There are cultures and nations to which Simplify by Kim has no intention of marketing to because we understand that those cultures not only accept body odor, they embrace it and expect it to be completely natural, authentic, and unmasked or altered. Why? We are curious, and we do not suppose that one culture’s perspectives and practices regarding body odor are superior or inferior to others.
So, I invite readers of this blog to reach out to us and tell us how their cultures influenced their thinking toward body odor. Please include links to articles that would help me and my colleagues understand better and be more sensitive. Some questions you might want to consider answering could be along the lines of the questions below:
Is body odor so present and homogenized in your culture that whereas visitors from other lands can smell a persistent odor on the people, you cannot not?
When is the first time you recognized that your body might smell? Did you find the odor of your own body to be pleasant or neutral until you participated in daily life away from home? Was it when you travelled to a different culture?
Is body odor a different matter in the workplace than it is in the home? Is it less about family, or tribal-based culture, and more about institutions we rely on for income in more modern societies? Have you even had someone at work or at home tell you that you needed to practice better hygiene habits? How uncomfortable did it make you? Did it help?
Were you raised in your homeland to believe that people of another culture or nation were known to smell bad? Was that presumed to mean that those “smelly” people were inferior to the people of your homeland? Is body odor definitely linked to perceived value, intelligence, giftedness, or other traits where you come from? Do any cultures value natural, and even strong, body odors over absence of body odor?
Have you ever excused yourself from a social function because someone you had to interact with had a body odor that you found offensive? In your own culture, are you taught to inform the other person of ways they can improve their hygiene habits for their own benefit (besides your own children)?
Do any cultures have absolutely no norms or preferences toward body odor at all?
Does your culture link body odor to diet? Were you taught to avoid certain foods because they would make you smell bad?
These would be fun questions to get answers to and catalog by culture and degree of negativity of response. I look forward to some participation. I’ll edit these questions based upon initial responses so they are simultaneously more sensitive and more informed.
Lastly, I’ve been told that in some cultures medicine practitioners claim to be able to immediately detect signs of health or malady based upon how their patient smells when they walk in the room. Can anyone inform me more on whether this is common around the world?
Cheers!
Prevodorant 