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Comment by tastybites | Hacker News Reader

They generally remember to shower every so often

Oh, come on.

Most of them do tend to be cleaner.

But anyone remember the report a couple of decades back about water usage after the US Navy started letting women on ships? Having ladies around made the guys shower more often. Empirically, I can verify that, since getting married, I do tend to shave more often.

Just to be a contrary example, both my wife and I shave less now that we're married (ie, never). Our skin is much happier, shorter showers, far fewer razors going dull, and no more cactus in bed.

She's also discovering she prefers it in other women - as a massage therapist, regardless of how recently they've shaved she'll encounter it all, and it's pretty amazingly irritating stuff.

as a massage therapist, regardless of how recently they've shaved she'll encounter it all

As a guy who enjoys massages and has hairy extremities: no matter how much oil is used, the hair gets pulled. One of the primary reasons cyclists shave their legs is for better massages.

That's true, and I have heard that about cyclists (in particular). I wonder if it depends on the amount of hair. I'm not very hairy, and I've never had much of a problem (a couple tugs, but after a few massages you don't notice it any more). Also, if you ever get the chance, different kinds of oil act differently, you might have better luck if you experiment a bit.

I'd like stereotypes like that not to be true, but at my last two jobs I had coworkers who obviously did not shower regularly. It seems like something about programming gives people the idea that they can let their hygiene go in a way that no other white-collar workplace would tolerate. Or maybe I've just been unlucky.

Actually, this is both true and false. I have a friend who I know for a fact showers every day, and yet I wouldn't want to sit next to him while working. So while one might remember to shower, that does not guarantee that the impression will last.

On the flip side of the coin, this also reminds me that I should probably shower.

Also, even if they shower less often, they still don't stink as badly. Women start sweating at a higher temperature than men, so tend to sweat considerably less.

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