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Anthropology that Academia hides | Interviews & Streams that respect other cultures AND our own | 2 BAs, 1 BS, MA Dropout

Jan 1, 14 tweets

Sh*tting in the Street in India: An Ethnographic Analysis 💩

Here to provide you the truth that Anthropologists dismiss with "cultural relativism"

Despite Being 17.5% of the World's Population, India accounts for over 50% of street sh*tters

A thread🧵

Yes, 1 Billion people in the world poop in the street!

Over HALF are in India!

(Image from the first post taken from a real NGO tackling this sh*tty issue, there's more in the thread, they're hilarious)

In 2011, A UNICEF Study was released that placed India at the Top of Open Defecation

A Staggering 58% of People in the WORLD that 💩 in the Streets and on Beaches Lived in India in 2011

In a room of an Average 100 Open Defecators 58 of them Would be Indian

The Discovery was maddening. Indians Embarrassed. Whites Confused. Excuses Made. Other Much Poorer Countries who use toilets Ignored

The Internet Responded As They Always Do. Memes, Sh*tposting (openly)

Zoom in below to see the reaction at the time.

Funnier to me is the unironic serious response of the Institutions of Out-Of-Touch White Liberals

The BBC released an article with an Interview of the Gates Foundation's WASH Director trying to make sense of why this was happening (Yes, Really)

An Entire Book was Written and Published by Oxford University Press trying to Make Sense of

Why the Indian Government MADE THE RIGHT TO SANITATION A LAW and yet Street- Sh*tting is still endemic in the country

Best of all, to address the Constant Public Defecating, UNICEF, one of the largest charities in the World, created an entire campaign called "Poo2Loo" to encourage Toilet use

I had to confirm and reconfirm this was not a Joke.

It includes a Music Video.

But did it Work?

Apparently it Did Work

Modi, the PM, has declared India Open defecation free!

Even the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Gave him the award of the "Global Goalkeeper" for His "Clean India" Campaign (Yes, Really)

... Prompting at least one Employee of the "Charity" Because....

It just isn't True. India Still has an Epidemic of Sh*tting in the Streets.

The BBC and Oxford still can't seem to figure it out.

Within HOURS of the Award, two children were killed for doing it in a village that had been declared ODF (Open Defecation Free)

(Yes, Really)

It seems the Indian Government wants to Declare India free of OPEN DEFECATION so it can move on and pretend the problem isn't happening

But wait.

23% OF PEOPLE WHO OWNED A TOILET CONTINUED TO SH*T IN THE OPEN

THEY ARE JUST DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

Today the Problem Continues.

Though India has bought a Few Years of Time By sweeping the metaphorical Poo under the Rug, the problem cannot be ignored

Tell me Why 23% of People who had a Toilet Built Keep Sh*tting Outside.

The issue also is much more prevalent in different states of India than others.

Notice Goa in south-western India, colonized by the Portuguese, is one of the lowest

Eastern India bordering Bangladesh and the northern Kashmir states are lower as well

There also seems to be somewhat of a religious assocation with the issue

Muslim regions of India the issue is almost nonexistant

With Sikh & Christian areas lower as well

But some Hindu areas are also relatively low, so this isn't the total answer

I can't make sense of it.

Many smarter than me have tried.

Follow me to get more Cultural Anthropology Content not limited by mainstream Academia

You can also Find my Podcast on Youtube and any Podcasting Site @ Illegitimate Scholar

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