The Fantasy of Dirt

Toward a Sociology of (Gendered) Disgust

“…This product is usually socially visible only in care for very small children and dependent elderly people. According to Kubie (1937), the ranking of bodily dirt products also reflects the social hierarchies in society. The male body is considered symbolically cleaner than the female body, young people's bodies are cleaner than older people's bodies, and rich people's bodies are cleaner than poor people's bodies.…”

“…It is their own indulgence and inability to impose mind over body. Kubie (1937) understood the entire process of growing old as one of growing dirty. But on the social level, babies also can be experienced as dirty, depending on what kinds of bodily fluids are culturally accepted as normal for babies.…”

Film Essay Saying yes to dirt, desire and difference:Yes(2004)

“…It is relative to us and lives on our fantasies. In fact, a complex system of fantasies constitutes the distinction between dirty and clean (Kubie, 1937). Since we sustain dirt with our fantasies, cleanliness is, as the cleaner says, an illusion.…”

“…The skin that is tenderly caressed and kissed becomes dirt and dust when shed on the floor, left as scum in the tub. The body is a dirt factory; it exudes dirt, especially from its apertures (Kubie, 1937). We cover up, alter, decorate, perfume the openings that are taboo, in cosmetic rituals, sometimes of upward displacement.…”

“…There is a hierarchy of dirt related to what comes out of our apertures: from tears as the cleanest to feces as the dirtiest and, in between, nail clippings, earwax, nose pickings, sweat, and hair (Kubie, 1937). Tears are exempt from being defiling, not because of the eyes (a thick discharge from the eyes is not exempt), but because of the symbolism of washing (Douglas, 1966).…”