Who is more comfortable pooping in public: men or women? (The answer may surprise you.)

Image: Flickr/Matti MattilaEveryone farts...but some of us are more comfortable blatantly cutting the cheese in public. Here, researchers studying fecal habitus--the part of our culture that involves farting and pooping--calculated the differences between men's and women's feelings about letting it rip in front of others. It probably comes as no surprise that men are more comfortable farting in public than women. However, these craptastic scientists went a step further, asking how men and women feel about being overheard while pooping. It turns out this depends on who the eavesdropper is (see Table 3, below, for a fantastic breakdown based on sex, sexual orientation, and relationships); people are generally OK with having their spouses listen to them poop, but a crush is another matter. But not everyone is as bothered--non-heterosexual women are apparently the most at ease with this, even more so than straight men. And boy, are people willing to ...