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[–]Irascible-harpy 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

The things our mothers said... Can you imagine telling your insecure preteen daughter that she needs to shave to deal with body odor?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Oh, that's actually a thing. The hair acts as a place for bacteria to congregate aside from the skin and has a tendency to hold onto odor.

[–]aellope 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I've actually heard the opposite, that more surface area from the hair allows the moisture to dissipate faster so that bacteria has less time to grow.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wouldn't that help men smell less disgusting, since they have longer body hair and Fry Guys living in their pits?

Eh, this study didn't use women but do they ever? Laser hair removal seems to go either way on the topic. I guess it's a try it if one wants and make a hypothesis on what's found since all bodies are unique. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4793925/

[–]Irascible-harpy 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've done some digging on this. I heard the same thing from my husband when I stopped shaving. Fortunately he said it jokingly and encouraged me to do whatever is most comfortable, but I was curious. I've seen studies that indicate this, but the degree of the increase seems to be negligible in most cases. I haven't found a study I would consider totally conclusive and meaningful. On the other hand, telling your girl that she she should shave to deal with body odor seems like a good way to give her a complex toward her body hair. It's like, even if it does make a small difference, the overwhelming majority of body odor is just going to be regular bathing, deodorant, and personal hygiene.

[–]msteacherlady 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My poor mother, a product of the environment in which she was born. She was so frustrated for most of her life. Now she doesn't give. a. shit. I'd hate to bring it up with her because she probably can't believe she gave me that advice either!