Anatomy of Disgust
p.89-108
Orifices and Bodily Waste-
Whilst inside, it risks defiling the outside.
Poisonous and polluting emissions.
Two groups of Orifices….
A. Freudian Trio of erogenous zones
Genitals
Anus
Mouth
B. Key Organs of Sense
*Eyes
*Ears
*Nose
The division accords with whether the disgusting involves the emission of raw bodily matter (liquids or solids), or whether the disgust is formed through revolting sights (eyes), sounds (ears) or smells (nose).
The Senses
p. 60.
Touch-
*Oily
*Filmy
*Gooey
*Slimy
*Mucky
All of these have a duality to them, an opposite counterpart.
This references itself on p. 63: Purity cannot exist as a concept, without creating its contrary or opposite…
Black needs White
Good needs Evil
Virtue needs Vice
We govern disgust through these opposites-
Squishy vs. Firm
Moist vs. Dry
Sticky vs. Non-Adherent
Scabby vs. Smooth
Viscid (thick) vs. Free-Flowing
Wriggling/Slithering vs. Still
Moist, Viscid and Pliable: Easier to come up with words that are disgusting that relate to these terms.
Dry, Free-Flowing and Hard: Harder to come up with disgusting words relating to these terms.
p.60
Scabby or Crusty: There are tens of disgusting things that relate…
*Oozy
*Mucky
*Gooey
*Slimy
*Clammy
*Sticky
*Dank
*Tacky
*Squishy
*Filmy
NON – PEJORATIVE; Does not offend, Tasteful, not disgusting, non-derogative.
It is hard to find words that are non-pejorative that relate to the above list of consistencies, formally known as ‘Life Soup’.
p.61
Oil – Morally sinks into the slimy, as it once was pure (Religious)
Things of the following characteristics, are more likely to elicit disgust, over those things that these characteristics are absent in.
*Slimy
*Sticky
*Slithering
*Wriggling
*Oily
*Viscid
Certain occupations elicit thoughts of disgust, for example:
Rice farmers – Mucky
Eel fishermen – Slimy/Slithering
Doctors – Evil smelling/Decaying Bodies
Those things that SHOULD be moist, but instead are dry, hard or viscid, can also cause disgust.
p.62
More cultural work is needed to make something that slithers, non-disgusting.
The two categories of Tactile Disgustingness:
1. Those things that disgust by failure to accord with expectations e.g.- Skin of a human, that feels like the skin of a reptile, and visa-versa.
2. Met in full disgust, unless love or inurnment (got used to, unaffected by) prevents it.
This falls in the realm of slimy, oozy, sticky, wriggling and slithering. What draws the disgusting to these qualities?
Culture?
Do faeces and menstrual blood fall into the polluting side of the equation?
p.63
Purity cannot exist as a concept, without creating its contrary or opposite…
*Black needs White
*Good needs Evil
*Virtue needs Vice
The word ‘Cleanness’ owes its meaning to its opposite ’Stickiness’. The pure thus borrows from the impure its disgusting qualities to fight against it.
REF- Kristeva- Skin on heated milk (the piece de resistance of the disgusting)
Fear of it in the mouth, similar to hair in the mouth.
Crusts, skins and films that in-case or cover fluids: All have a special ability to elicit disgust. This is a phenomenon of coagulation, of curdling, which unites ideas of bubbling, seething, generative surfeit (to feed or supply to access, satisfy or disgust).
Relating to fermentation.
The process is thought about that elicits disgust.
p.64
The subsystem of touch, is Temperature.
Coldness > Clamminess > Death/Corpse.
Heat > Hellfire > Sulphurous Stench
But as a rule, temperature does not elicit disgust.
Most contamination does not come through ingestion, but through simple contact.
p.65
A person themselves can elicit disgust when touching or getting too close to someone else, without their permission. Yet the ‘toucher’ is able to plea – A ritual apt “sorry”, will prevent offence being taken.
Non-unattractive people (beautiful or good-looking people), are often granted a privilege of having their un-permitted ‘touchings’ processed as if they were proper requests for permission for the toughing to take place.
Beautiful people have a tendency to believe they are allowed to touch others with less, or no permission. This tends to be the first escalation that happens during courtship.
