on to people with other intestinal problems and we have this crazy "OMG ME TOO!" conversation, and it's such a relief to finally just be honest, you know?
So... yeah. Moral of the story, don' t be afraid to talk about poop. Everybody does it.