The Interaction Order Of Public Bathrooms By Spencer E. Cahill And The Interaction Room

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The Interaction Order of Public Bathrooms, written by Spencer E. Cahill, is an article that does a fairly well job at analyzing interpersonal relationships and individual practices in restrooms. Cahill used ideologies of Emile Durkheim, Erving Goffman, Margaret Atwood, Horace Miner, and Lyn Lofland to help construct his perspective on the individual’s expectations of bathroom etiquette through our experiences with others and how we internalize these behaviors. Our society has institutionalized particular behaviors such as fixing our appearance, crying, belching, defecation, and flatulence deviant to perform in a public setting. Therefore, we rely on what Cahill terms as “performance regions” to relieve ourselves of these deviant behaviors. Public restrooms are performance regions that afford individuals the privacy (negative interpersonal rituals) to release bodily waste, cry, and discuss situations …show more content…

Principle three says we employ and interpretive process to these interactions (Ida class lecture). This determinant is based on our social interactions growing up and our environment. For instance, in the article, Cahill depicts numerous instances where different people react to an individual defecating in public restrooms. Some people overtly displayed expressions of disgust as the smell permeated through the room, while others retreated to displays of counterfeit stoicism. Countering, the obvious perpetrator or violator of restroom etiquette, may use humor as a way to self-blame and ease tension. It is possible the violator finds defecation in public restrooms non-taboo, therefore feeling comfortable with performing the act. Other violators may display a disregard or reject acknowledgement of others in the

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