Bodily fluid

Bodily fluids are liquids that are inside the bodies of animals. They include fluids that are excreted or secreted from the body as well as body water that normally is not.

Bodily fluids

• Amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus
• Aqueous humour
• Blood and blood plasma
• Cerebrospinal fluid
• Cerumen also known as earwax
• Cowper's fluid or pre-ejaculatory fluid
• Chyme
• Female ejaculate
• Gastric juice
• Interstitial fluid
• Lymph
• Breast milk
• Mucus (including nasal drainage and phlegm)
• Pleural fluid
• Pus
• Saliva
• Sebum (skin oil)
• Semen
• Serum
• Sweat
• Tears
• Urine
• Vaginal secretion
• Vomit

Bodily fluids in religion and history

Bodily fluids are regarded with varying levels of disgust among world cultures, including the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) and Hinduism. In Hinduism substances that have left the body are considered unclean, although there are some alleged consumption of some ancient sects of the urine of people.

Body fluids in art

A relatively new trend in contemporary art is to use body fluids in art, though there have been rarer uses of blood (and perhaps feces) for quite some time, and Marcel Duchamp used semen decades ago. Examples include:

• The controversial Piss Christ (1987), by Andres Serrano, which is a photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine;
• Self (1991, recast 1996) by Marc Quinn, a frozen cast of the artist's head made entirely of his own blood;
• Piss Flowers, by Helen Chadwick (1991-92), are twelve white-enameled bronzes cast from cavities made by urinating in snow (though this might not be characterized as the use of bodily fluids in art, just their use in preparation);
• performances by Lennie Lee involving feces, blood, vomit from 1990
• many paintings by Chris Ofili, which make use of elephant dung (from 1992).
• Gilbert and George's The Naked Shit Pictures (1995)
• Hermann Nitsch and Das Orgien Mysterien Theatre use urine, feces, blood and more in their ritual performances.
• Franko B from 1990 blood letting performances.

Body fluids and health

Body fluid is the term most often used in medical and health contexts. Modern medical hygiene and public health practices also treat body fluids as potentially unclean. This is because they can be vectors for infectious diseases, such as sexually transmitted diseases or blood-borne diseases.

Universal precautions and safer sex practices try to avoid exchanges of body fluids.

See also

• Hygiene
• Ritual cleanliness
• Blood-borne diseases
• Fluid bonding, unprotected sex in longterm relationships

References

• Paul Spinrad. (1999) The RE/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids. Juno Books. ISBN 1-890451-04-5
• John Bourke. (1891) Scatologic Rites of All Nations. Washington, D.C.: W.H. Lowdermilk.