Editing Flatulence (section)

==Society and culture==
[[File:Hegassen scroll segment 33.jpg|thumb|''[[He-gassen]]'' (detail), an art scroll depicting a battle of flatulence, from Japan during the [[Edo period]]]]
[[File:Ikkei Shosai Clam Gathering (Fart) (cropped).jpg|thumb|A Japanese [[ukiyo-e]] print employing [[Flatulence humor|fart humor]]]]
In many [[culture]]s, flatulence in public is regarded as embarrassing, but, depending on context, may also be considered humorous.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dawson |first=Jim |title=Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart |publisher=Ten Speed Press |year=1999 |location=Berkeley, California}}</ref> People will often strain to hold in the passing of gas when in polite company, or position themselves to silence or conceal the passing of gas. In other cultures,{{Examples|date=January 2011}} it may be no more embarrassing than [[cough]]ing.

While the act of passing flatus in some cultures is generally considered to be an unfortunate occurrence in public settings, flatulence may, in casual circumstances and especially among children, be used as either a humorous supplement to a joke ("pull my finger"), or as a comic activity in and of itself. The social acceptability of flatulence-based humour in entertainment and the mass media varies over the course of time and between cultures. A sufficient number of entertainers have performed using their flatus to lead to the coining of the term [[flatulist]]. The [[whoopee cushion]] is a joking device invented in the early 20th century for simulating a fart. In 2008, a farting application for the [[iPhone]] earned nearly $10,000 in one day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/12/iphone-fart-app/ |title=iPhone Fart App Rakes in $10,000 a Day |last=Chen |first=Brian X. |date=December 24, 2008 |work=[[Wired News]]}}</ref>

A [[fart (word)|farting]] game named ''Touch Wood'' was documented by [[John Gregory Bourke]] in the 1890s.<ref name="pennlive essay on farting">{{cite news |url=http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/06/penn_state_professors_essay_on.html |title=Penn State professor's essay on farting takes the prize |newspaper=The Patriot-News |location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |date=June 8, 2011 |access-date=December 28, 2011 |author=Fishlock, Diana |quote=Trevor Blank [...] found Pennsylvania boys playing "Safety," a farting game, the same as Blank had as a kid in Maryland, and the same game John Bourke documented in the 1890s, when it was called "Touch Wood." Basically, a boy who farts must say "Safety" or touch wood before his friends say another key phrase. If not, they're allowed to punch him. (It usually is boys who make farting a game or a weapon.)}}</ref> It was known as ''Safety'' in the 20th century in the U.S., and is still played by children as of 2011.<ref name="pennlive essay on farting" />

In January 2011, the [[Malawi]] [[Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (Malawi)|Minister of Justice]], [[George Chaponda]], said that [[2011 Malawian Air Fouling Legislation|Air Fouling Legislation]] would make public "farting" illegal in his country. When reporting the story, the media satirised Chaponda's statement with punning headlines. Later, the minister withdrew his statement.<ref name=MaraviPost>{{cite web |url=http://maravipost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4663:chaponda-oops-i-goofed-you-can-fart&catid=74:general&Itemid=160#ixzz1D8VQamqG |title=Chaponda: Oops I goofed, you can fart! |date=February 4, 2011 |access-date=2011-03-02 |author=Joe Chibewa |work=Marevi Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714032623/http://maravipost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4663%3Achaponda-oops-i-goofed-you-can-fart&catid=74%3Ageneral&Itemid=160#ixzz1D8VQamqG |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> 

===Environmental impact===
[[Image:Cow female black white.jpg|thumb|The flatulence of [[cattle|cows]] is only a small portion (around one-twentieth) of cows' methane release. Cows also ''[[burp]]'' methane, due to the physiology of their digestive systems.<ref name="Distillations"/> ]]

Flatulence is often blamed as a significant source of [[greenhouse gas]]es, owing to the erroneous belief that the methane released by [[livestock]] is in the flatus.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/southqld/stories/s1560903.htm?backyard ABC Southern Queensland: "Could skippy stop cows farting and end global warming?"] February 3, 2006. Example of error. Although the article doesn't specify whether the methane is released by flatulence or eructation, it appears the headline-writer assumes it's through flatulence. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014025622/http://www.abc.net.au/southqld/stories/s1560903.htm?backyard |date=October 14, 2007 }}</ref> While livestock account for around 20% of global [[methane emissions]],<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6431| title=Burp vaccine cuts greenhouse gas| first=Rachel| last=Nowak| date=September 24, 2004| work=New Scientist}}</ref> 90–95% of that is released by [[breath|exhaling]] or [[burping]].<ref>[http://www.mycattle.com/health/dsp_health_article.cfm?storyid=10045 "Bovine belching called udderly serious gas problem – Global warming concerns spur effort to cut methane."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813063303/http://www.mycattle.com/health/dsp_health_article.cfm?storyid=10045 |date=August 13, 2004 }} By Gary Polakovic. ''Los Angeles Times'', July 13, 2003.</ref> In cows, gas and burps are produced by methane-generating microbes called [[methanogens]], which live inside the cow's digestive system. Proposals for reducing methane production in cows include the feeding of supplements such as [[oregano]] and [[seaweed]], and the genetic engineering of gut biome microbes to produce less methane.<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Kean |first1=Sam |title=Tummy Trouble |journal=Distillations |publisher=[[Science History Institute]] |date=2018|volume=4|issue=1 |page=5 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/tummy-trouble |access-date=June 26, 2018}}</ref>

Since New Zealand produces large amounts of agricultural products, it has the unique position of having higher methane emissions from livestock compared to other greenhouse gas sources. The New Zealand government is a signatory to the [[Kyoto Protocol]] and therefore attempts to reduce [[greenhouse gas emissions|greenhouse emissions]]. To achieve this, an [[agricultural emissions research levy]] was proposed, which promptly became known as a "[[Agricultural emissions research levy|fart tax]]" or "flatulence tax". It encountered opposition from farmers, farming lobby groups and opposition politicians.

===Entertainment===
{{Main|Flatulist}}

Historical comment on the ability to fart at will is observed as early as [[Saint Augustine]]'s ''[[City of God (book)|City of God]]'' (5th century AD). Augustine mentions "people who produce at will without any stench such rhythmical sounds from their fundament that they appear to be making music even from that quarter."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cityofgodagainst0000augu/page/388/mode/2up |title=The City of God Against the Pagans |translator-first=Philip |translator-last=Levine |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |author=Saint Augustine |authorlink=Saint Augustine|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1966 |volume=IV |language=Latin |section=Book XIV, XXIV |pages=389–391 }}</ref> Intentional passing of gas and its use as entertainment for others appear to have been somewhat well known in pre-modern Europe, according to mentions of it in medieval and later literature, including [[Rabelais]].{{cn|date=November 2023}}

[[Le Pétomane]] ("the Fartomaniac") was a famous French performer in the 19th century who, as well as many [[Flatulist|professional farter]]s before him, did flatulence impressions and held shows. The performer [[Mr. Methane]] carries on le Pétomane's tradition today. Also, a 2002 fiction film ''[[Thunderpants]]'' revolves around a boy named Patrick Smash who has an ongoing flatulence problem from the time of his birth.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hewitt |first=Peter |title=Thunderpants |date=2002-05-24 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283054/ |type=Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi |publisher=CP Medien AG, Mission Pictures, Pathé Pictures International |access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref>

Since the 1970s, farting has increasingly been featured in film, especially comedies such as ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' and ''[[Scooby-Doo (film)|Scooby-Doo]]''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Scooby-Doo (5/10) Movie CLIP - Burping and Farting (2002) HD | date=January 6, 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgYr00Scelc |language=en |access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref>

In the popular adult animated series ''[[South Park]]'' characters sometimes watch a [[show-within-a-show]] called "The [[List_of_South_Park_characters#Terrance_and_Phillip|Terrance and Phillip]] Show" whose humor primarily revolves around flatulence.