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Farting Is Actually Good For Your Relationship

Farting Is Actually Good For Your Relationship

Anyone who has been in a relationship has been there: You've been dating for a while, everything's going smoothly, you're talking about moving in together. But one day, you accidentally let one rip in front of your significant other and you want to crawl in a hole and die.

We feel ya. Farting can be embarrassing, but we're humans and humans need to pass gas.

However, there's some good news amidst the stinky clouds: farting is actually good for your relationship.

According to a 2016 survey by Mic (resurfaced by Scary Mommy), being comfortable enough to let loose a stinker is a critical step in making the transition from just liking someone, to being in love with that person.

The website surveyed more than 125 people in their 20s and 30s to find out when most people "break the fart barrier" and found that "most people wait between two and six months into a relationship, which also happens to be prime 'I love you' time."

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Results showed that a little more than half of survey respondents (51 per cent) had farted in front of their significant other in six months or less of dating, while 22.4 per cent let one loose after a few weeks and 29 per cent tooted between two to six months.

And 25.2 per cent of respondents claimed they waited between six to 12 months to fart, when they said they felt really comfortable with their partner.

So basically, if you feel comfortable enough to cut the cheese in front of your significant other, it means you're in a really good place in your relationship.

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Farting around each other also means there's true intimacy in the relationship, according to Mic.

"Farts are just funny," one respondent to the survey said. "Once you understand each other's sense of humour and you can relate on a more personal level, it becomes easier to deal with these funny natural occurrences [...] Bringing it to light in a relationship is just a small hurdle."

But seven per cent claimed to have never farted around their partner. "The [...] respondents who claimed that they will never, ever fart in front of their significant other might be better off if they just politely cut one. Most happy couples agree that the moment you get gross with someone is when your relationship can truly begin," noted Mic's Kate Hakala.

Farts are just funny.

The results are backed up by experts, too.

Jamie Hergenrader of Women's Health noted that it's worthwhile for couples to just let one loose once in a while. "If you're building a relationship, it can actually strengthen your bond," she wrote.

While Arnold Brantley of the Daily Plug said that farting in a relationship is a "sign of your close and intimate connection."

If you're building a relationship, it can actually strengthen your bond.

And while it's totally normal if you feel like you can't fart around your significant other, gender norms around farting may be to blame for this hesitancy.

According to a 2005 study, many heterosexual women are less inclined to fart in front of men because they are worried it would make them less attractive.

But next time you fart in front of your significant other, don't be embarrassed, just let them know it's healthy and perfectly normal.

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