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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  1799 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 24, 2019

NASA actually tested this. How funky do you get if you don't bathe or change your clothes? What they discovered is that we hit "peak funk" at about four weeks after which point we don't get any funkier (they actually weighed clothes - which quit gaining "funk" weight after four weeks). The problem is, "peak funk" is "haven't bathed or changed clothes in a month" and that's one of two steady states, the other being "squeaky clean out of the shower."

We used to feel about lice and ringworm about what we feel about dandruff now - awkward, something to be avoided, but not the end of the world. Attitudes change and as our cleanliness has gone up, so has public health... and "the body's natural functions" are a whole lot more offensive than they used to be.

Maybe it'll swing the other way. For work I watched some dudes under 30 and some dudes over 30 interact about body hair in about 2012. The dudes under 30 were smooth-shaven everywhere, from toes to nose. The dudes over 30 were aghast. the dudes under 30 were all "yeah, this is our life now, you're old" but within about four years body hair was back.

But I went for a run yesterday and took a shower. Then I had a day, went to bed, woke up and went to yoga. It's now been about 26 hours since I had a shower and I'm gross.* I'm not leaving this house without a shower and a shave. 50 years ago I'd be a damn obsessive compulsive deviant for having that attitude but 50 years ago I'd be a deviant for going for a run and then to yoga so you know what? I'ma keep changing my underwear every day.