*

 

 

Ugly Duckling or Beautiful Swan?

2 March 2004

The underarm sweating. We try to hide it. We try to stop it. We think it's just awful. But, girls, have you ever stopped to wonder what the opposite sex thinks about it? The answer may surprise you.

Awhile ago I quietly set up a poll about underarm sweating at misterpoll.com. OK, it's not very scientific because the people who respond are a self-selected group, but it's better than no data at all. And now that I'm talking about it here, readers of this site will respond to the poll and skew the results. But the numbers quoted below are before that had a chance to happen.

I asked men what their reaction would be if they met a woman at a party and saw that she was sweating under her arms. They chose from 5 possible responses ranging from negative to neutral to positive: 1) yuck!, 2) she should use antiperspirant, 3) doesn't matter wet or dry, 4) it's a little sexy, or 5) it's a turn on.

I had expected most men would say "she should use antiperspirant". Was I in for a surprise!

What was their top answer? They said it was a little sexy!

In fact, an astounding 86% of respondents indicated either the neutral or positive responses! Only 14% chose one of the negative responses. If you want to see for yourself (remember, the data is going to get skewed by this mention and the numbers will change), visit http://www.misterpoll.com/results.mpl?id=1528975326. As of this writing, the numbers are as follows

- It's actually a little sexy. (41%)
- Wet or dry, doesn't matter to me. (26%) - It is a major turn on. (19%)
- She should use an antiperspirant. (12%) - Yuck! Get her away from me! (2%)

If you've been reading my site, you know I'm a proponent of the "let the glow flow" approach to dealing with axillary hyperhidrosis. Little did I know it was popular with so many men. I suspect the simple explanation is pheromones.

Pheromones are little odorless chemical messengers which have been shown to both influence ovulation cycles and act as sex attractants. Our underarms are one place they are emitted. Since plugging our pores with antiP stops these little guys from doing their job, it should come as no surprise that men instead prefer us to let our armpits do what's natural.

Somewhere along the line the message got into our head that sweat is dirty and needs to be stopped. Conspiracy-minded folks might say it's all a scheme by manufacturers to get us to buy more antiperspirants, but I think it's just cultural conditioning, and talked about in whispers. In fact the whole sweating topic seems somewhat taboo.

It's so taboo that the only place it gets seriously discussed is, where else, the Internet, where the privacy of the keyboard lets people share their inner secrets. There are even discussion groups set up by men who find women who sweat a turn on (such as http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/sweatyarmpitgirls2). With curiousity, I've ventured into such groups to learn more. Not surprisingly, when I told them how much I sweat, I was warmly accepted by the group who was anxious to hear a feminine side of the story.

To my surprise, the men at sweatyarmpitgirls2 actually seem a bit shy about their interest (fetish?). Maybe even for them the subject remains somewhat taboo. I asked them to tell me why they found sweating so interesting, and only a few replied. "goodguy4" said:

Janet, For as long as I can remember being attracted to girls, I've liked their "armpits". I don't know exactly why, but I have always found them very sexy. Then when I discovered girls who sweat under their arms...I just found that so erotic and appealing. I would always fantasize about a girl sweating under her arms and I would always look for it in girls. It is to the point, that if a girl doesn't sweat under her arms more than the average, then I'm not completely attracted to her. Now of course, a woman has to have many other important traits for me to be ultimately attracted enough where I would want to pursue a relationship, but the "sweating" needs to be present for me to find her completely and ultimately physically appealing. some of these other traits are character, humor, kindness, love of adventure, and others.

"rick2002e" said:

Janet, the following words pop into my head when I see a woman with sweaty pits: youthful, vigor, warmth, athletic, sensual, natural, confident. These are all very appealing qualities. Please let women know there's no reason for them to be masking with chemical antiperspirants and deodorants what nature intended.

Another writer said:

I think another point, overall, is that a woman sweating is a very natural bodily activity and seeing a woman who sweats and is not ashamed of it, let's me know that she is confident in her appearance and herself. And since I prefer a naturally beautiful, self confident woman, I find it appealing to see a woman sweat!

From this I'm forced to conclude that sweating is not the demon we have been cultured to believe. The reality is that it's a natural function which, in fact, many men find an appealing characteristic. Maybe it is time for us to kick the antiP habit. Maybe in the future, instead of women having surgery to remove their sweat glands, they will be having it to add more in. OK, even _I_ can't see that happening, but it was a entertaining thought. It's glee at the discovery that our sweaty ugly duckling might just secretly be a beautiful swan.

So, girls, the bottom line is the next time you go to a party or out to meet some guys, and you want a secret beauty attraction tip, leave the antiP home. You'll thank me later.

For prior stories, see the archives.