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Interesting assertion. You're undoubtedly right, of course, but it just reminds me of the ideals promoted by the deodorant companies. Once upon a time, everyb
by bmelton 13y ago
Interesting assertion. You're undoubtedly right, of course, but it just reminds me of the ideals promoted by the deodorant companies.
Once upon a time, everybody smelled like everybody smells, which is to say, probably not quite as pleasant as people smell now -- arguably. Then somebody came along and invented deodorant, began marketing it to women to give them a competitive dating advantage -- "Smell better than the next woman and get more men" -- which they (historically obviously) fell for, and now deodorant is considered necessary... but for what purpose?
People are very adaptive to smell, and beyond the same statistical outliers we have now, generally speaking, people would have smelled about the same. Now though, the bar has been arbitrarily raised, and the result is that everybody not wearing deodorant is a grotesquely smelling freak, where the only outcome is that, once again, we all smell the same, but slightly different -- and of course, we're now all spending an extra $10 a month on a product that nobody really needs, but that was marketed well enough initially that it's become a staple.
- hrjet 13y agoNot a fan of deodorants but, biologically, they may not be completely useless: 1. Being able to afford a deodorant indicates wealth, and thus better chances of survival of the offspring. 2. Using a deodorant might also indicate an awareness of personal hygiene in the individual (atleast purportedly). This might again increase the survival chances of the offspring.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoNeither of those points suggests that deodorants, in themselves, are anything but useless. Instead, they suggest that paying attention to deodorant use makes sense even though deodorants are completely useless.
- mistermann 13y agoBy useless, do you mean they have no effect whatsoever?
- thaumasiotes 13y agoI'm following the context set by my ancestor comments, which is that deodorant is to americans as, according to Socrates, horsehair crests were to classical soldiers.
- gojomo 13y agoAha, the "signalling theory of deodorant". Some think a college degree 'works' in the same way.
- reubenmorais 13y agoWhile reading this I realized most of the times when I've been complimented for my smell, I was far from being perfumed – getting home after a busy day, arriving somewhere after having to run to catch a bus, things like that.
- babby 13y agoI also find deodorant to be useless. I can anecdotally attest to my own strategy. I buy rubbing alcohol. Have a shower, clean the problem areas. Shortly after I get out I apply the alcohol to my arm pits, and if I think I'm going to really be sweating I spray some over my upper back, chest etc. Nothing close to the amount one would use if they were spraying deodorant. The result is that I can go several days without any bad odor, even when I sweat so much that my shirts are saturated, they don't even smell, to me or anyone else. The side effect of doing this is that I am far more sensitive to perfumes and deodorants people use, and they just aren't at all pleasant in the quantities people feel they need to use to smell "nice".
- sandGorgon 13y agoactually, there is a related phenomenon called "Beyond Shampoo" or "nopoo" (the website seems to be down). There is a huge movement around giving up soap and shampoo permanently to avoid and cure stuff like dandruff, acne, etc. I personally had HUGE successes with it in improving my overall hygiene - but be warned that it takes upto six months for your body to "reboot". during that time, your hygiene grows worse - before getting extremely better. I suspect it is the same case with the brushing thing : it will take quite some time before the flora and fauna of your mouth reboots. [1] http://freetheanimal.com/2010/12/a-most-successful-self-experiement-over-18-months-soap-and-shampoo-free.html http://freetheanimal.com/2010/12/a-most-successful-self-expe... [2] http://paleohacks.com/questions/17060/no-poo-and-dandruff.html#axzz2mCPzOIdR http://paleohacks.com/questions/17060/no-poo-and-dandruff.ht...
- anoncow 13y agoI tried the no shampoo thing for a month. The result was extremely scaly, itchy scalp. So I used Ketoconazole + shampoo once. (Ketoconazole can cause dryness, flakes and hairfall; so I used very little of it). Had some dryness and some hairfall following the wash. The next two weeks were without shampoo. Now I intermittently use a "mild" shampoo like Johnsons baby shampoo every week or so and my seborrheic dermatitis is much better. So the nopoo thing is not so bad.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoMy sister and I both suffered from dandruff while living near Santa Cruz, California. And we both found that it magically went away when we moved. When I grow out facial hair, there's a particular spot on my upper lip that starts to flake, which I also think of as "dandruff". Kept shaven, it's asymptomatic. Basically, there seem to be many mysterious causes and effects involved.
- gojomo 13y agoI'm curious: was your residence in Santa Cruz a misty/mold-conducive environment? What's the climate and household like where you moved to?
- sliverstorm 13y agoOur natural smell developed in a time when humans were naked and lived outdoors. Let's just put it this way; I find it noteworthy that deodorant was developed around the same time that humans started to be packed tightly into office buildings while wrapped up in wool suits.
- kstenerud 13y agoThe problem is that there is a huge range of smell (or stench) depending on what bacteria tends to cluster in your underarms. I was one of those unlucky ones who had terrible BO until a friend introduced me to potassium alum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_alum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_alum , commonly sold as "crystal deodorant". It's now been almost 3 years since I stopped using soap or shampoo, and I no longer have any skin problems or odor problems, although I'll smell up pretty quick if I forget the crystal deodorant. The only weird part was the two month transitionary phase where my body was still producing excess oils to compensate for daily washing with soap, giving a constant, icky "you've been wearing those jeans for a whole week" feel. Another protip: If you find your feet stink after a full day at work, try switching to wool socks.