Do you ever wonder why everyone is afraid to talk about pooping? Why is pooping considered a taboo yet normal human action? It is so baffling to me that the act of pooping is typically frowned upon. If every human being alive poops in order to survive, why must humans act like pooping is so wrong? We all need to do it, so why don’t we simply accept the fact and embrace our bodily functions for what they are; simple releases of digestive tract waste. It’s kind of not a big deal.

Since everyone in the world poops, no one should be afraid to talk about it during a conversation. I know that when I hang out with certain people they tend to dodge the fact that they poop and refuse to mention that they ever do. This fact is extremely difficult for a girl like me to even fathom because I talk about poop all of the time. I would even consider it to be a typical conversation starter. I consider myself to be totally and completely comfortable talking about my bodily functions with anyone. I tweeted once, “I was pooping in a public restroom and I didn’t want people to hear me pooping because it was obnoxiously loud so out of consideration for the other person, I drowned the noise by banging on the paper towel dispenser.” This was supposed to be a joke but also a true story and yet it caused social chaos. People thought it was uncomfortably bizarre that I spoke about pooping so casually. A lot of my male cohorts even considered it to be “gross” and told me that pooping is something I should keep to myself.

My mind was blown.

What did they mean by “keep to myself”? Why would I keep something so meaningless as pooping to myself when everyone is already aware that I do? If as humans we know that every single person in the entire universe needs to poop, why should I attempt to keep my act of pooping a secret? It’s senseless.

Besides being senseless, I think this “anti-pooping” phenomenon is also degrading to women. People tend to consider pooping especially gross for women to talk about and this blows my mind even more. Why is it considered grotesque when women talk about poop but not when men talk about it? It’s another classic case of female stereotyping. Girls can do or talk about whatever they want without being classified as “manly” or “boyish.” I was conversing with a friend the other day and mid-conversation I excused myself by saying, “I’ll be right back, I just need to take a good poop.” She found this to be “disgusting” and claimed that she never poops. Besides this being physiologically impossible I also find it to be demeaning. Is she afraid that saying that she poops will cause others to see her as less “girly” or make her any “less of a woman?” This is where talking about pooping, regardless of your gender, should be okay.

I know that my friend was most likely conforming to social standards, however, I desperately want to change society’s perception on this. Women should not be afraid of appearing less feminine just because they want to warn their friends that they will be in the bathroom for a little longer than usual. We should not let ourselves be subjugated to this kind of gender inequality. Women can be whoever they want to be, do whatever they want to do, and even talk about needing to poop after that venti cup of Starbucks coffee. Whatever a woman says or does will not make her less of a woman. So if you want to talk about having to poop then simply do it because a woman can do anything that a man does, even if that means talking about their bowel movements. We can do it all.

So, do you need to poop? Did you have too much coffee after your late night study session and need to excuse yourself for obvious reasons? Do you need to go home and poop for a little so you will feel less bloated before putting on that crop top for your night out? Talk about it. Tell your friends. Tell the world and stop being ashamed of it. We all poop and it is our civic duty (no pun intended) to break this nasty habit (again, no pun intended) and simply accept it for the completely ordinary and normal bodily function that it is. Join me in making this difference because with your efforts, we can change the world, one poop at a time.