This might just be me, and may be more of an issue for men - but it seems that we do everything we can to avoid "going number 2" in public restrooms. This is less of an issue for women, since they assume the same position with all visits to the toilet.

I have male friends that will ignore a public toilet for the purpose of "taking a dump" at all costs, unless it is an absolute emergency - and I even think twice about it...unless the urge becomes too overbearing.

Why is this the case? What are the issues involved that force us to fefrain from public bowel movements?

Cleanliness

I think it is safe to say that one main reason people avoid public toilets is the issue of cleanliness. Who really wants to sit on a toilet when you have no idea who used it before you?

From a safety standpoint we know that:

The US government Centers For Disease Control & Prevention states that STD's, including syphilis, HPV and HIV cannot be transmitted via toilet seats. They also say that contracting public lice from a toilet seat is very unlikely because the lice cannot live for long away from a warm body.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases states that the genital herpes virus "is spread rarely, if at all by objects such as toilet seats".

So although getting a disease, virus, or lice from public toilets is nearly impossible, just the thought of sharing a toilet seat with a complete stranger in a potentially dirty environment is enough to force someone to "pinch it off" until they get home.

Privacy

This is another issue, relating actually to more of a mental/psychological fear of using public toilets - and mainly ones with multiple stalls.

As we all know, some times bowel movements are accompanied by a variety of sounds. From farts, to splashes, to groans, etc., all types of interesting sounds can accompany a good moving of the bowels.

It really becomes an issue that you do not, for whatever reason, want others in the room to hear your farts, groans, splashes, etc.....Yet it is fair to say that everyone experiences the same thing from time to time while taking a dump. This is no mystery to humans.

But the psychological barriers seem to force us once again to "pinch it off", and hold for a more private time at home.

Its really quite a fascinating phenomonon.

1.  You will not catch a disease from using a public toilet.

2.  Its uncomfortable sharing a toilet seat with a stranger.

3.  We don't like strangers hearing our farts and groans while producing a bowel movement.