Human feces  

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Human feces (or faeces; fæx), also known as stool, is the waste product of the human digestive system including bacteria. It varies significantly in appearance, according to the state of the digestive system, diet and general health. Normally stool is semisolid, with a mucus coating. Small pieces of harder, less moist feces can sometimes be seen impacted on the distal (leading) end. This is a normal occurrence when a prior bowel movement is incomplete, and feces are returned from the rectum to the intestine, where water is absorbed. Meconium (sometimes erroneously spelled merconium) is a newborn baby's first feces.

Personal hygiene

Cultures employ a variety of personal cleansing practising after elimination.

  • In Western and East Asian societies, the use of toilet paper is widespread. Other paper products were also used before the advent of flush toilets.
  • Some European countries use a bidet for additional cleaning.
  • In South Asia and Southeast Asia, handheld bidets are provided for use in toilets.
  • In Islam, washing of the anus with water (using the left hand) is mandatory. If water is not present things such as paper, stones, dried leave can be used.
  • In India, the anus is also washed with water using the left hand.
  • In the United Kingdom, the Indian toilet was adapted as the "WC" (water closet) and widely deployed in England during the reign of Queen Victoria. London suffered numerous outbreaks of food poisoning resulting from workers handling food after using the toilet. Cleansing of the anus was an arbitrary practice left to personal choice and facilities available.
  • In Ancient Rome, a communal sponge was employed. It was rinsed in a bucket of salt water after use.
  • In Japan, flat sticks were used in ancient times, being replaced by toilet paper as the country became more Westernized. Toilets that include built-in bidets have now become widely popular in private homes; these can be very sophisticated appliances, allowing users to adjust the temperature, direction and force of water jets, and offering warm air to dry the anus and surrounding regions. The toilet flushes automatically when the buttocks leave the seat.

In art (French lemma)

La matière fécale humaine est assimilée parfois à une production directe de l'artiste, donc à une œuvre d'art.

En 1961, l'artiste Piero Manzoni crée son œuvre provocatrice Merda d'artista, un ensemble de boîtes en métal, hermétiquement fermées, supposées contenir les excréments de l'artiste, peintes, étiquetées, numérotées et signées. Cette œuvre ironique a pris une grande valeur sur le marché international de l'art, l'une de ces boîtes ayant été notamment vendue pour 124000 euros en 2007.

Gérard Gasiorowski fabrique sous le nom fictif de Kiga, des Tourtes (1977), sculptures fécales, ou peint avec ses « jus », liquides bruns et odorants, tous à base d'urines et d'excréments personnels.

En 1997, les Peintures au caca succèdent aux Peintures analitiques (1979) de Jacques Lizène.

David Nebreda réalise des Autoportraits : photographies de bustes réalisés avec ses matières fécales:

C’est un masque d’infamie qui suscite en nous l’horreur. Le principe capital du corps est devenu anus mundi. Et le visage est devenu cloaque

See also Paul McCarthy's Complex Shit (2008).

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Human feces" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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