Sometimes I push myself to tackle one of the major existential issues of life, in this case, why do guys spit? Of all the differences between the sexes, outside of the ability to bear children, this is the one for which I am most thankful. Women seldom spit. At least, not in public. You will not find a group of women standing around visiting and see one of them suddenly hawk a loogie. So why do guys do it?
In years past, a lot of men chewed tobacco. It was, and is, a disgusting habit, but at least it justified the need to spit. Who would want to swallow something that nasty? Some people still chew tobacco, but the lack of spittoons indicates that tobacco chewers are a dying breed, in more ways than one.
According to my exhaustive three minute google search on websites that ranged from big word medical studies to bad word ladies magazines, men produce more saliva than women simply because their salivary glands are bigger. But since their bodies are also bigger they ought to be able to handle the additional swallowing. The raunchy ladies magazines suggest it is just a disgusting habit which, despite their feminist perspective, they do not recommend women emulate.
Fortunately, the men in my life seldom spit, at least around me, which is good because it makes me start to puke. As a nurse aide I regarded urine, stool and emesis AKA pee, poop and vomit, as well as the drainage from various tubes, merely as substances to be measured, recorded and discarded. But mucus was another story--at least to my gag reflex. So glad I did not have to measure that. Although I once had to deliver a cup of sputum to an R.N., I did not have to look at it. When guys snort and spit I know exactly why they are doing it, but knowing that just makes me gag more.
The medical studies I skimmed always end with a conclusion, so here is mine. Guys spit because they are guys. It is the same reason they admire the quality and volume of each other's burps and farts. At least men don't sniff what dogs do--around me anyway.
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