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Alright to start off, I think a good topic, one that everyone could get in on, is required. So, as a result, the topic for this debate, not an argument, will be....

Personaly Hygene. Is is really so important as our culture deems it? Should we even bother with the regular scrubbing of the body to remove filth that will eventually come back?

Begin!

True, but I didn't say get rid of it entirely, I just said that should we do it so often? The standard today seems to be a shower, or bath, every day along with the fact that you have to brush your teeth, shave your beard/mustache, trim your eyebrows, pluck your nosehairs, shave your legs, shave your chest, shave your back, shave your underarms, and more....

the point is that it seems that we've become crazy with keeping ourselves "Groomed and proper" I mean, it's understandable to wash every now and then, but to do it every morning, then do it again after having worked out to keep your body fit, then shaving both in the morning and night along with brushin and flossing and rinsing your teeth three or more times a day seems a tad much. And that's just the normal stuff that people have to deal with, others add more tasks to this, like trying to put on a mask for their superficial beauty that they deem so important and constantly working out to try and matain the perfect figure. Have we become so obessed with looks recently?

I hope these debates aren't limited to two people. If I may state my opinion...

I certainly enjoy being clean. I enjoy the renewed sensation I get after a good shampoo and washing in the shower, and the feeling of freshly-cleaned teeth, either through the dentist or by simply brushing them.

However, I don't want people to think that by 'clean' I mean 'immaculate'. To me, something cleaned to the point where all dirt and germs have been removed almost feels unnatural. Besides, I have my reservations about eliminating everyday germs because of a fear of the 'unclean'.

It's common knowledge that the human immune system grows in strength with use. As it destroys more bacteria and viruses, it become more effective at keeping you healthy. If you eliminate all diseases, then obviously your immune system will be underdeveloped. So when a serious disease arrives, one that's not a part of the 99.9% of germs killed by most sanitizers, you will be forced to face a germ that has developed immunities to standard disinfectants, and your immune system will be underdeveloped.

So I guess that, like all things, even being clean is something that if taken too far can be dangerous.

Personally, I think being clean and not smelling bad are good things.

Of course hygiene is important. Especially if you work in a job that demands a sterile environment.

But often hygiene can get out of hand. People these days have taken to showering more than once a day. People, do NOT shower more than once a day. The exception is if you live in a hot climate and sweat a lot or if you've just come back from doing a strenuous activity.

Both your skin and hair contain natural oils which your body needs, and washing more than once a day will do a lot of damage. You be be more susceptible to disease (to give an extreme example).

Often those who shower often end up with very dry skin. They then use products to bring back moisture into their skin. And I'm thinking, wow, what a waste of money.

Without exercise it would take about a week before a person starts "smelling bad" without showers. Although it depends on every person. The point being that people don't always shower because they smell but rather because it's a habit. Or they perhaps imagine that they smell bad. And I won't use this as an argument since it would be committing a logical fallacy...but as an interesting note I have met people who have to shower everyday so they won't feel disgusting. But trust me, there is no way your hygiene becomes any worse even skipping one day of showering. It's most often in people's heads.

But I need to stop ranting about that and get back to the point. XD As I was saying, some people take hygiene to the extreme. Waxing legs or arms or whatever they feel like waxing does NOT improve hygiene.

Rather it seems to be an excuse to "feel sexy." And there's nothing wrong with that of course. But it is sad how many women (in my experience) feel that they NEED to wax/shave their legs and such. When it indeed has nothing to do with hygiene.

Now, many people claim having bikini waxes is for hygienic reasons. And one can argue about that. Yes, it makes sense so (I won't go into this XD) because...but at the same time we have pubic hair for a reason. It's there to absorb moisture. 3nodding And people may think that's a reason to remove it...but then they'd sweat more. So I guess it doesn't matter too much. XD

Now...let's talk about using the toilet. *shouts in loudspeaker* biggrin

Someone here mentioned cultural differences? You know in certain more traditional Islamic areas they follow the Islamic toilet etiquette (You must love it XD), where they would then use squat toilets and clean themselves (sometimes) with their left hand. Which they then wash with water.

Now, most people go eeeww at this, and say that this is horrible hygiene. Especially since many of these people eat with their hands. However, in the Islamic faith the right hand is seen as the most important. So even if they use their left hand to clean themselves, they use their right hand to eat and do other things.

So actually, this is being very hygienic. I know this is a random point but I find it interesting.

People often view bathroomd as dirty places, but if you clean it it's fine. o_O Some studies (don't ask me to find them ;- wink in the US show that the average kitchen was dirtier than the average bathroom. People just don't realise it. We use strong chemicals to clean bathrooms and they are very hygienic. Kitchens however are generally crawling with bacteria. O_O

Anyway, I realise this post is a bit all over the place but I wanted to share some of my thoughts. biggrin

But basically I DO believe our "culture" is taking things to far, because the majority of things women and men do to be hygienic have nothing to do with hygiene.

It's up to every person how clean they want to be of course, although, as I've said, certain professions recquire stricter hygiene. Although I really doubt someone will care whether a doctor shaves his/her legs or not. rofl

xd

Perhaps I'm not supposed to give both all sides of the argument... sweatdrop

mrgreen

I'm a bit all over the place aren't I? wink But all in the name of fun. whee

You did good 3nodding

I read thru these other posts.. And I'll liek to spit out what I thinsk now. o_O

Showering EVERYDAY isn't a must. Every other day is ok even. My only concern with being clean is with the bacteria in your body that comes out. I'm sorry that I'm too lazy to pull out my medical book to get into deep details ( And correct spelling.. -_-; I'm sorry, but I spell like crap. x.x; ) but there is this "gastroitus" thing you get. And it states in the book you usually get it when you have "poor Hygene" If you don't know what it's like, it's like the stomach flu; Pukeing and um.. getting the "runs" at the same time. And basicially you can't eat or drink anything for a a day or two, depending on how bad the case is.

Other than that being my personal reason for getting clean, because it happened more than once, and I seen it happen in my lil cousins' house where they have 3 little ones running around, and they getit often....

*inhales* Ok.. where was I? XD Oh. My other reason to stay clean is because of the smell. I cannon give you the pure fact and where to find it, but I watched on this show that, when humans find mates, the one thing they are attacted to, without really noticing it, is the smell. No just the stinky BO, but usualy just the natual sent your body gives out. A person can be nice, perfect, and what not, and shower daily, but if they smell bad, they won't really make it.

......... Ok, I think that last part was a little off topic, but it has to do with cleaning yourself and smelling nice.

Besides, animals in nature groom and clean themselfs, and prep themselfs up when looking for mates even. Ever seen two love doves sit together (Or any bird, I'm jsut using them because they are all over by my house) and they are usually cleaning them selfs, puffing out their feathers and that, before they "do it"

So. if animals can keep clean too, why shouldn't we?