Fart Etiquette Around the World
The fart is universal. The rules around it are not. What constitutes a social outrage in a Berlin dining room may be a compliment to the cook in another cultural context. The global patchwork of flatulence etiquette — from suppression norms in East Asian formal settings to reportedly more relaxed attitudes in certain nomadic cultures — reveals as much about social power structures as it does about intestinal gas.
The Western Taboo and Its History
The modern Western taboo around public flatulence is primarily a product of 16th to 18th-century European court culture, in which bodily functions became increasingly regulated as markers of social refinement. Norbert Elias's landmark sociological study 'The Civilizing Process' (1939) traces how behaviors that were unremarkable in medieval communal life — including farting freely at table — became progressively stigmatized as signifiers of low breeding. Erasmus of Rotterdam's De Civilitate Morum Puerilium (1530) advised children to suppress farts for health reasons if possible, but also acknowledged the social embarrassment of audible releases. By the 19th century, flatulence in polite society had become effectively invisible — not because it stopped happening, but because the rules of acknowledgment had shifted.
Cultures Where Bodily Sounds Signal Appreciation
The notion that audible flatulence is universally rude is empirically false. In certain traditional contexts in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Southeast Asia, audible bodily sounds after a meal are understood as expressions of satisfaction or as signs of good digestion — both compliments to the host. These norms are often overstated in popular travel writing, but anthropological fieldwork does document specific communities where the suppression of such sounds would itself be considered odd or even offensive. The key distinction is context: these norms apply in specific, defined social situations (post-meal, among family or close community members) and do not imply blanket permission at all times.
East Asian Formal Settings
In Japan, Korea, and many East Asian societies with strong Confucian influences, public flatulence carries a heavy stigma in formal contexts. The emphasis on collective harmony, social face (面子, miànzi in Chinese; 面目, mentsu in Japanese), and bodily discipline in public makes audible flatulence a significant social violation. This extends to any involuntary sound: sneezing without covering one's mouth, for example, is similarly stigmatized. Private humor around the topic exists — Japanese toilet humor has a rich tradition, including the He-Gassen scroll — but the threshold for what constitutes an acceptable public display is substantially lower than in many Western contexts. Interestingly, some researchers argue that these stricter norms in public increase the importance of private humor around the subject.
Indigenous Cultures and Natural Functions
Many Indigenous cultures in the Americas, Australia, and the Arctic have significantly different relationships with bodily functions than those shaped by European court culture. Anthropological accounts of various First Nations groups, Inuit communities, and Aboriginal Australian peoples note that the natural body is generally approached with less shame than in post-industrial Western societies, though this varies enormously between specific groups and contexts. Several Indigenous North American trickster myths involve flatulence as a plot device — often used by figures like Coyote or Raven to outwit enemies or comment on social pretension. In these narrative traditions, the fart is not lowbrow but a tool of the cunning natural world against rigid social order.
Did You Know?
- Norbert Elias's 'The Civilizing Process' (1939) directly traces how European courtly culture stigmatized flatulence from the 16th century onward.
- Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote explicit advice about fart etiquette in his 1530 etiquette manual for children.
- In ancient Rome, Emperor Claudius allegedly considered issuing an edict permitting farting at table for health reasons.
- The trickster figure in many Indigenous North American traditions uses flatulence as a recurring comic and subversive device.
Fun Fact
According to Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Emperor Claudius was so concerned about reports that holding in gas was bad for health that he seriously considered issuing an imperial edict permitting flatulence at banquets. The edict was ultimately never issued — which may explain a great deal about Roman dinner parties.
Sources
- Elias, N. (1939/2000). The Civilizing Process. Blackwell Publishers.
- Erasmus, D. (1530). De Civilitate Morum Puerilium. (Trans. B. McGregor, 1985). University of Toronto Press.
- Suetonius. (c. 121 CE). Lives of the Twelve Caesars. (Trans. R. Graves, 1957). Penguin Classics.
- Radin, P. (1956). The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. Schocken Books.