why is farting so taboo in america?

Question

did you know that in japan, they just let it rip? i mean it's just a normal body function.. doesn't smell good, but why is the very SOUND so offensive to us? i guess it's the same reason we think being naked is evil. we're just dumb.

Answer 1

The first site gives a history of societal views of farting as well as origins of its taboos. I cannot copy and paste all of it, but go to the link and you will see so much more info.

"According to the latest scientific research on the matter, gas in the large intestines is produced by no less than 49 strains (cf Heinz 57 Varieties) of anaerobic microbes, dirty little buggers. Doctors warn that gasses should on no account be suppressed because, if held internally, they are converted into toxins such as cadaverine, putrescine, scatole & indole. Sounds ghastly & smells worse."

"The venerable dictionary informs us that ‘fart’ is ‘not now in decent use’, but this implies it once was. Thus evolution of linguistic usage can reveal changing social & moral attitudes. Moreover, there are racial & national as well as historical differences. Etiquette is culturally-specific. What is considered bad manners here is not so in all societies."

"In the final analysis, we are as we are, farts & all, ‘human, erring & condonable’. Farting is the nemesis that deflates our vain pretensions & proves our human fallibility. In the inarticulate speech of the fart we can hear our lower nature striving to express itself. Rude it may be, but at least it’s honest."

The following, from the second site is a little off the subject, but maybe this will make headway in taking away this taboo: "For the first time in modern American cinema (and probably the last), a documentary film has been made exploring the cultural taboo of farting, probing deep into the minds of medical experts, fart historians and the average dude on the street who can't stop rippin' farts."

Answer 2

Its so taboo because it smells and when most Americans do it, they try to and it smells.