You have often passed him in the corridors, this colleague who ostensibly goes to the bathroom with a magazine under his arm ... But have you ever seen A colleague do it?
Chances are, the answer varies from “never in my life” to “of course not”.
When the mental load is invited even in the toilets… The subject can lend to smile, it is nevertheless representative of a cultural and psychological weight weighing on the women which is not without repercussions on their health.
For these ladies, the toilet is indeed very badly named at the time of the "big commission", when they are not in places offering them total privacy.
This is the case at work or with friends, or even at home when the spouse is around.
The discomfort at the idea of fulfilling this natural need in these situations (or “poop-shaming”) is thus systematically greater among women (56%) than men (42%).
This gender issue, oh so taboo, is the subject of the latest Ifop study carried out for Diogenes France that we are revealing this Tuesday evening.
"A woman who has a bowel movement inspires disgust"
In detail, we learn that more women than men feel anxious or ashamed to have a bowel movement in their workspace (60%) or with friends (57%). And as regards public toilets (many of which are currently closed due to the health crisis), the “gender gap” is even more important. The embarrassment, combined with the negative perception they have of these infrastructures (dirty, not safe enough ...), means that 62% of those who go there despite their apprehension adopt a balancing act so that the skin does not touch the toilet seat (compared to 28% of men).
“The
shame of poop
appears to be a marker of distinction between the sexes,” underlines François Kraus, director of the Gender, Sexuality and Sexual Health pole at Ifop.
A woman who has a bowel movement inspires disgust, whereas it is culturally tolerated for men.
It is the syndrome of the princess who only pees glitter ", ironically the person in charge, well aware that this is an additional pressure for the fairer sex, culturally associated with" perfection ", the" cleanliness ”and“ purity ”.
Read alsoWhy children keep sulking the toilets at school
The survey also points out that if noise and smell are the main reasons, for both sexes, of their embarrassment to have a bowel movement, women are more embarrassed at the idea that one can simply imagine them in the toilet.
The professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne (Australia), Nicholas Haslam, author of “Psychology in the Bathroom” reminds us: girls learn from an early age to “contain” their natural bodily functions.
Much earlier than the boys.
And, over the years, differentiated education assures them that they must show the greatest discretion in this matter.
Many repercussions on gut health
It is the very first social construction. This is also what Sarah Albee explains, American author of numerous children's books but also of the opus “Poop Happened”: “If a boy farts, everyone laughs. If a girl farts, she is mortified ”. Gender stereotypes and norms of femininity can thus have an impact on the relationship with the body, self-representation but also on intestinal health. This is precisely because of this phobia of having a bowel movement elsewhere than at home: a disorder called parcopresis.
Results: These ladies show higher rates of colon irritation (which lasts longer in them) and inflammatory bowel disease. According to the Ifop survey, 41% of women currently experience constipation problems (against 18% in men) and 38% digestive disorders (cramps, pain in the lower abdomen, etc.). " At work ? Impossible ! Mélanie slice, 41 years old. My brain dominates my intestines. I know it's bad to hold back but I'm not as uninhibited as my male comrades… ”laughs the quadra. In a relationship for 4 years, "poop time" is even still a subject. "My companion, he doesn't bother with that," she admits.
Thus, four in ten French women have already waited for their partner to sleep or be far from the toilet to get there, against barely more than a quarter of men. Women are also more likely to close doors other than those of the toilets to reduce impromptu sounds, to put paper in the water to deaden the noise or to raise the sound of music or TV ... (crack a match to dispel odors remains marginal but 17% of women do it anyway!). So many stratagems that they have not yet sent ch ...