Have you ever sat on the toilet seat and just thought about the sociopolitical aspects of it? Why not? It might make for good food for your thought-dump (see what I did there?) Well, all jokes aside, the idea of this article came to me a few days ago while I was recalling a concept we had talked about in one of our courses “Exploring the Social and the Historical” here at Krea. The course spanning across twelve long weeks brought forth a multitude of refreshing takes on the sociology fundamentally embedded into our daily lives. However, one particular reading featuring the chapter, “A World I Never Made” from “Sociology: The Basics” by Ken (Plummer, not Barbie’s Ken) where he had talked about the ‘Sociology of Toilets’, really struck me as an interesting concept. Plummer who was a British sociologist and a distinguished professor at the University of Essex for 30 years has talked about the revelation of class and gender inequalities through the toilet in the chapter I referred to. So, it goes without saying that my piece sees heavy influences from the aforementioned work and leverages some key-concepts mentioned by him and his colleague Harvey Molotch in the same.
Before reading up on such an unusual topic, I had never thought about how much the “regular” services around us can demystify so many structural inequalities in the grander scheme of things. This further affirms that even the most banal of objects in our daily use shouldn’t be excused from an unfettered inquiry into exploring how they can serve as a mouthpiece for the sociopolitical standing(s) of communities. Our identities are essentially shrouded in our privileges and what ultimately becomes normalized to us. This sense of normalcy fuels our tendency to overlook various deep-rooted social and historical contexts to these underlying power dynamics.
Referring to the particular illustration of toilets, I think it is interesting to see how such a seemingly trivial thing itself can speak volumes about class and gender privileges. Take for instance, the sheer contrast between the public and private spaces, and how the sociopolitics of toilets unravels there. When we visualize the state of say a toilet in the local train versus the lavish lavatory in an airplane, these differences do become more obvious to us. What we find at the very core of it, is a fundamental difference of accessibility to these services in a broad sense. Beyond their basic functionality remaining intact, there is a striking question of maintenance of these public toilets and how much the state is willing to invest in those amenities. If you notice a pattern of how toilets in most private spaces operate, you’d get to know what we’re talking about. The toilets in these private spaces such as restaurants, cafes, banquet halls, educational institutions, and even hospitals are always well-maintained to cater or appeal to all consumers of their services. By extension, even a mirror selfie in the overtly fancy washrooms does become a reflection of the credibility of these places. So, essentially, a prolonged fleet of bad reviews for them, in the ambit of all or any services that they provide, is going to cause their business to potentially take a hit.
This clearly reveals how these spaces and their status are fundamentally hinged upon the quantity and kind of consumers they get. In the present day, it has in fact become very common for all the “good” and up-and-coming bistros or cafes to invest exorbitant amounts of funds in order to have toilets with a certain aesthetic appeal. These spaces, more often than not, do cater to very fixed demographics from certain socioeconomic backgrounds. Whereas when we look at the public domain, because it is so widely and commonly accessible, hardly any priority is given to its upkeep. This then poses a question of whose lifestyle gets affected by this normalization of potential neglect in the public sector. “Neglect” here is surely inclusive of, but not limited to sanitary concerns posed by the individuals availing these services. In addition to that, the failure to accommodate frequently marginalized groups like women, persons with disabilities, as well as queer, trans and gender-nonconforming individuals into the planning of these toilets is also a pressing problem. However, this neglect isn’t something that can be curbed overnight as it is a larger cultural issue.
Forget maintenance, there’s still a multitude of individuals who, even today, have to stand in large queues to go to the toilet, or worse, do not even have access to toilets. This causes them to urinate and defecate in the open and be prone to a slew of diseases, health-risks, and environmental challenges (Plummer 12). This instance just paints a vivid picture of necessity and luxury all tied with the toilet. On the spectrum, we have auto-sensor technologies to the opposite-end comprising rusted taps that barely supply clean water. This question about access again brings out class inequalities and privileges associated with one’s capital and lifestyle. Beyond the socioeconomic standing of a person, the individual wanting to access the toilet being a woman can also tell us how significantly one must struggle to have avenues that equalize and empower them in this context. Now, take an example of a transwoman in particular, a transwoman who is from a historically oppressed caste background and a politically charged religious identity. This would just further compound this problem of accessibility as we go on adding layers of intersectionality to the argument.
Tapping into more commonly familiar instances, I find it particularly intriguing that even when we talk about the times where one had to ask their teachers in middle school to go to the toilet, it also emerged as a symbol of their authority. In addition to that, the Indian diaspora presently in predominantly North American or European countries saying that they miss their desi jet-spray on social media, further affirms that even something as “regular” as the toilet cannot be divorced from the idea of one’s identity as well. It is truly bizarre to see how much can be disaggregated from intricately analyzing the toilet not as a mere service to relieve oneself but as a symbol of structural power, identity and societal privilege (or lack thereof). So, the next time you sit on the toilet seat, give some thought to how it is more than just a mere object, a service, it’s a symbol of power and privilege as a decent toilet still continues to be a dream for many!
(Picture: By Colourblind Kevin on Unsplash
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