Cleaning up
Sunday, 24 July 2005 06:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eA massive scam has been perpetrated upon us all.
When I was a kid the Saturday night bath was standard; that was what everybody did. I used to use ordinary, cheap soap on my hair. There were no shampoos or conditioners. When I grew older I used to love the smell of my girlfriend's underarms when we were having sex. And I was aware of the research explaining that humans released pheromones from the underarms -- that it was the reason women's periods would lock-step if they shared much time.
Barely a century ago Queen Victoria bathed a couple of times a year to set a good example for the people of the British Empire.
Now everybody assumes that we all must shower every day and that not to do so is somehow dirty. We all believe that the only way we can clean our hair is to use a shampoo and that it must be followed by a conditioner. Somehow we've allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking that body odor is unnatural and a bad thing.
Our bodies have lost their natural surface ecologies that protect us from invasion by harmful weed organisms. The skin has been daily swept clear of the many species of friendly bacteria which used to maintain our first-line defences.
Our clothes get washed so much that they last only a short time before being unusable. Once upon a time clothes wore out; now they get washed to pieces. And the effluent from all this washing of us and our clothes is wiping out all the life in the streams of the land around us.
I found, recently that for the first time in my life my scalp appeared to be becoming allergic to something, and it seemed to be the petroleum-based shampoo or the petroleum-based conditioner. I tried different more expensive ones and obtained some relief, but it would have cost too much. Remembering the use of soap when I was young, I decided to try it in place of the shampoo, and continue the conditioner. Worryingly, I still had the allergic response. So, still believing all the crap we are fed from the advertisers I very reluctantly tried using just soap.
The result was astonishing. For the first time in ages my hair was really manageable and felt more full than the flat limp stuff resulting from shampoo+conditioner. It no longer shines like nylon hair on a Barbie doll, but big deal! I found that I had to use real soap -- not the solid detergent that most cakes of "soap" seem to be. Real soap can only be found in the laundry part of supermarkets these days.
I am horrified how brainwashed we have all become on this topic. We all fear that others might detect a whiff of natural odor, and have become hyper-dependent upon petroleum products bottled in plastic petroleum products. How the hell have we let it come to this?
Our society is more than a bit insane.
When I was a kid the Saturday night bath was standard; that was what everybody did. I used to use ordinary, cheap soap on my hair. There were no shampoos or conditioners. When I grew older I used to love the smell of my girlfriend's underarms when we were having sex. And I was aware of the research explaining that humans released pheromones from the underarms -- that it was the reason women's periods would lock-step if they shared much time.
Barely a century ago Queen Victoria bathed a couple of times a year to set a good example for the people of the British Empire.
Now everybody assumes that we all must shower every day and that not to do so is somehow dirty. We all believe that the only way we can clean our hair is to use a shampoo and that it must be followed by a conditioner. Somehow we've allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking that body odor is unnatural and a bad thing.
Our bodies have lost their natural surface ecologies that protect us from invasion by harmful weed organisms. The skin has been daily swept clear of the many species of friendly bacteria which used to maintain our first-line defences.
Our clothes get washed so much that they last only a short time before being unusable. Once upon a time clothes wore out; now they get washed to pieces. And the effluent from all this washing of us and our clothes is wiping out all the life in the streams of the land around us.
I found, recently that for the first time in my life my scalp appeared to be becoming allergic to something, and it seemed to be the petroleum-based shampoo or the petroleum-based conditioner. I tried different more expensive ones and obtained some relief, but it would have cost too much. Remembering the use of soap when I was young, I decided to try it in place of the shampoo, and continue the conditioner. Worryingly, I still had the allergic response. So, still believing all the crap we are fed from the advertisers I very reluctantly tried using just soap.
The result was astonishing. For the first time in ages my hair was really manageable and felt more full than the flat limp stuff resulting from shampoo+conditioner. It no longer shines like nylon hair on a Barbie doll, but big deal! I found that I had to use real soap -- not the solid detergent that most cakes of "soap" seem to be. Real soap can only be found in the laundry part of supermarkets these days.
I am horrified how brainwashed we have all become on this topic. We all fear that others might detect a whiff of natural odor, and have become hyper-dependent upon petroleum products bottled in plastic petroleum products. How the hell have we let it come to this?
Our society is more than a bit insane.
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Re: Simple
Date: 2005-07-29 03:41 am (UTC)I agree over-cleanliness prevents the body from developing a stronger immune system. That's the problem with ALL support technology. The crutches reduce the freedom.
Invader Zim: one of my four favorite TV shows, ever. GERMS... just kills me with the Howard Hughes lampooning and the SPACE MEAT!
What got me noticing the stench riot was when I quit smoking.
While smoking, you could run over a skunk and I woundn't notice it.
Then I quit smoking and as my blocked sense of smell returned, so did the urge to vomit at the complete ASSAULT of perfumes, soaps, and other smells built into clothing soap, hair spray, etc.
Just driving across Houston, the various stenches of the various parts of town still make me queasy.
I didn't miss my sense of smell, and more than once I have considered restarting smoking just to get rid of it again.
As far as cultural closeness... if you have been an outsider in one of those group hugs... ew! The stench can be overwhelming. Just have to buck up and take it, but it can be unpleasant in the extreme.
Then there are the Maasai who, according to one story I heard, laugh at outsiders and call Americans 'ilmeet' which loosely means 'those who confine their farts'.
Cultures can be fun.