Jan 6, 2021 | Questions |
Important Points
- Bathrooms and the toilet may be deemed small rooms in the context of a house but they are the key space that interconnects every household and the overall infrastructure of a community. Plumbing acts like a web between houses and water sources.
- If toilets were not ideological and social constructs then there wouldn’t exist variability between toilet design from nation to nation.
- Privacy is a very modern concept and that new perception of privacy changes the historical culture behind the toilet. (private = exclusive)
- Bathroom are both a place of heavy regulation and place with the potential for the greatest social liberation.
- Bathrooms are such a common entity in modern society with many common expectations. It is difficult for these expectations to be manipulated and for the culture of the toilet to evolve and progress as a technology.
Potential Topics
- The cultural evolution of toilets in residential settings (looking at the class disparity and how the toilet was adopted by the general public)
- The culture of the public bathroom as a rest area and social gathering place (comparing the gender differences and the social aspect of toilets that was adopted by high society)
- The waste disposal practices of sea faring civilizations (looking at vikings as well as the increase of pirate communities during the romantic era)
- An analysis on the history of irrigation systems in desert civilizations that eventually led to innovations in sanitation and waste disposal (starting with a look at Egypt)
- How did the adoption of the toilet affect urban planning and the development of cities? (possibly making a comparison to the adoption of toilets in less urban settings, such as in the English countryside)