Why are most people so grossed-out by exposure to other people’s body functions (e.g., farts, shit, buggers, b.o.), but not their own?
And is this a universal phenomenon, or just in our prudish culture?
I, btw, actually like the odors emanating from my body. Am I alone here?
What are “buggers”?
“Boogers”, mayhaps?
yes, I get very upset when alien creatures try to contact me through through the Hive Mind while popping out of someone’s anus.
And speaking of anus, that might be the reason why no one likes other people’s farts. You’re smelling their asshole. How many people do you want to do this with?
LOL, yes, of course, “boogers.”
But the question remains, why do my farts smell better than yours? And, believe me, they do.
I’m grossed out by my GF’s odors.
If we’re in the clinch and it becomes evident that she’s “behind on her laundry”, I have to quick get one of these “ice” mints into me or I can’t go on.
I sure wish there was a less obvious cure, because it’s embarassing for me. She, fortunately doesn’t care, so we still go on to have a good time.
It’s because every time you smell someone else’s bodily odors, a little piece of your mind becomes theirs to control. After a while, you’ll be their hapless slave.
It’s because of this that I fart as often as I can.
Interesting… 
To whoever organizes the next LA doperfest, if I go, I’d like to be seated on the side of the room as the esteemed candidate.
Then again, at least you won’t have anyone crowding your personal space at the SDMB Debates…
If you revel in the aroma of your own farts, then I’d say “yes,” evidently.
Well, it does seem that people’s own odors tend to bother them less than they bother others. My bf makes smells that truly, truly disgust me, but he doesn’t seem to mind them, really. I’ve found that to be the case with many of my (disgusting) male friends. Is that just a guy thing, or is it possible that we are more immune to the smells generated by our own bodies?
A personal example is: I don’t really mind the smell of my own armpits (as long as I’m not sick or stressed or under some other duress that will cause me to smell differently than I normally do). I was reminded of this on Saturday when I forgot to put deorderant on after my morning shower and didn’t realize it until way later in the day. I imagine that others would probably still be put off by it, but it doesn’t seem that bad to me. Maybe I just don’t stink that bad, I don’t know, I don’t have much to compare it to. Factor in the fact that I bathe regularly, so it’s not like I’m letting days and days worth of funk build up or anything . . .
This is not to imply that I’m going to stop using deoderant. It’s not like I want to smell myself all the time . . . I just wonder if there isn’t some human characteristic that makes us more impervious to our own aromas . . . ?
And this coming from someone who is named after Mexican food. 
HUGS!
Sqrl
Ohh! I had a boyfriend who loved “dutch ovens” - he would fart under the covers and then pull the covers over my head. Man that was torture. But I happen to like the way my poots smell. When I’m alone, if I fart, I smell it, notice if it’s particularly disgusting or not, and move on. Sometimes if it is really bad, I’ll go in for a second whiff. In fact, I’m kind if proud.
I also find that if you just say, “Oops! I pooted!” when you fart, most people will just keep on like nothing happened. I think POOT is a lot cuter than FART, too. Smile when you say it too
As for boogers, everyone picks their nose. Some just wipe it on the sofa, some wipe it on a tissue.
And hey, everybody shits. Come on now…we don’t discuss it, but everybody knows what happens when someone disappears into the “Deco” bathroom in the warehouse at work. I mean, I prefer to use my basement bathroom at home with vents, a nice stained glass window and the enticing vanilla aroma of the Glade air freshener, but if I have to go, I have to go.
Once, I didn’t shit for FIVE days while I was on vacation in NYC. Too embarrassed, but I will NEVER do that again!
FYI, I always wiped standing up until I got to college. Never knew it was odd until my mom brought it up in passing…then I realized that for YEARS I had been wiping wrong! No one told me! Sheesh. Now I have corrected the problem.
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Nacho4Sara!
From one “named after Mexican food” to another, hope you are in good spirits (and anyone who sez “poots” must be.
“wiping wrong?”
…there’s two words that shouldn’t ever be said together.
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Funny you should mention mexican food…I had two patio burritos for dinner and have been pooting like a MF for hours now. And it smells dan-dan-dandy to me.
You have grown up with your own odours, and are used the them. You have had them through good times and bad…maybe it’s like a comfort thing, you know, reminiscing?
You can also gauge whether your body is working correctly, and which foods affect those functions…such as JBirdmans burritos.
While I haven’t made any odours that have made want to leave the room (except vomit), I don’t enjoy smelling the inside of anyone elses body cavities.
What’s the opposite of a ‘personal fart’?
Impersonal fart?
Causing someone else to break wind?
I smell a conspiracy (better than an emission) :eek:
Jean Genet has a lovely sequence in “Our Lady of the Flowers” about the pleasures of lying in his prison cell smelling his own farts.
Damn. The first, and no doubt only time it would be appropriate to quote it, and I can’t find my copy.
If I eat a lot of onions, even I can’t stand to be near myself.:eek: