Why do we smell so bad?

Danger

Yup. And medieval women would rub a handkerchief, or frequently an apple, in their pits and present it to a knight heading off to war. Whatever the rest of the odour, there are pheromones present.

And was it Ogden Nash, or Bertrand Russell, or (who the hell was it?). Anyhow, one of those famous literary types was at a social gathering and some society ***** told him, 'You smell.' He calmly responded, 'No, Madam, you smell; I stink.'

Ouabache

I have a sense of Déjà Vu about this thread.. Actually, we covered similar ground in a couple of earlier threads. this one titled No shower month, began on May 2005. Several comments on the current thread were expressed on 3 yrs ago on 'No shower' thread.. Then there was a thread about Armpit Odor beginning Sept 2004.

moe darklight

two weeks?? the longest I've gone is a day. both times we had plumbing problems at home and the water wasn't working, and both times I called in sick to school and work. There's NO way I'd leave the house without a shower.

ewwwwww, please don't tell me they ate that apple! why an apple?? who wants a sweaty apple that smells like an armpit?

I'm so glad I live in the 21st century.

lrwells

Even if a woman finds a man's strong body odor after a hard workout or a hard day at work to be offensive it's proven that, biologically, many women will actually begin ovulation in response to that same odor. In the middle ages, a man who was entering a dangerous competition, like jousting, would put a linen or silk hankerchief under his armpit and then offer this "personalized" love token to the lady he wished to impress. (sound familiar?) This was considered as romantic to a woman then as a sweet smelling bouquet of roses is today. Likewise, even if a woman has a strong vaginal odor due to lack of bathing (not infection,) it's been proven that men will often still react to that odor with an erection. I think, in recent culture, the propoganda and subsequent popularity for stringent hygene to prevent disease has just changed our social view of body odor, not our biological reaction to it.

Pythagorean

I'm convinced I have pheromones.

Evo

No, actually the woman would give him her scarf to wear.

pgardn

On another note it appears in humans that the neurons associated with olfactory sensations regenerate quicker than any other in the brain.

But alas this does not explain the strange chicken soup odor my brother used to give off after a nervous sweat... Bizarre... And his feet, good God, toe cheese maximus. Serious fermentation going on in those tennis shoes.

Math Is Hard

My cat loves stinky feet.

Ouabache

Does your kitty open its mouth slightly, after a good sniff?

lisab

I've seen my cat do that after grooming her, um, hindquarters . Fortunately I knew what it meant, otherwise I'd be perplexed. Seeing a cat do that is a mixture of bizarre and hilarious.

DaveC426913

They do this to bring the odor receptors in the roofs of their mouths to bear.

Humans have them too. Certain odors (such as perfumes) can surprisingly, be smelled in the roof of your mouth.

Ouabache

I have had cats do this and I had the same reaction you did.
Are we hinting at the Flehmen response.
I am not surprised we have a similar response. Here's another kitty with the Flehmen response.

Math Is Hard

I actually haven't seen her do a Flehmen response in a number of years. She's a very old cat (17) and I wonder if her vomeronasal sensing has gone downhill in her old age.

chemisttree

Perhaps it's because old cats don't have much to smile about.

DaveC426913

Corrected.

lilythmagebor

Correct. This is the response that better answers the question. Your body doesn't by itself stink. It's the bacteria that flock to the moisture on your body that stinks. And because many bacteria are not kind to us, we have an adverse response to this. The fact that people used to go months without bathing and it did not stop them from social and sexual activity may mean that we only now have so many [smelly] bacteria. Sweat that has just come off of you and has not yet had contact with the smelly bacteria has no noticeable smell.
As far as feces and flatulence smelling, this is primarily due to what we eat. I imagine things you eat which cause an excessive amount of methane byproduct will give you smellier farts, because methane by itself stinks.

Ouabache

Actually methane is an odourless gas. Perhaps you are thinking of natural
gas of which methane is a large component. In that case a sulphurous
component (e.g. methanethiol) is added, which gives its characteristic scent.