The New Dating Craze Is Smelling Each Other's Armpits
Really? REALLY?
Cast Of Thousands / Shutterstock Oh yeah, baby! I hope you’re into armpits because this new speed dating trend involves many of them.
The internet has transformed dating into an anti-social event that involves sitting behind a computer or a smartphone screen. There have been a lot of complaints about the days of Tinder and the hookup culture, but new trends are starting to rear their heads. Instead of reverting back to the pre-internet days of dating, this new trend has taken it to the extreme by getting super up-close and personal.
The new dating craze is smelling each other's armpits.
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While online dating and apps like Tinder aren’t the worst things in the world for romance, they aren’t ideal. Unfortunately, they base attraction solely on looks instead of factors that genuinely affect how much we like someone.
While personality, lifestyle, and body language are all important factors for attraction, other things like body scent can also be a huge predictor. Smells can be an aphrodisiac — specifically, body odors.
So, to explore this idea further, an event called Romancing The Armpit was set up in a London bar to test Pheromone Compatibility (essentially, how much we like someone based on their natural body smells).
Those attending the event were given paper bags to wear over their heads. They were also given a scorecard, and each individual was given a coinciding number. Participants were instructed to mingle blindly, only interacting by talking and taking a good whiff of each other’s armpits. For each person sniffed, they were instructed to give them a check mark of approval or a big NO on their scorecards.
Then, the second round of sniffing was initiated, with the bags removed from their heads. Participants had to sniff and give scores based on smells/looks again. After the second round, the scorecards were collected and entered into a computer system. The system looked for matches based on checkmarks for both rounds next to the same person’s name.
Using this system, the event staff was able to match four lucky couples. They were then given a celebratory sausage like in Lady and The Tramp. What a good story they’ll have to tell their future children.
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While not everyone enjoyed the event or even found a match, it was a great way to get people talking and thinking about the different ways that they are attracted to others. The dating pool is very soiled, so thinking outside the box to find love may be the best way. At least you learn something about your prospect that you couldn't get from an app or direct message.
Proper hygiene should be higher up on everyone's 'qualities of a good mate' list. If someone is unable to care for their body properly, that could say a lot about how they would care for their partner. Instead of trying to find love from behind a screen, more people should get out there and start sniffing some pits.
Shannon Ullman is a freelance writer that has been traveling the world for over 10 years.