Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 15 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 22 years, 10 months ago by
.
- Posts
When I was little, my parents always told me that black people smelled different than white people. I have never noticed this, mostly because I was afraid to inhale deeply when in the company of black people. I was afraid that my nasal inquisition would be offensive, and I was afraid of what I might learn. Is it true? Do different races have different smells?
User Detail :
Name : Nancy A., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian Scientist, Age : 49, City : Conway, State : AR, Country : United States, Occupation : homemaker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Are you serious? After 45 years of life and 4 years of college, you are actually curious? Blacks and whites don’t smell any different than you smell like your sister. we all smell different-biology. colored people have rather oily skin therefore it is not so easy to hide the scent with perfumes and soaps. This doesn’t mean they smell bad. It means they have a natural scent. ‘whites’ Fair people have rather dry skin therefore it is much easier for them to mask their ‘natural scent’ with perfumes and soap. I myself do not prefer fake scents
User Detail :
Name : Selena, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 21, City : Frankfurt, State : NA, Country : Germany, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,People smell different, but I don’t think it’s based on race at all. What you eat, the kind of soap, shampoo and cosmetics you use, how you wash your clothes, all these things contribute to how you smell. But since members of any given race or class tend to use similar products, eat similar foods, then I think they end up smelling similarly. I have a pretty good nose and what stands out to me is whether a person smokes and what they use on their hair more than anything else.
User Detail :
Name : Robert29738, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 37, City : Austin, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Urban Planner, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Every person is going to smell some what different than the next. Not every one is going to smell the same it all depends on your chemical balances,diet, hygine,etc. It really does not depend on your race
User Detail :
Name : Katie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 22, City : Loveladn, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I can’t speak for anyone else BUT, from what I’ve notice with all the different people I have met, if any one of them have had a smell about them that I have noticed, for the most part, all are different. (Black, White, Red, Yellow, Green, Brown, Purple…)
User Detail :
Name : Bryan19299, City : Concord, State : NC, Country : United States,I don’t have a good sense of smell so I don’t know this for myself, but a good friend of mine )(who was half-Black) claimed that Black people smelled different, ‘sharper’ and ‘oniony’, whereas Asian people smelled like fish.
User Detail :
Name : Roger29611, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States,I think so. We may smell bad to you. But you smell bad to us.
User Detail :
Name : Monika20327, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States,The answer to your question is yes, we all smell different. However, blacks don’t smell one way and whites another. Bloodhounds can certainly tell the difference between us all. I think that the reason is probably a combination of metabolim and diet (this is an unscientific theory on my part). I spent a year in South Korea a few years ago and noticed that the people there had a different smell. Not B.O., and not unpleasant, just different. After a few weeks of living there it became unoticable. I dated a Korean woman while I was there and we discussed the issue. She said when she first met me I definitely smelled funny, but she didn’t notice it currently. We decided it was probably because I had been eating the Korean cuisine for some time. When I returned to the U.S I didn’t think to ask anyone if I smelled different, and no one mentioned it to me, so my theory could be way off base. So to answer your question another way, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, European-American, etc. do not have a distinct odor that can be generalized. However, if your white neighbor enjoys chewing on garlic cloves you will be able to smell him a mile away. On another note, I worked some summer construction jobs in college. The crew I worked with was made up of white people. There were two guys who worked there that would show up every morning clean and fresh, but after a couple hours of working in the heat could clear a room. They both swore used deoderant daily but sweating in the heat got their B.O. in an uproar. So, some people may have a natural preponderance for smelling bad, but it certainly is not a racial issue.
User Detail :
Name : Kyle26148, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 35, City : Kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Manager, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,What a question. Ummm-different people have different smells. The way you smell has to do with your diet, your hygiene habits/hygiene products you use, & your body chemistry-not your skin color. Good grief.
User Detail :
Name : Julie, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 31, City : Woodbridge, State : VA, Country : United States, Occupation : Event Planning, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,When I was growing up in New York City, I wasn’t taught that black poeple smelled different from whites, but I noticed it myself. When I was sitting next to a black person on the subway, I often noticed that they seemed to smell like peanuts, and it was a pleasant smell. I never saw any of them eating peanuts, so it was a mystery to me. I didn’t have the same experience in other situations with black people (e.g., with some black girls in my ballet class). I don’t think I have ever told anyone until now about this. It would be interesting to find out if anyone else ever had a similar experience. (BTW, I haven’t had this same experience as an adult.)
User Detail :
Name : Frema S., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 54, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : self-employed, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Okay, here it is. Yes. People of different races smell different. Sometimes. I used to live with 7 other girls of differing backrounds. Myself and one other girl were white, blond and had similarly textured hair. Therefore, we used Dep gel and Aquanet and that is what we smelled like. One girl was Latina and one girl was Italian. They both had dark, wavy, slightly coarser hair. They used similar hair care products, and therefore smelled the same. One girl was Irish, and had curly red hair. She just smelled like shampoo, because if she put anything in her hair, well, can anyone say Carrottop? One girl was black, and she used to smell like ‘grease’ and burnt hair because she fried her hair every morning with her curling iron to make it straight and used the type of old fashioned ‘grease’ product her grandma had used. Then, we had a beauty class one day. Us silky haired blondes stopped teasing our hair up in the air, so we didn’t need the Aquanet or Dep gel anymore; the girls with dark wavy hair got some tips on conditioning and the black girl was introduced to Infusium. After that, we all pretty much smelled like the Irish girl who had never used any stinky products to begin with. My point is, the way we smell has more to do with culture and less to do with race. I don’t stink like Aquanet any more, but I used to. That was the culture I was in then. Someone from India might smell like the spices in the food they eat, because those smells do come out in persperation. But if they were to start eating steak and Big Macs, shortly they would smell like an American. And when I eat ‘ethnic’ food for a few days in a row, I smell like whatever I’ve been eating, too. It is all relative.
User Detail :
Name : Amy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : mental illness (bipolar disorder), Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Wiccan, Age : 27, City : Tampa, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : mom, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I am sorry that you spent your entire life thinking that what your parents told you is factual. That statement is completely ridiculous.
User Detail :
Name : Sarah28118, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Baker City, State : OR, Country : United States, Occupation : Manager, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class,I’ve always been taught that white folks smell like wet dogs or chickens while wet.
User Detail :
Name : Jamara, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Anchorage, State : AK, Country : United States, Occupation : Office manager, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,Some people have the mistaken idea that white people smell like wet dogs when they come in from the rain. These are folks who fail to recognize that wool smells a bit like a wet dog. White people, originating in northern Europe, tend to regard wool as a desirable fabric, and often wear in in cold, wet weather. Hence the question which figures on the title of the book advertised on this web page.
User Detail :
Name : Greg, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Santa Rosa, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I think different races smell different. Or, rather, different cultures smell different. And there’s a simple explanation for that. If you eat different foods, then you will have a slightly different body chemistry. I have a friend who is Indian, and she has this certain odor about her. And its simply because of the kind of food that she eats. Her breath smells different. Her hair even smells different when it gets wet. Also, I think that there are some physiological differences between races. Just as Blacks tend to have fuller lips than Europeans, again, body chemistries are different as well. the author of Wet Dogs was on the Ananda Lewis Show a couple of days ago and he offered a satisfactory answer. Different body chemistries react different to things like water or even heat. And if its something that you’re not used to, then it may be unpleasant for you.
User Detail :
Name : Kelly R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 25, City : St. Louis, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : university instructor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.