The Gittinomics of Stink
Ross Gittins wants you to wash less and stink more:
In the old days, if you got a bit sweaty you allowed the sweat to dry and thought nothing of it. These days, many people can’t rest until they’ve showered.
And then there’s underarm body odour. It’s completely and utterly natural, we all have it, but since the spread of deodorant we’ve convinced ourselves it’s offensive and a sign of ill-breeding.
So, much of our incessant showering arises not from a desire to be clean but from a relatively modern desire not to have a smell. I suspect many people have a quite exaggerated notion of the extent to which they smell - or would smell if they didn’t take as many showers as they do.
Many of us feel a social obligation to maintain what we believe to be the prevailing standard of personal washedness.
posted on 26 March 2008 by skirchner
in Economics
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Gittins is starting to make Kenneth Davidson look 21th century.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/26 at 04:54 PM
Funny, Andrew Bolt linked to this story yesterday as well. Nice company you keep Stephen.
As Gittins points out, showering will become more expensive in the future, and like many lifestyle changes that will be imposed on us in a carbon-constrained future (walking more, cycling more, eating less meat, eating locally produced fresh food, energy and transport from non-polluting sources etc) showering less often might actually be good for our health.
Why does the extreme right believe that sitting on our ar*es eating McDonalds, driving everywhere in giant 4WDs, and living in energy-guzzling McMansions in far-flug suburbs is a healthy lifestyle choice that desperately needs defending at all costs?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/27 at 12:19 PM