I think the anime fans are just traumatized by the overwhelming stench of axe body spray from the high school gym changing room, and are now scared of deodorant
Enter a random bus in summer
It’s some gene that is mostly present in asians compared to whites, blacks, etc, my friend group has one individual that said he didn’t use it, and he’s black, everyone else will smell sour if stopped.
I’ve heard this point a lot but given the fact that until the industrial age, most people had open flames in their kitchen and bedrooms so if i had to guess I’d guess most people smelled of woodsmoke.
Back then people would stuff flowers in their shirts to cover up all the bad smells.
Spend a week roughing it, or in a cabin away from running water, and you’ll realize very quickly that smoke only sorta covers how bad humans can smell
If anything it mixes eventually and makes a whole new nasty
If anything it mixes eventually and makes a whole new nasty
Definitely.
That just helped cover the asscrack smell.
Swamp ass with hints of mesquite or a cherrywood smoke.
I’ve had some exes tell me they love the way I smell after a couple days camping, but also that I can’t touch them because I am grimy.
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For the first few hours. Stale woodsmoke in your hair smell awful.
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I love it. Sadly it’s also carcinogenic
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Death doesn’t. Well, unless you’re the one doing the embalming or applying makeup or making the coffin…
Yeah I love it. Sad to hear it is. Wonder where the state or synthetic chemistry is on it
A friend of mine in the military said when he was deployed and everyone starting stinking. He could be eating with a load of stinking guys. But he could smell if a woman came into the room.
I guess we aren’t too far removed from the animals after all.
Man I can fucking smell this post. People will do all kinds of mental gymnastics to justify being lazy and gross.
I don’t think it’s mental gymnastics I think it’s a lack of actual gymnastics, so to speak. Body odor mostly comes from sweating so if you don’t sweat much you don’t need deodorant near as much. Someone with a healthy body weight living a largely sedentary lifestyle in a cooler climate might not need it at all and might smell perfectly fine with showers every other day or even every third day. However, that’s best case scenario and most people don’t check all those boxes. If you’re overweight, move around a lot, or just live in a warmer climate then that’s not going to work.
Yeah I need antiperspirant or I stink.
Antiperspirant or deodorant? Sweating is natural and some antiperspirant ingredients are harmful.
https://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/skincare/bath-body/deodorant-vs-antiperspirant
ITT
People who didn’t read the article and assumed Slate was telling everyone to not use anything…
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I did read the article. They go into the history of modern deodorant and antiperspirant and the marketing of them. They talk about how antiperspirant is safe to use but the narrative that it causes cancer keeps growing regardless of what scientists say. They also relate having conducted an experiment with deodorant instead of antiperspirant and how many people could probably get away with just deodorant.
At no point do they say we should abandon all hygiene.
'Cept deodorant does nothing to remove the stench from the weirdos that don’t wipe their ass after taking a shit, which is a large bulk of people at the conventions I’ve been to. 🤢
How do I un-read a comment?
The amount of men that refuse to properly clean their own ass is terrifying and disgusting.
as a gay, I take some undeserved pride in being so terrifying to straight conservatives that many of them started walking around with poop on their butt because they’re scared if they touch their b-hole they’re suddenly gonna “break” and go gay
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I used to work for Star City Games.
Enough said.
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OMG, I read the comments.
I’m a guy who showers daily and tries to make sure I don’t smell (breath and body). Today, however, I am off from work and only washed my face. I’ve had that not so fresh feeling all day.
I’m going to take shower right now.
edit - shower complete. also, i was trying to quote ghostbusters in the beginning but messed up it. it should have been “I looked at the comments, Ray”.
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Your poor skin.
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The article gets quite a lot right. Both sets of products are solving problems that didn’t exist, and create problems that very much do. These range from psycho-social problems to physical environmental problems.
The answer is don’t buy either. But that means being ok with being able to smell one another. That would be a return to the default state of probably a million years. But how are we all going to do that at the same time over night?
But that means being ok with being able to smell one another.
I worked for an international company and during the company retreat, HR had to gently tell a few people to wear deodorant.
Not trying to shit on cultures and countries that don’t believe in it, but it smelled like a teenage locker room had sex with a mtg convention. Even the hippy developers were disgusted.
Nope. Wear your deodorant. It was invented because it makes people smell more recently cleaned, which has always been more hygienic and therefore more appealing. The problems do exist absent of culture and marketing.
I appreciate the advice, but I already do wear deodorant. I guess whether they are problems or not is subjective. I’m not convinced that being sanitised is a good thing. Microbiome of the skin is a thing. Being more hygienic and therefore more appealing is also subjective. Hygienic isn’t high up on my list of qualities of value. Obviously, there’s a threshold and everyone has a different value for it.
Honestly I prefer slight body-smell over the typical Axe mix with sweat.
Another thing: you smell less when you’re not constantly using deo (and washing your skin with soap etc. water is enough most of the time).
Just have good hygiene and eat/live healthy, you"ll be surprised that you don’t need deo most of the time.
You’re not comparing apples to apples when you compare the worst and most overpowering body spray to “Slight body-smell”.
And you smell less after establishing a no-deodorant routine. You still smell, and a lot at that. Diet isn’t going to get rid of that. People still notice and you still stink.
You still smell, and a lot at that. Diet isn’t going to get rid of that. People still notice and you still stink.
I haven’t said that I don’t smell at all, but just using water, and avoiding stale-sweat (by washing with water, which is rather effective). But I wouldn’t consider it a lot, at least not, when the people aren’t like really close, or straight up sniff my armpits ^^
Maybe worth adding, is that I almost exclusively wear merino-wool shirts, which likely helps further reducing BO
Not everyone is the same, some people should wash more often or wear deodorant, some people don’t need to.
Yeah, my experiences during COVID when I couldn’t leave the house and stopped wearing deodorant is that the smell doesn’t become less. I didn’t wear deodorant for over a month and it was the same.
Have you tried just using just water while washing armpits? This had by far the greatest effect of reducing BO for me. I mean it’s still there, but not that it concerns me most of the time, I’m also sometimes washing armpits with water during the day, when I’m sweating more than usual.
So what you’re telling me is, the solution to stop bacteria from producing smells is to let it multiply and thrive? Everyone who has ever given me the advice you’re giving me stinks of BO. Our ancestors stank. You’re not producing less stank, you’re just getting used to it.
Well the “stink” is AFAIK produced by bacteria etc. after sweating, i.e. stale sweat.
AFAIK fresh sweat has a somewhat arousing effect on the opposite gender.
I guess, when you’re not constantly drying out your skin by washing all the body fats away, it just needs to produce less body fluid to nurture the skin etc. which leads to less stink, because it can be washed away quite effectively (but less so the body fats) by just using water (not as effective as with soap etc. though, but it takes maybe 2 hours or so and then I’m stinking when using soap, btw. counter-example to that I’m getting used to the stink). I also think the different composition of the skin flora may add to that.
Before you’re judging, have you tried washing the skin with just water (my skin health has improved since using only water on the body, and I have rather sensitive skin)?.
Sounds like bro science to me. I’m a greasy mfer and my skin is fine with being washed
I’m no expert, but there’s a chance you’re just getting used to the smell (Of course everybody is a little different and some people barely smell and others, like myself, have quite a strong smell). Which, ironically is kind of the point. I believe before deodorant people had ways to make themselves smell nicer, but I don’t think they had anything that completely stops the BO like deodorant does for such a long period of time. So, I guess it kind of did solve a problem that didn’t exist, because people normally would smell.
On the other hand, at this point most of modern society likes when people do not smell like BO, So I will be continuing to use deodorant.
ways to make themselves smell nicer
true, perfume etc. is nothing new, probably older than cultivating plants.
chance you’re just getting used to the smell
Maybe slightly, but as soon as I’m using soap, I quickly notice stink after a short time after showering as counter-example.
I think the body just has use less fluid to nurse the skin after washing with just water, and than there’s a slightly different skin-flora I think.
I sometimes use DIY deo (basically soda+coconut-oil) when I’m noticing stink, but rarely, that works quite well, while being somewhat neutral in smell.
most of modern society likes when people do not smell like BO
I’m not so sure about that. Probably not a strong stale-sweat BO, but there are studies, where fresh sweat had IIRC a strong arousing effect on the opposite gender. I guess it quite depends on the BO…
I may not be the norm, but I’m somewhat opposed to most of the often penetrant deo smell. I also would consider my sense of smell rather sensitive (I hate the fumes of motorcycles and cars in the road-traffic, and often hold breath there)
The ancient Greeks and Egyptians used perfumes to make themselves more appealing.
It’s like saying people never complained about the heat before the invention of the air conditioner.
I didn’t say don’t use anything, I said it’s valid to decide not use products marketed as “deodorant” and “Antiperspirant”. It’s not like I follow that advice. I wear deodorant, and aftershave. But I have experimented with not wearing any, and using “eco” ones.
What I am saying is that I do agree with what is in the article, which is summarised as both products have created a false problem, and used that to create a market.
And it isn’t at all like AC. Humans smell. It’s not a completely negative thing to me. I don’t want a completely sanitised olfactory experience. If you wash daily, most of the time, Antiperspirant isn’t needed. But depends on what you are doing and what the climate is. In temperate conditions, I can go a day without smelling any different, without deodorant on. It changes when the weather is hot, and if I do strenuous exercise. But you can just wash more often.
What I’ve found is that certain soaps change the situation, as does what I eat. Garlic and Cumin seems to have a significant effect.
The first claim is true though. People used to not mind the smell of sweat.
That it’s percieved as unpleasant, and that people are worried about others smelling them is a modern trend, which was pushed by advertising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8zRpRPgJNw
11min Video on the topic by “Future Proof”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1shh4d0mz0
German short documentaryIt wasn’t so much “not mind” as it was “put up with” since there was no real alternative for the average person. Also, there’s the remarkable ability of the human brain to filter out inputs it deems unnecessary. Bad smells that are a constant presence end up being filtered out.
I don’t know, bad smells are not filtered for an evolutionary reason. Sure you work at a bakery and the amazing smell of bread is filtered by day 2 never to be smelled again, but i had to bunk under a mfkr in the military who was under shower supervision, and yet still had a mark on him from that time someone dropped an alcohol pad on his arm. My brain didn’t filter shit, as in the smell of.
People have been cleaning themselves for essentially forever. Bathing was not as common as it is today, but we know people have been washing their hands, feet and face regularly for many thousands of years.
Cleanliness features very heavily in religion dating back thousands of years, and the earliest soap recipe is from ~2500BC, although we know they were making at scale hundreds of years before then.
Wells to make water available in places where there’s no stream or river date back even further to the ~8000s BC.Most people weren’t rocking perfumed soaps and immersion in hot water, but washing your clothes with a homemade soap, scrubbing your feet, hands and face with cold water and a rag every day or so and likewise your body roughly weekly was available to most people at a minimum. If you were near a river or body of water, like humans tend to prefer to live, washing your feet, hands and face every morning and a weekly scrub was perfectly comfortable.
Primates are generally very conscious of grooming. Humans are unique in regularly washing with water, but we’re also unique in being nearly hairless, remarkably greasy, and clever. It tracks that we’d figure out the water thing pretty fast.
Username checks out
People also eat a very different diet now, with way more sugar.
Changes things.
Edit downvotes from stinkers
Big difference between “the smell of sweat” and “horrible BO” though.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. People have been trying to mask body odor for literally thousands of years.
Unless OP’s definition of ‘modern’ is from, at least, the 1500s till now…
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Yeah, they ignore that frigging Egyptians who bathed daily and invented cosmetics and soap, also invented perfume and toothbrushing, and incense, and also had deodorants. Over 4 thousand years ago.
People smell, just fucking use deodorant.
Username checks out, the smell makes people cry.
“I don’t actually smell bad, you’ve just been socialized to believe that.”
Please touch grass, shower, and apply deodorant.
It’s funny too because many animals have adapted to not be smelled too easily so as not to become dinner.
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You’ve heard of “Free Hugs”…
You’ve heard of “Free Shrugs”…
Now get ready for:
if you show up unshowered and without deodorant ata fucking con and im near you i will puke all over you.
Free hurls
Yeah, but I recall attending a gaming tournament where smash brothers had an entire gym to itself.
By day two it was so bad that the artists(mostly women) just outside the gym had moved their vendor tables away from the gym.
The first time I went to pax, the whole convention stank like stale pizza. Like at a mall next to a Sbarro’s. Problem was, there was no food court or restaurants at pax… It’s all the greasy gamer stink.
There is a distinct difference between the smell of freshly generated sweat, and dried sweat mixed with all of the other accumulated filth one accrues when they don’t regularly shower.
This is the dumbest fucking take. The entire historical record disagrees with two YouTube videos and you’ve landed on the latter’s side.
But they did their own research! /s
Yeah, there’s a reason they aren’t scientists. Like, who tf quotes a Future Proof video unironically. They are the idiot’s idea of an intelligent video.
Username checks out.
I never use deodorant. Also don’t ever use shampoo. I shower once every two days. Never get complaints. Working as a nurse, I;m always close to people who would definitely tell me if I smelled bad. Not saying this will work for everyone nor that everyone should do the same. I do however think that the industry has been successful in marketing these products as must-haves for daily use and I know that’s a lie. Many people who wash regularly won’t have strong odor with or without deodorant or shampoo. I did use them during puberty and I was a bit uncertain when I stopped. They work on your insecurity, and so you’re inclined to keep using these products, everyday, all the time, just to be sure. No one wants to smell bad. I volunteer in a sort of day care for the homeless and the shame people feel when they smell bad and others notice is incredibly large so it makes sense people stick to their deodorant just to be sure. There’s also really no harm in it, but I feel like our hygiene-cleanliness culture is quite extreme sometimes. Deodorants are a real solution for a real problem obviously, but many people over do it and when overdone people reek of deodorant or perfume. Like old ladies on a bus. Yuck.
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AND it’s not very good to never use soap
Unless we’re talking about washing hands I disagree. Soap is bad for your skin. Water alone is enough to do away with any dirt on your body, and the downside of soap is that it also does away with all sorts of oils that your skin needs to function properly.Of course there are mild soaps, but still it’s not really clear to me what the benefit of soap would be.
Can confirm. My dad’s bo is sour. Stinks up the bathroom and with the least bit of sun, the effect of exessive showering is undone.
I tend to disagree. I guess it depends…
I’m using shampoo for hair, though only because I think a lot of filth that’s flying around in cities (and dust in rooms) collects there (and it gets itchy).
But as a counter example: I washed my feet with soap a long time ago and had constantly issues with fungal infection there. Then I stopped that (and only use water) and never had these issues again…
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Well as I said, I never had any issues again since like 7 years or so, got healthy feet etc. so I guess that this indeed has gone away?
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my psych/socio teacher in HS had a rather funny litmus test for that one.
Words from his mouth were “if your ear wax is dry, you probably don’t stink anymore”
What does ear wax being dry have to do with stink? Just wondering
not entirely sure, but that’s what he postulated, being a middle aged man and all.
Presumably it just means that your body is producing less material for bacteria to make smelly. But this is also 1700s levels of science lmao.
I think body odor has an evolutionary reason to exist, and that reason applies to prehistoric humans living in small gather hunterer societies of <150 people only. Whatever that reason was, is not necessary for our survival in modern society where you meet thousands of people over your lifetime and run into new strangers constantly.
Pretty sure body odor would have worked against them. Once a predator detects body odor of a human… it knows that body odor belongs to human meat.
lol…
A lot of predators avoid humans though
I feel like feline predators seem more likely to approach regardless of the situation. By feline I mean like Bob cats, leopards, panthers etc…
I dont think body odor ever played an evolutionary role. As far as I know body odor is caused by bacterias eating and multiplying whenever we sweat. If this is the case body odor is here because we sweat which isnt that common within the animal kingdom.
(Although dont quote me on any of this, this is just what I seem to remember and Im lazy to look it up - tldr i might be lying)
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Lol don’t be mad
Nope, evolution is chaos. The current planet is the output of a chaotic system. You seriously think koalas play an evolutionary role? Platypus? Hell even humans have about 20 design flaws. Sometimes nature just threw shit at a wall and called it “good enough.”
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Not everything is an evolved functional trait, like the first poster was saying.
Loosing our hair and getting greasy was a functional adaptation. That grease getting stinky is just a byproduct that didn’t introduce a negative selection pressure.Evolution doesn’t have a plan, it just takes the shortest path towards better that doesn’t make things worse.
Giraffes have a nerve that runs from their brain, down to their torso, then back up to the top of their neck. There’s no reason or benefit to this, it’s purely because when what the nerve runs to evolved in reptiles, it was at the top of the torso. Neck gets longer, nerve follows since there’s no pressure to select against stupid nerve layout. There’s a species of toad that evolved to become so small that their ear bones can’t actually pick up the sound of their species mating chirp. They still chirp, but none of them can hear it, and instead they signal based on seeing the motion of chirping.deleted by creator
That doesn’t exclude it having a purpose. A lot of our existence we owe to bacteria inhabiting our body
And a lot of what happens in evolution is passed down the generations not because it’s useful but because it doesn’t hinder reproduction.
Body odour does hinder reproduction, though.
But it doesn’t though. Before people bathed consistently, everyone smelled. It wouldn’t have been a factor in partner selection.
It wouldn’t have been a factor in partner selection.
This is pretty presumptuous, as there appears to be a lot we can pick up about potential mates based on their body odor.
I’m absolutely not an anthropologist, but if we evolved in small <100 person communities, often settling near water, I’d imagine keeping everyone relatively stank-free wouldn’t have been impossible.
There has been some research in this area pointing to being able to smell if someone is sick. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10550911/
That’s not how evolution works.
It might just be there was not enough of a selective pressure to remove it. Or something else that causes it has a more important function than smell.
I assume the article is going for “we should be okay with body odor” which feels very granola. Not everyone needs deodorant, but many do if they don’t want to smell. Antiperspirant can be bad for your body, but deodorant should do the trick for most, by masking the sweat smell with their preferred scent.
I live in australia and catch PT in summer. No one should be ok with body odour.
Are we gonna have a body odor acceptance movement to go along with the fat one?
The article is screen grabbed and cropped to remove the context and increase outrage. It’s actually about debunking all natural deodorants claims about detoxing.
