Chug-along-chica!

I wouldn't dare question the validity of your assertion that man-sweat is stinkier than chica-sweat. I've been married long enough to have learned that when a man and a woman disagree, the woman is always right...even on the very rare occasion when she's not.

Just in case you are really curious (like I was) about the answer to your question "Why is it that man-sweat is so much stinkier than chica-sweat?", here are the results of some quick web research:

http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/archives/guide/2002/10/s01_01.html

"There are two types of sweat glands in the human body. The "Wet" or eccrine glands produce the kind of sweat that makes you wet. It's mostly water and its primary function is to cool you down."

"'Odour' or apocrine glands make the kind of sweat that makes you stinky. It's an oilier sweat that gets mixed with skin bacteria and produces odours."

"Do men sweat more than women?

Nobody knows for sure...it's likely men and women sweat about the same amount, but that men may have more apocrine glands and could therefore be slightly stinkier when they sweat."

"Doctors say excessive sweating happens more on an individual basis rather than because of gender."

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19960301-000030&page=3

"Men's apocrine glands are larger than women's, and they secrete most actively during times of nervousness or excitement. Waiting colonies of bacteria turn apocrine secretions into the noxious fumes that keep deodorant makers in business. Hair provides surface area from which apocrine smells can diffuse—part of the reason why hairier men smell particularly pungent."

(I found this whole article entitled "The Smell of Love" quite interesting.)

Specifically regarding men's stinky feet:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070619085339AACv80r

"Foot odor is caused by decay bacteria growing in the funky, damp, warm, dark confines of your shoes. The stuff thrives on a diet of dead skin cells and skin oils."

"Men's feet stink more because men generally:

a) wear more enclosed shoes that do not let the feet dry out as readily;

b) wear more socks that trap the dead skin and sweat, forming a bacterial eden in your shoes;

c) don't pay as much attention to foot hygiene as women do (ever seen a man buffing his corns or applying a product called "pretty feet"?); and

d) men's sweat is more acidic while women's is more alkalai, and bacteria prefer an acidic growing medium to a basic one."

"Any combination of these four (a-d) characteristics would make men's feet generally stinkier. All of them together can make a guy's feet reek worse than Limburger on a hot afternoon."

So you asked a good question. On behalf of men everywhere, I apologize for our stench.

Chug-along-chica!

April 26, 2024