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You’ve just spit into a glass of water. Not a thin spray of saliva, but a thick, slimy globule. The idea of drinking from this glass generates intense disgust. Why? Saliva is our bodily secretion that is a part of us; it carries our DNA and becomes a useful substance in many cases; it is essential for building the micro-flora of our mouth and it does not stink or taste bad. So why do people experience the whole set of strong negative feelings seeing it in the glass of water and realizing that they will never make the final step and swallow that substance?
The answer seems very clear – each person’s conscious level of thinking has historically absorbed the sense of spit as a concept of disgust, contempt, fear and despise. As a matter of fact, some cultures are still cultivating traditional expressions of brotherhood or belonging to spitting and conduct it as a ritual processes having a deeply rooted meaning. Saliva is perceived as a part of a personality, sharing which is a unique parting with a valuable piece of one’s body; a belief that saliva is likely to cause conception is also popular in lower cultures. Among other saliva-related beliefs one should note saliva being a tool for black magic, saliva promoting a union between people, saliva having many protective powers etc. (Hastings 101-102). The scope of positive concepts connected with saliva is impressive; however, one should know that these concepts and superstitious beliefs is typical for backward cultures, lower classes and less intelligent layers of the society (Hastings 101).
Notwithstanding all positive facts about saliva enumerated above, the mainstream European and American ethical and aesthetical thought rejects these notions and dictates attribution of only negative emotions towards spitting. Though spitting in public places has been a regular activity in China, it is still regarded as “the least pleasant habit” and it was forbidden in 2006 before the Beijing Olympic Games not to embarrass Westerners (Wingfield-Hayes). Wierzbicka (315) has investigated the phonetic representation of spitting sounds in the Russian, German, Polish, Yiddish and other cultures and attributes disgust that is expressed towards spitting in all these cultures, expressed both by language means and on the subconscious, cultural level.
Poyatos (162) also indicates a wide set of negative reactions shown by spitting. For example, residents of Turkey and Lebanon can spit on the ground upon hearing one’s name in the sign of rejection. According to Darwin’s documented finding, spitting is a universal sign of contempt and disgust. Anger can also be a trigger for spitting (Poyatos 132). Other negative emotions that can be expressed through spitting are aggression (challenge, bodily aggression or mutual bodily aggression), contemptuous indifference or even hatred (Wierbicka 311; Poyatos 133-136; Hastings 102).
Upon considering these implications of spitting in the Western society one can obtain a much better understanding of the origin of their contempt and disgust when seeing spit or dealing with spit. The concept has become a part of our unconscious expressions of disgust, contempt and other negative emotions, so the view of spit in the glass of water that should initially be clean cannot help causing corresponding feelings. People just do not realize their dependence on the stereotypes and concepts that they come across every day and to which they respond in a predetermined way without even understanding the core reasons for their actions.
So what should one do with the reality of spitting concept and stereotype of spit as a substance causing immediate disgust? Is it possible to learn not to feel disgust and to drink water in which you have just spitted? It is hard to find a person who will become an ethical hero in this context. However, understanding the origin of stereotypes is the key to eliminating a part of them and re-conceptualizing one’s personality in his or her social context. People’s dependence on stereotypes is heavy in any society, so one should rethink concepts deeply embedded in his world perception at the conscious level to be able to shape a more positive concept of spit. Surely, it does not mean that all people wishing to get free from the power of concepts and stereotypes over them should start drinking spitted water; this will be a highly undesirable and unpleasant procedure that is likely to only strengthen the concept of disgust connected with spit in anyone’s mind. But understanding the conceptual heritage and being able to operate it will enrich one’s self-awareness and abilities for self-explanation, which often acquires extreme importance nowadays.
Works Cited
Hastings, James. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 21. Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Poyatos, Fernando. Nonverbal Communication Across Disciplines: Paralanguage, kinesics, silence, personal and environmental interaction. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2002.
Wierbicka, Anna. Cross-cultural pragmatics: the semantics of human interaction. 2nd edn. Walter de Gruyter, 2003.
Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert. Beijing clamps down on spitting. BBC News, 2006. Web.
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