Four out of five women don't shower every day

[HiFi]

4 out of 5 women (and men) barely move each day, so that might explain why they don't need the shower.

[BubblyGirl]

Originally Posted by luckyram

Speak for yourself.......I know I shower & clean properly and pay special attention to specific "target areas" (and occasionally can hang my soap on a rope on one spot while I'm attending to the others)

Must be some tiny soap. Sorry, you get an assist for that.

[cyberphonics]

People either smell or they don't. Some smell off even though they've showered. Some don't smell like much of anything even though they didn't. Not everyone stinks after 24 hours guaranteed like clockwork. There are people who take days to stink while others start to stink a few hours after bathing. Our scent is a product of several things. Washing is only one of them.

So when you're talking about smell alone, not showering daily really isn't a big deal unless you're someone who smells like sh-t without it. My issue is that bathing shouldn't just be about smell. Hygiene is about maintaining your health with an emphasis on how cleanliness promotes that.

Whether they stink or not, your privates/butt need to be cleaned regularly. There are any number of things your bits can pick up or spread that can negatively affect your medical health or someone else's.

I wasn't put off by the idea of women not showering every day, but I was put off by the part that mentioned how many polled don't even clean their cracks. Even if I don't shower because I'm home all day and just don't feel like jumping in there, don't feel dirty, and don't stink, I still wash down below.

Flint + Flint owner Maxine Flint said: "I understand the appeal of a lie-in but skipping a morning wash is both anti-social for the people around us and unhealthy.

That's what it's about. The first thing many think when they hear someone didn't shower isn't oh dear, that's unhealthy for them. It's eww, I wouldn't want to be around them/have sex with them/etc.

For all those proclaiming that every woman they know showers daily (which isn't something you can accurately claim unless you personally watch them do it) and that there's no way those percentages would be comparable here in the states, I suspect that it's less about them caring that much more for their health and more about them conforming to the standard deemed socially acceptable.

For the number of women who have no trouble stating on a message board that they don't shower every day, how many do you think would admit that as freely to people offline? People are conditioned to do things the way their surroundings tolerate (or to at least say they are).

Conformity is considered proof of desire to be a part of society, so deviation is "antisocial". It's silly to refer to not showering in the morning as an antisocial behavior, but the norm is a powerful construct.

I'd be curious to see how many of the daily shower come hell or high water folk are the ones who do it because they personally feel it's necessary, even though that's still mostly a product of culture, versus the ones who'd give themselves a bit more leeway if they thought their valued friends/spouse/acquaintances wouldn't give a sh-t.

Originally Posted by krazykatlady

To me, people have a certain "sleep smell" to them when they don't shower. It makes me gag. Believe me when I tell you that other people know when you don't shower. THEY. KNOW......

Originally Posted by scarabchuck

Absolutely. I love when people say " I don't have BO" , yeah...that is what you think but probably not others around you think.

Everyone has a smell with or without bathing that can only be masked, but not everyone has the same sense of smell and we like some smells more than others. That means that whether a person stinks or not is a matter of opinion. That person that makes you gag may smell fine to the other five people in the room.

There's also a difference between someone smelling like they didn't shower because they stink and someone smelling like they didn't shower because they don't smell like soap. If anything, that's what people pick up on - someone smelling like a body instead of a manufactured "fresh water" scent.

Which still isn't foolproof because depending on the soap you use and how long it's been since you showered, some people will be back to having that "skin" smell of warm oil and sweat by the time they reach your nose.

"Sleep smell" isn't some objective scent like cigarette smoke. It's just how an individual smells after sleeping, which means nothing if you don't know that individual's body and habits well enough to pick up on the difference.

Someone hops into bed naked, rubs their crotch and their a$$crack and their pits all over their already dirty cotton/jersey sheets, drools, sweats, farts, gets up to pee, wipes but doesn't wash, hops back into bed with dried pee to be deposited onto the sheets along with the rest of their funk and enjoys the pleasure of rolling around in all of that for eight hours.

Someone hops into bed with fresh linens in freshly-laundered underwear, doesn't sweat much if at all because they have light, breathable sheets and have the thermostat down, doesn't pass any gas, doesn't drool, and wakes up to start their day five hours later.

I can guarantee they don't have the same "sleep smell" lol

So if you can tell that someone didn't shower, it's not because you can always tell. It's because that person stinks and there's a 50/50 chance it's because they didn't wash. Anyone inclined to assume they didn't wash will never be wrong. Why? Because if the person says I didn't wash, you'll say I knew it and if they say they did, you'll say he's lying.

For some people, what they smell like after sleeping isn't all that different from what they smell like from walking around in clothing all day. "Morning breath" is a different story all together...

[slingshot]

That's why I have only one wife. It cuts down on the speculation. That way I can concentrate on more important things.

[skyegirl]

Originally Posted by puginabug

What's the fascination with showering/bathing on these forums?? Jeez, this is like the 3rd thread dedicated to this subject.

I was thinking the same thing. Who cares? I shower/bathe everyday that I have to work, have plans outside of the house or go to the gym. If it's a lazy Sunday, sometimes I don't shower, or if I do it's right before bed...I think I'm pretty normal.

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by krazykatlady

To me, people have a certain "sleep smell" to them when they don't shower. It makes me gag. Believe me when I tell you that other people know when you don't shower. THEY. KNOW......

Believe me, we know from your smell that you have multiple cats.

[tamajane]

Now, there most likely is still a cultural expectation that women are supposed to smell nicer than men. That is why this is about women only, and is considered problematic or gross. If it were about men we'd say no big deal, men are supposed to be smelly and sometimes neglect their health and hygiene.

[Redraven]

I don't either, so I don't care.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by tamajane

Now, there most likely is still a cultural expectation that women are supposed to smell nicer than men. That is why this is about women only, and is considered problematic or gross. If it were about men we'd say no big deal, men are supposed to be smelly and sometimes neglect their health and hygiene.

Yeah, I wondered why this study was exclusive to women only.

In any case, I think the whole thing is nuts. People have all kinds of different metabolisms. Some need to bathe more than others. This is especially true as we age and skin becomes drier and too frequent bathing can really dry skin out. It's also the case with hair. Some people have more oily hair than others and need to wash it more.

I don't know how true this is but an Asian woman once told me that Asian's have fewer sweat glands and don't sweat as much as caucasians therefore they don't need to bathe as often. Sounds strange to me but that's what she said. Maybe she was pulling my leg. I do know that some people sweat less than others regardless of ethnic origin. When I watch figure skaters do their routines in competition, some come off the ice dry as a bone and some sweating like crazy.

Some people prefer showers to baths and vice versa. Personally, I haven't had a bath in decades. I don't like the idea of sitting in my own soup of dirty water. Kind of like dirty dish water. I like showers because they are faster, I think I get cleaner, I can wash my hair in showers and they save on water.

How often one bathes should be according to the individual's needs and the amount of activities engaged in on any given day. The only ones who constantly bathe and groom themselves to the point of obsessiveness where it is actually acceptable are cats.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Yeah, I wondered why this study was exclusive to women only.

In any case, I think the whole thing is nuts. People have all kinds of different metabolisms. Some need to bathe more than others. This is especially true as we age and skin becomes drier and too frequent bathing can really dry skin out. It's also the case with hair. Some people have more oily hair than others and need to wash it more.

I don't know how true this is but an Asian woman once told me that Asian's have fewer sweat glands and don't sweat as much as caucasians therefore they don't need to bathe as often. Sounds strange to me but that's what she said. Maybe she was pulling my leg. I do know that some people sweat less than others regardless of ethnic origin. When I watch figure skaters do their routines in competition, some come off the ice dry as a bone and some sweating like crazy.

Some people prefer showers to baths and vice versa. Personally, I haven't had a bath in decades. I don't like the idea of sitting in my own soup of dirty water. Kind of like dirty dish water. I like showers because they are faster, I think I get cleaner, I can wash my hair in showers and they save on water.

How often one bathes should be according to the individual's needs and the amount of activities engaged in on any given day. The only ones who constantly bathe and groom themselves to the point of obsessiveness where it is actually acceptable are cats.

You all do understand that sweat glands are not the only way one can smell. There are "other" areas that have nothing to do with sweat that will raise quite a "stink" after a day or two of no bathing. If you aren't showering at least every other day....you smell...in one way or the other.