The Smell Report
The Social Issues Research Centre (Oxford, UK) has a facinating report on smell. "You won't want to stop reading," reported Sonja. I concur. The article is well researched, and rich in the history of smell in Western and other cultures. Here are some thought-provoking factoids:
- In India, the traditional affectionate greeting - equivalent of the Western hug or kiss - was to smell someone’s head.
- In Arab countries, breathing on people as you speak to them signals friendship and goodwill - and to ‘deny’ someone your breath-smell conveys a shameful avoidance of involvement.
- For the cattle-raising Dassanetch of Ethiopia, no scent is more beautiful than the odour of cows. The association of this scent with social status and fertility is such that the men wash their hands in cattle urine and smear their bodies with manure, while the women rub butter into their heads, shoulders and breasts to make themselves smell more attractive.
Ok, I can see how butter might be nice but urine and manure? It must be some sort of guy thing.
Posted by torque at December 11, 2004 12:00 AM
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