Defining reality

For some reason, I've been thinking about a paper I read a long time ago as part of an introduction to symbolic interactionism. I've just found it's online (Google is killing fruitless whimsy).

The paper is memorable not so much because it deals with an unusual subject but because, in so doing, it illustrates some of the key ideas of symbolic interactionism. And provides an interesting perspective on human behavior and the construction of social reality.

It was a popular paper when I was at college - perhaps because its title is so memorable:-

Behavior in Private Places: Sustaining Definitions of Reality in Gynecological Examinations
Jane P Emerson; State University of New York

But don't let the title put you off. It's long too. [PDF]