Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Does anyone else find this is more noticeable? Not the nasty rancid B.O. that comes from not having washed for a week, but the kind of metallic bleach smell of clean sweat? I used to hate it when I smelt like that but I caught a wiff of the stench as someone walked passed me this morning and i felt like retching.

Yes! 

  I work in a home improvement store.......   Working there has seriously made me think that there's some sort of psychological condition that some men develop at a certain age that makes them despise bathing. As I've progressed with HRT it's gradually become more noticeable. On the other hand, I've noticed that some guys smell REALLY good now and I never really noticed that before.
  I'm going to keep this post PG-13 but I especially notice it when I'm, um.....  "very close" to my boyfriend  ;)  The way he smells makes me crazy! He left his jacket  awhile back and I wore it around the house because it smelled like him.
  Funny things that estrogen do  ;D

I noticed that about 6 months in men began to stink, not so much as to make me ill but you notice it.  But there are some guys that just give off pheromones. And ....  will I know what Jessica means.  ::)

I originally kept a diary during the first 3 months of my HRT to document the changes a number of things occurred within 48 hours I tagged each change in order of which I noticed it. What you described was the 2nd thing I noticed.

- Less sex drive
- Boys smell!
- Eye pain
- Sensitive puffy nipples
- Fuzzy headedness
- It's always cold.

I was going food shopping I was walking to the shop behind this man and I noticed he smelled really strongly the smell did kind of draw me to stare at him. At first it really caught me off guard. There were other problems aswell I no longer smelt like a guy but all my stuff did it was kinda creepy like a boy was sleeping with me in my bed and had been wearing my clothes.

When I encountered strangers who smelled like other men I know and trusted I noticed an unhealthy drive for me to want to trust the stranger.

My spouse went on T and hir scent became definatly MAN. Most the time I find the smell to be off puting. Like Ewwww go away. But sometimes I find that exact same smell very very sexy and it definatly gets my engine going.
Most men have a scent that is very gross to me. (seems the natal girls aren't lieing when they complain that men stink...) :)

Definitely so, I can detect the stink a mile away now, even if it's somewhere where a smelly guy stayed for a while then left!!

Some guys have such an appealing natural odor, I feel a bit of a rush around them  :icon_redface:

Quote from: pebbles on August 24, 2010, 08:04:22 AM
- It's always cold.

Always, right?? I freeze myself now when I'm somewhere with AC or in the groceries, or just sitting around.

YES man smells... I began noticing them around three months into HRT. I think the first time was when I had to find something in my old wardrobe. I opened the door and BOOM the smell hit me... it was a musky smell and I was like "ooooh so that is what I smelled like? wow and ...eewwwwww". I didn't like it.
I was out on saturday and I was in a line behind a guy and he had that same musky odour and I didn't like it, actually I'm yet to smell any guy that has made me buzz... but I guess I don't go out much and when I do I keep my distance.

Also the cold thing SO TRUE, it's winter here in Australia and it has been the coldest winter ever for me... it's insane! I used to prefer winter but now I don't know... I'll see how summer goes this year.. see if I can tolerate it better. But yeah I now have four huge blankets on my bed when I used to only need one and whenever I'm at my parents I have a blanket over me on the sofa (they are so frugal they keep the heating low to "save money" ppfftt). I also set up a portable heater in the bathroom and toilet :P *blush*.

I have been perpetualy cold since I started HRT. Now I know why I was always fighting my girlsfriends over the heat in the home.
When my wife started T ze became over heated all the time and then we were like AHHA! Male hormones make a body run a tad hotter than female ones do.

Quote from: cynthialee on August 25, 2010, 07:41:42 AMWhen my wife started T ze became over heated all the time and then we were like AHHA! Male hormones make a body run a tad hotter than female ones do.

The formula for calculating how many Weight Watchers points you get when you go on their diet gives 2 points for females, 8 points for males. They get a lot more because male metabolism evidently runs higher which might explain the hotter body.

I don't like it when they're stinky, but there's something about a sweaty man that makes me want to get sweaty with him..  >:-)

well girls if you grow up in the subtropics like me you'd pray for winter! i love to wear miniskirts in december and drink hot coffee on a bridge in the snow...and did i mention i sleep naked with my air conditioner geared to 16 deg c???

and back to the topic, i wonder why do some guys smell so good and others just ...yucks...has it to do with less sweating and regular showers?

i remember this once when i was taking the train to work one morning...it was crowded and this guy was standing close to me and my face was inches from his chest...and it's like...wow, i felt like my face was on fire...

Quote from: milktea on August 25, 2010, 09:56:04 AM
and back to the topic, i wonder why do some guys smell so good and others just ...yucks...has it to do with less sweating and regular showers?

i remember this once when i was taking the train to work one morning...it was crowded and this guy was standing close to me and my face was inches from his chest...and it's like...wow, i felt like my face was on fire...

Acording to a science program on sexuality and atraction I watched earlier this year year those men who really smell good to you are the ones who would be a good biological match for you when breeding. Even though we can not breed with the men the other biological systems are all working.

Hey we don't smell that bad!  :laugh: I haven't noticed any difference.

This is definitely something I never experienced before HRT.....

  There aren't that many men that smell really good but when they do, at least for me, it's a combination of appropriately applied cologne and their natural odor...

   The first time this happened, I had been on HRT for about a year; I was asked to help a guy lift something that involved getting rather close. He had been working and it was July... the sweat was pouring down his face outside in 90 degrees. His scent made me feel, "melty" (for lack of a better term.) Gods, he smelled good! It's like I had this primal urge to be closer to him. Funny thing is that he instantly became the focus of my attraction. Even for months after I would find an excuse to get closer to him and his scent would bring that melty feeling back. He resigned last year and I still think about him sometimes..... Gotta have something to do with how we used to find mates.

I've noticed I'm cold more now and there are days where I'm just all over the place, the only word I can think of to describe it is flighty. He he

I've also noticed my sense of smell seems to be getting more sensitive...if someone has a coffee on the next bank of desks it's like a caffeine bomb has exploded in my nose!

My chap is a different ethic mix to me...

But I lurrve the way he smells.....

I believe an element of subconscious pheromone optimum immune system config is involved here....

Whatever....I keep a T-shirt of his so I can smell him when away...lol

And if I had to pull him out of a line of male bods blindfold that would be no problemo!!

I suppose it is still on the topic. I have noticed since at least 4 months and I have been on HRT for 14, that my xxx parts do smell of different scent. I can somewhat compare it to female scent although I can't quite be 100% positive. I definitely notice though, scent not being what I was used to before HRT. Does any one know if our internal sexual chemistry becomes that of female character less the obvious. Do we potentially start producing bodily fluids chemically similar to those of a female? And do we produce female pheromones since being on estrogen and progesterone?

Quote from: alexia elliot on August 26, 2010, 06:56:48 PM
I suppose it is still on the topic. I have noticed since at least 4 months and I have been on HRT for 14, that my xxx parts do smell of different scent. I can somewhat compare it to female scent although I can't quite be 100% positive. I definitely notice though, scent not being what I was used to before HRT. Does any one know if our internal sexual chemistry becomes that of female character less the obvious. Do we potentially start producing bodily fluids chemically similar to those of a female? And do we produce female pheromones since being on estrogen and progesterone?

I noticed this too..... 
The cowpers gland in a genetic male and bartholin's gland in genetic females are homologous.... I noticed that the odor of my pre-ejaculate  changed after HRT.. To me it smelled like a genetic woman's fluid. :-)

I'm not on E, but I don't have T.  I think some guys smell good and others not so good.  Strangely, the natural smell of my last boyfriend absolutely drove me crazy.  It wasn't just his smell, but his taste too, when we kissed.  I never understood why, since this never happened to me with any other guy.  Must have something to do with the biological scientific thing mentioned earlier. 

I don't like the way guys smell. But then that makes sense as I am not attracted to them. I do notice it more now when I pass smelly guys on the street, I'm not sure if I noticed so much pre hormones.

In general I feel like my sense of smell has become enhanced from hormones. I feel like I am living an a sea of beautiful scents and bad smells. I notice how good women smell so much more now. I don't think I have meet a woman I thought smelt bad yet. I love the smell of my girl, it seems so strong and intoxicating to me now. Even after a long hot day. I love it. I wish I could just drink it in. The first time we watched a movie together and I put my head on her shoulder and omg I was in heaven. She said it must have been her mating smell, lol.

I never thought that women smelled very good, other than if they were wearing some nice perfume.  Like Nicky said, it probably relates to who we are attracted too.  I wonder if it is more of a pheromone thing.

Quote from: alexia elliot on August 26, 2010, 06:56:48 PM
And do we produce female pheromones since being on estrogen and progesterone?

If you ask my best friend the answer is a definite yes. He says I frequently put off very strong pheromones and that it can be frustrating just being around me because of it...  I've also noticed frequent similar reactions from other guys *shrugs*

And yes, some guys smell BAD but others oh so good (melt)

I have always used my sense of smell to screen potential mates. I once met a very cool, cute, smart, funny, skinny supernerd and was very hot for him for weeks...until I got close enough to smell him. I wasn't at all interested in him after that. It was like flipping a light switch.

On the other hand, at that same moment in history, I was with a guy who smelled fantastic to me as long as he didn't get too whiff and skip a bath for a few days. It wasn't the healthiest relationship (we had lots in common, but he was a manipulative drama queen), but it suited me at the time.

Women have never smelled good to me. If I could smell them, the closest they ever got was "neutral, not overtly offensive." But after years of trying to be bisexual, I stopped trying and didn't spend much time with women anymore.

Fast forward. Eighteen months on T. I'm gay as a goose and avoid women like the plague. I have no idea how my nose reacts to them now, but I don't plan to get close enough to find out. But men...WTF, I actually smell men MORE.

And not in a good way. The general rule seems to be that if I can smell him, he smells bad. Not neutral, and VERY rarely good. Going to my gay men's discussion group--we often have thirty-five or forty men in the room--is wonderful, but I frequently find myself wanting to sit farther and farther away from the guys on either side. Going to a crowded movie theater is torture; I've actually lost track of a movie at times because I was overwhelmed by the smell. I've never had that problem before. I mean, I have always had a keen nose, have never liked crowds, and have always sought out less crowded theaters, but now it's a matter of necessity.

I have a theory that gay men are able to be so sexually prolific because they don't tend to have this biological screening mechanism. It makes sense. And, based on trans man autobiographies I've read and guys I've talked to, I thought my nose would become less choosy, not more.

But...men stink. Sigh.

I never thought I smelled good as a guy, but I had at least 5 different women tell me I smelled amazing... and oddly my sister was one of them.  It must have smelled really good since my one and only ex would wear my shirts when I was at work.  Go figure :-\

Since starting HRT, and even a little beforehand, I've noticed that some guys just smell awful and some don't.  I tend not to get along with the ones that smell bad and sometimes I can't even stand to talk to them because it's so overpowering.  Sadly, I have to deal with a few in that latter category at work on a daily basis.

And I suppose I'm not sure what to make of my current smell.  I usually can't smell myself at all, but for a few days each month it emanates very powerfully from certain areas.  And when it does it smells amazingly good.  I guess I just have to assume it's related to the monthly cycle that is apparently developing.

Quote from: Kieri on August 27, 2010, 12:58:58 PM
And I suppose I'm not sure what to make of my current smell.  I usually can't smell myself at all, but for a few days each month it emanates very powerfully from certain areas.  And when it does it smells amazingly good. 

Heh. I like my current body scent, but on a hot day...hoo boy, I wonder what all the women near me are thinking. I worry about it all the time now.

I guess because I'm attracted to other men, my body scent turns me on, especially crotch odor when I'm aware of it. I'm actually not too keen on this phenomenon. I have a hard enough time controlling my sex drive as it is.

My mother gave me a hug yesterday and told me I smelled good (I think a first) and asked me what I was wearing; however, when I replied that it was an imitation of Tommy Girl, she found herself with a loss of words and need to quickly depart, lol.  I guess it was to much info for her - but she did ask.  I don't know how I smell without perfume, but with neither T nor E, I presume I must smell rather neutral.

I start HRT tomorrow! :D I have never liked the way I've smelled. I recently house sat for a friend for a while and when I got back to my place my bedroom actually didn't smell that bad anymore because it had had time to air out. But after two days of being back, my room smelled again. :(  I've always loved the way women smell and have never liked the way men smell, but I won't fault men for their biology. It's not their fault. The idea of being colder all the time doesn't seem too appealing, though. I just moved to Oregon from Arizona, where I grew up. It's been difficult enough getting used to colder weather. I'm also looking forward to not sweating as much. My pits have always sweat a lot and most deodorants don't work very well. Oddly enough, I sweat even more if I've had more than my usual amount of caffeine. I finally switched to women's deodorants even though they don't work any better just because they smell nicer and because they don't stain my shirts.

Oddly enough I've always found most men that are attracted to men smell funny, I hate it! Although there are a few men that smell good to me, but none that were into men (that I know of anyways). However for a large part I don't notice man smell unless they just don't bathe, then it's not the man smell, it's just poor hygene.

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on August 29, 2010, 01:28:04 PM
Oddly enough I've always found most men that are attracted to men smell funny, I hate it!

Before I started HRT, I used to worry that gay men might be chemically different from straight men in some fundamental way. I worried that I would only like the smell of certain straight men and no gay men. Well, I still haven't met a known gay man who smelled particularly good to me, and I've found lots who smell really awful to me. They're clean; it's just that their body chemistry is all wrong.

Of course, I can't smell EVERYbody, so I don't know about all of them. But I wonder what the odds are of my finding a nice guy in an appropriate age range who looks good to me and is compatible enough and who actually finds me attractive. The sniff test is how I find long-term mates. What if they all smell bad to me, even the ones who could have worked out otherwise?

I still worry about this.

Quote from: Arch on August 29, 2010, 06:49:45 PM
Before I started HRT, I used to worry that gay men might be chemically different from straight men in some fundamental way. I worried that I would only like the smell of certain straight men and no gay men. Well, I still haven't met a known gay man who smelled particularly good to me, and I've found lots who smell really awful to me. They're clean; it's just that their body chemistry is all wrong.

Of course, I can't smell EVERYbody, so I don't know about all of them. But I wonder what the odds are of my finding a nice guy in an appropriate age range who looks good to me and is compatible enough and who actually finds me attractive. The sniff test is how I find long-term mates. What if they all smell bad to me, even the ones who could have worked out otherwise?

I worry about this too, because I do like guys but just not the "openly gay" guys I suppose. What's funny is like I said, I don't smell every guy, just a certain few. Maybe a guy was aroused some way just before walking by me and I smell him. Some guys I smell, smell very very good. Not like a cologne good, but a sexy good. I smell my own clothes and it is similar to what I smell from the guys I like (I don't wear anything scented). But most I don't even smell at all, or just have that metallic musk smell that just makes me gag. However, since I'm pre-HRT, maybe I'm not smelling many guys simply because my own hormone levels are that of a typical male.

I guess what I'm getting at is: that smell may only be detectable if the source person is interested or recently stimulated in some way. Maybe some of the straight guys aren't so straight after all..

Let me get this straight... HRT increases your sense of smell, *and* lowers your body temperature, *and* decreases sex drive?

...goddammit, I'm starting to pine for HRT now.

Quote from: E on September 01, 2010, 08:40:53 AM
Let me get this straight... HRT increases your sense of smell, *and* lowers your body temperature, *and* decreases sex drive?
...goddammit, I'm starting to pine for HRT now.

Among many other changes yes, estrogene does all that.

Quote from: cynthialee on September 01, 2010, 08:42:41 AM
Among many other changes yes, estrogene does all that.

That's pretty much a wish list, for me. If it also decreases my sleep requirements, I'd be golden ;D .

It doesn't lessen sleep requirements, does it  ??? ?

No if anything it will increase your need too sleep in as you are in puberty and your body is changeing.

Quote from: cynthialee on September 01, 2010, 08:55:03 AM
No if anything it will increase your need too sleep in as you are in puberty and your body is changeing.

...I'll take it. Anything to worsen my Wicked Witch of the West impression :D .

Also, now I'm going to go around paranoid about stinking.

Thank you for your help, cynthialee. I appreciate it :) .

E decreases you body temp? I'm always right around 96 degrees .. I'll become hypothermic, lol!

And E - you don't have to worry about yourself stinkin on E .. you will just smell (cisgendered) guys and how THEY stink.

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on September 01, 2010, 10:12:49 AM
E decreases you body temp? I'm always right around 96 degrees .. I'll become hypothermic, lol!

And E - you don't have to worry about yourself stinkin on E .. you will just smell (cisgendered) guys and how THEY stink.

No, I'm paranoid about stinking *right now*.

"Luckily", I inherited my father's heat intolerance. With estrogen, I'll hopefully get that back down to reasonable levels.

Quote from: E on September 01, 2010, 10:33:26 AM
No, I'm paranoid about stinking *right now*.

"Luckily", I inherited my father's heat intolerance. With estrogen, I'll hopefully get that back down to reasonable levels.

I think the point of the thread has to do with pheromones that men put off. If you aren't compatible with each other, the other guy has a metallic fishy musk smell that is just gross. If you are compatible, he smells um.. *looking for an emoticon that shows me in a daze*  :icon_woowoo: <-- that

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on September 01, 2010, 11:02:55 AM
I think the point of the thread has to do with pheromones that men put off. If you aren't compatible with each other, the other guy has a metallic fishy musk smell that is just gross. If you are compatible, he smells um.. *looking for an emoticon that shows me in a daze*  :icon_woowoo: <-- that

That's not much better  :o !

Quote from: E on September 01, 2010, 11:14:36 AM
That's not much better  :o !

No, but I think now you are on the same page as the thread .. I hope .. if not maybe I'm wrong! lol

My man wears old spice body wash.  He smells good to me. 

Ironically the commercial made him get it.  He used to have a musky odor that wasnt bad even when he worked out, but i have to admit i like the way he smells after a shower.  TY old spice ^_^.

However i do notice for myself, i dont stink even when I work out without deodorant.  Woot.

Quote from: Izumi on September 01, 2010, 11:29:39 AM
My man wears old spice body wash.  He smells good to me. 

Ironically the commercial made him get it.  He used to have a musky odor that wasnt bad even when he worked out, but i have to admit i like the way he smells after a shower.  TY old spice ^_^.

However i do notice for myself, i dont stink even when I work out without deodorant.  Woot.

E power behbeh! "Girls don't sweat, they perspire!"

I've found a good book that deals with the science behind Man Stink...

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature

Principally we have sexuality rather than asexuality because of the arms race between microbes and our immune systems.

Sex is a way of storing defences against parasites in the gene pool of the species and then mixing them anew each generation to fool the microbes. Without the gene pool and the DNA mixing, the microbes would quickly evolve a way around the organism's defences; but with sexuality the organism juggles it's "locks" every generation and so is able to keep up with the fast-mutating microbes.

When again the microbes evolve the keys to these locks, the gene pool is mixed again and the organism comes up with an old lock that the microbes again have to evolve a key to. With the same logic, and in a larger sense, sex has evolved as a means to randomly pit many phenotypes against the environment...

The book also explains why... men seek beauty and youth in women, while women seek wealth and stability in men...

Which I guess in part explains why at 52 I'm undertaking cosmetic procedures again...lol

Interesting how many here think men stink.  Probably also makes a difference whether one is gay or not, or maybe it is just the individual man.  In general, I like the smell of a man (not talking about not washing BO stink).  Don't notice much smell from women except for perfume.  I used to think women smelled (pardon me) fishy, but perhaps that was in cases when certain women around me did not attend enough to themselves, I don't know.  I've had men tell me that sometimes a woman will smell fishy down there, but then they tell me that they love fish, so I don't know. 

My sense of smell is very sensitive now, can't imagine what it would be like on E.  I wonder if it has anything to do with not having T.

I thought this would be appropriate and kind of funny for this stinking thread and has to do with Axe Deodorant, I was rolling on the ground gasping for air not able to breath through my uncontrollable laughter:
Wash Your Balls!! Axe commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZKL74LgMg#ws)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1306571/Macho-men-heavenly-scent-own.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1306571/Macho-men-heavenly-scent-own.html)

I do not want to be a stink tester.

Tell you the truth I don't like it so much when somebody tells me 'You stink.'  I remember my mother always being degrading about men in general.  Problem was of course I was part of the wrong side, I mean I was part of the disgusting and bad group.  It's like if a woman has an affair with a guy then it's 1) because her normal guy is not potent enough or 2) you must understand, she has needs. If a guy however has an affair then he is an ugly disgusting and cheating pig.

There is more to it than that but I don't want to be bad, I want to be good. And that's in a way why I ended up here.

Quote from: Cruelladeville on September 01, 2010, 01:01:41 PM
sex has evolved as a means to randomly pit many phenotypes against the environment...

I guess my phenotypes weren't meant to be pitted then  :-\
So nature made a joke out of my life just because it needed to sort out its microbe problems...

</offtopic>

I thought I smelt good as a guy. I think we are a little harsh on our men here (but then it seems some agree). I mean it is natural to hate something that was such a manly thing about you (from the mtf's perspective).

Certainly estrogen has changed the way I smell, I feel rather lightly purfumed now in comparison. Even my gay friend said I smelt good when he huged me. I don't bother with purfume, and apart from some roll on go au natural. I find natural woman smell sexy, even more so now.

I will admit to loving the smell of my girl when she really needs a shower. yum!

Quote from: Nicky on September 05, 2010, 04:47:33 PM
I thought I smelt good as a guy. I think we are a little harsh on our men here (but then it seems some agree). I mean it is natural to hate something that was such a manly thing about you (from the mtf's perspective).

to be fair i think either sex stink if not showered after lots of sweating. it's caused by the microbes (yeah them again) feeding on the sweat and then producing some sort of stinking acid (think of the microbes eating our sweat and then sh*t out some slimy stuff, all on our skin)....disgusting but plain fact of life...

and men generally sweat more than women, so technically men stink easier than women.

but if you take the microbe slime and sweat away it's 'your smell' after a good rinse...and lots of people (both guys and girls) smell great!

Okay to be honest I had to stop reading this half way through because I couldn't stand that no one had pointed out the obvious answer here. You notice the way men smell more now (as opposed to before HRT) because you no longer smell that way yourself. When you smell something all of the time you become somewhat immune to the smell, it's just a normal smell and at some point you stop registering it. Taking hormones does not in any way increase your sense of smell, your sense of smell is not based in any portion of your body or mind that is changed by taking hormones.

Before I began taking T men smelled horrible to me. Horrible! The sweat smell was something I could not stand, now I have that sweat smell and I definitely do not notice it as easily anymore. If I can tell a guy stinks he REALLY stinks!

Hormones will change the way you smell, but it DOES NOT change your sense of smell. All that's changed is the scent that you smell 24/7 on yourself. Once that smell has changed other smells similar to it will become more noticeable to you because that smell is no longer following you every single place you go all of the time.

I disagree, I feel my sense of smell has changed. It affects the way I experience everything. It is not just bodies, but foods, and pets, and cut grass, and flowers, and wet days vs dry days....

There is plenty of evidence out there that the pill can affect a womans sense of smell or where she is in her cycle. Just goes to show hormones to affect your sense of smell.

"According to the Sense of Smell Institute, women consistently outscore men with their sense of smell.   Interestingly, however, it has found that a woman's ability to smell is dependent on the level of various hormones in her body.  A woman's sense of smell is heightened during the first half of her menstrual cycle and peaks when she is most fertile and sexually responsive"

Quote from: alexia elliot on September 01, 2010, 02:11:08 PM
I thought this would be appropriate and kind of funny for this stinking thread and has to do with Axe Deodorant, I was rolling on the ground gasping for air not able to breath through my uncontrollable laughter:
Wash Your Balls!! Axe commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZKL74LgMg#ws)

Now that was a really good one.

Thank you Alexia

Quote from: Nicky on September 07, 2010, 04:10:02 AM
I disagree, I feel my sense of smell has changed. It affects the way I experience everything. It is not just bodies, but foods, and pets, and cut grass, and flowers, and wet days vs dry days....

There is plenty of evidence out there that the pill can affect a womans sense of smell or where she is in her cycle. Just goes to show hormones to affect your sense of smell.

"According to the Sense of Smell Institute, women consistently outscore men with their sense of smell.   Interestingly, however, it has found that a woman's ability to smell is dependent on the level of various hormones in her body.  A woman's sense of smell is heightened during the first half of her menstrual cycle and peaks when she is most fertile and sexually responsive"

And men smell - detect female pheromones when she is ovulating, which increased their libido.

Evolution

Cindy

Quote from: Nicky on September 07, 2010, 04:10:02 AM
"According to the Sense of Smell Institute, women consistently outscore men with their sense of smell.   Interestingly, however, it has found that a woman's ability to smell is dependent on the level of various hormones in her body.  A woman's sense of smell is heightened during the first half of her menstrual cycle and peaks when she is most fertile and sexually responsive"

OMG, that is the least logical fact I've ever heard. At least they found it interesting too, means I wasn't alone in thinking to two things wouldn't be connected. I guess it's one of those crazy tricks the human body likes to play, where ->-bleeped-<- that doesn't even seem connected mysteriously is. Crazy.

It is fairly odd, though, that there are so many different types of perfumes, body sprays, lotions, and products to make women smell nicer, yet so much fewer for men. You would think it would be the other way around. They are starting to come out with more and more body sprays for men, but still. . .  I've always been baffled by some of the scents that they have for men, too. Some of them just smell atrocious.

As for the Axe "wash your balls" commercial, I thought that was interesting, especially considering that if the roles were reversed and it was men demonstrating a product that cleans objects that resemble female body parts it would undoubtedly be considered sexist, objectifying, and demeaning to women.Good ol' double standards. We've worked hard to eliminate sexism towards women, while simultaneously promoting sexism towards men. *sigh*

QuoteYou notice the way men smell more now (as opposed to before HRT) because you no longer smell that way yourself. When you smell something all of the time you become somewhat immune to the smell, it's just a normal smell and at some point you stop registering it.

Cowboi does make a very good point.  One will stop smelling a odor when exposed to it all the time.   But I also think that we do detect more odors as we get further into HRT, because HRT does effect the entire body including the sense of smell.

QuoteIt is fairly odd, though, that there are so many different types of perfumes, body sprays, lotions, and products to make women smell nicer, yet so much fewer for men. You would think it would be the other way around.

Men generally don't worry about such scents.  Slap something under the pits and they are done.  But the younger generation began to get into body scents and the market grew.  They also began using lotions.  Men, my age, still don't use such thing.  Just slap something under the arms and something on the face.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on September 07, 2010, 10:00:26 AM
Men generally don't worry about such scents.  Slap something under the pits and they are done.  But the younger generation began to get into body scents and the market grew.  They also began using lotions.  Men, my age, still don't use such thing.  Just slap something under the arms and something on the face.

Meterosexual, what a great way to be now days.

I still find the hormone thing actually improving your smell odd. Maybe it seems odd to me though because there is no talk about rather or not these changes happen in FTMs, I mean I've never had any kind of discussion that involved being able to smell less than we did before. Sometimes the changes between the two seem like they should be so similar and really they are not (which should be obvious in many ways). It just seems like on some levels it would be logical for the two to have parallel effects (obviously opposite but parallel in the fact that they involve similar things like body fat distribution) and then something like this gets thrown into the mix and catches us by surprise lol.

Quote from: Cowboi on September 07, 2010, 10:18:38 AM
I still find the hormone thing actually improving your smell odd. Maybe it seems odd to me though because there is no talk about rather or not these changes happen in FTMs, I mean I've never had any kind of discussion that involved being able to smell less than we did before. Sometimes the changes between the two seem like they should be so similar and really they are not (which should be obvious in many ways). It just seems like on some levels it would be logical for the two to have parallel effects (obviously opposite but parallel in the fact that they involve similar things like body fat distribution) and then something like this gets thrown into the mix and catches us by surprise lol.

This definitely needs some more ftm input.. I'm so curious now!

Quote from: Nicky on September 07, 2010, 04:10:02 AM
There is plenty of evidence out there that the pill can affect a womans sense of smell or where she is in her cycle. Just goes to show hormones to affect your sense of smell.

I've read that sometimes a woman will settle down with a guy while she's on the pill. He smells good to her--compatible. Then she'll go off the pill, and he suddenly doesn't smell so attractive to her. In fact, women on the pill are more likely to prefer the scent of men who are less genetically compatible with them.

I guess this makes sense. The pill makes the body think it is pregnant. If you're not hunting for a mate, you'll be less discriminating about whom you couple with.

Well the thing is, from an evolutionary standpoint the woman wants two different kinds of men.  To father her children, the woman wants the prolific and strong man whose genes will help her child be as evolutionarily fit as possible.  Once she's pregnant, the prolific guy isn't such a good bet; he'll be dividing his attention between too many mewling cabbages, if he's even involved at all.  At this point the woman is best suited to find a dependable and monogamous man who'll care for and help protect her children.

As for smells...I'm not on HRT (yet!  Soon please!) but I do notice smells a fair amount.  There are very few guys who have smelled absolutely horrible to me, but by interesting circumstance, all the ones who have that I've gotten to know have been gay.  I definitely notice a wide range of smells in women, and scent has absolutely been an important factor in attraction for me. 

Quote from: long.897 on September 12, 2010, 11:35:48 PM
As for smells...I'm not on HRT (yet!  Soon please!) but I do notice smells a fair amount.  There are very few guys who have smelled absolutely horrible to me, but by interesting circumstance, all the ones who have that I've gotten to know have been gay.  I definitely notice a wide range of smells in women, and scent has absolutely been an important factor in attraction for me.

I've recently been discussing this with a woman I am friends with, she is a lesbian and works in an office with another lesbian and a bisexual woman. Her and the other lesbian both swear up and down that the bisexual woman smells amazing. They can smell her two floors down if their office door is open! They actually proved this to each other one day by following the smell and it did in fact lead to her despite her not being in her office or even in a portion of the building she is normally in.

I'm curious how much stronger your sense of smell will get. If you don't mind answering are you sexually attracted to men or women? I'm mostly wondering because if you are attracted to men but the men you've felt smelled bad were gay then is your body already in a way searching for a heterosexual male? That would be really interesting and lead to a whole new issue in this thread lol.

Does anyone else have experiences that might fit into what I'm asking about? Before HRT did you find your sense of smell pointing you towards people who may be attracted to you had you already been physically female/male?

One thing I've noticed (I'm still pre-HRT) is that my sense of smell is less acute here in Oregon. I moved from Arizona and I feel like I could smell things better in Arizona. Perhaps part of it has to do with climate? I feel like smells carried better in a dry, arid climate. There are also a lot more flowers and various scent emitting plants here, which I'm not used to. This could just be drowning out other scents. This town is also known for causing bad allergies and I've been taking Claritin everyday. This could be a factor as well.

Quote from: valyn_faer on September 14, 2010, 09:44:32 AM
One thing I've noticed (I'm still pre-HRT) is that my sense of smell is less acute here in Oregon. I moved from Arizona and I feel like I could smell things better in Arizona. Perhaps part of it has to do with climate? I feel like smells carried better in a dry, arid climate. There are also a lot more flowers and various scent emitting plants here, which I'm not used to. This could just be drowning out other scents. This town is also known for causing bad allergies and I've been taking Claritin everyday. This could be a factor as well.

Coming from a dry climate to a moist one would cause allergies.  We have a lot of different pollens in the air here.  And Clartin is a big seller. :D

Quote from: Cowboi on September 14, 2010, 02:15:22 AM
I've recently been discussing this with a woman I am friends with, she is a lesbian and works in an office with another lesbian and a bisexual woman. Her and the other lesbian both swear up and down that the bisexual woman smells amazing. They can smell her two floors down if their office door is open! They actually proved this to each other one day by following the smell and it did in fact lead to her despite her not being in her office or even in a portion of the building she is normally in.

I'm curious how much stronger your sense of smell will get. If you don't mind answering are you sexually attracted to men or women? I'm mostly wondering because if you are attracted to men but the men you've felt smelled bad were gay then is your body already in a way searching for a heterosexual male? That would be really interesting and lead to a whole new issue in this thread lol.

Does anyone else have experiences that might fit into what I'm asking about? Before HRT did you find your sense of smell pointing you towards people who may be attracted to you had you already been physically female/male?

I don't mind answering at all.  When it comes to my sexuality, I'm not sure what to call myself; I'm not "confused" in the general sense of the word, but I really don't know if a label exists for my feelings. 

I'm currently living as male (with an intersex disorder,) and there's no question that I'm attracted to women.  Fantasies involve women, my only real relationship was with a woman, I love how some women smell...etc.  No interest in being a penetrative partner though, when I fantasize about a woman (keeping it pg-13) that just doesn't factor into it.

When it comes to men, I'm kind of on the fence.  I can fantasize about men, and enjoy doing so, and can take "enjoyment" in watching heterosexual porn and imagining myself as the woman doing whatever it is that she might be doing with the man.  I like their genitals etc.  I do NOT like body hair, but that's probably personal preference.  In person though, I've never really felt that surge of attraction that you sometimes get talking to a man.  There's never any real chemistry, and I've never had a crush or an infatuation with a guy.  I can fantasize about being active with a guy, but that attraction just never exists in person.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I kind of think that once I'm on hormones, the attraction will grow and I'll be more interested in guys in person; I'm thinking that maybe since I don't want to be a gay guy, being all male hormoney just means no chemistry with guys. 


EDIT: un "wall of text"ed it

Quote from: long.897 on September 12, 2010, 11:35:48 PM
Once she's pregnant, the prolific guy isn't such a good bet

Does this mean that if I can't get pregnant, I'll forever want the profilic and strong men and them only? After being for a few months on E I recently started to notice a few guys like that at my workplace. Not sure about their smell though but will try to find that out :) What I'm sure at the moment is that my heart pounds faster when they're around... Jeez, I'm not even in girl mode yet, what will happen then??? :)

g

Quote from: Janet Lynn on September 14, 2010, 10:51:23 AM
Coming from a dry climate to a moist one would cause allergies.  We have a lot of different pollens in the air here.  And Clartin is a big seller. :D

OMG yes! Claritin is my new best friend.


Let us know how the smell tests go gina... we should be studied lol.

Quote from: ggina on September 14, 2010, 01:31:37 PM
Does this mean that if I can't get pregnant, I'll forever want the profilic and strong men and them only? After being for a few months on E I recently started to notice a few guys like that at my workplace. Not sure about their smell though but will try to find that out :) What I'm sure at the moment is that my heart pounds faster when they're around... Jeez, I'm not even in girl mode yet, what will happen then??? :)

g

Well I'm a bio student so I know a bit about this, but I'm not like a PhD researcher, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt.  I know that I read an article about how women on the pill tend to like different guys because their bodies make that switch, so maybe medical science can (or could one day) administer hormones that would imitate pregnancy, and change your "tastes" so to speak. 

Desires also change with age, probably because age changes hormone levels.  Older women (from an evolutionary standpoint 40 is old, sorry ladies) tend to like that caregiver more as well because based on our evolutionary history, if they were going to reproduce they probably already would have done so, and would certainly be more interested in a guy who cares for kids, rather than just creating them.

I was on the pill for the longest time when I met my ex. He smelled fabulous to me; that's how I knew he was the right one. When I went off the pill, he still smelled fabulous. Even when I went on HRT, he smelled wonderful. Other men's body scents completely turn me off.

I don't know what all of this means, but I suspect that it doesn't bode well for my future relationship prospects.

I personally think human beings are far more social than instinctual to the point that our social nature often overrides our biological nature. However, I'm a sociology major so that's probably just my bias speaking. =P

Quote from: Cowboi on September 14, 2010, 01:35:19 PM
Let us know how the smell tests go gina... we should be studied lol.

absolutely, Cowboi! I'll update as soon as I have some interesting findings :)

Quote from: long.897
if they were going to reproduce they probably already would have done so, and would certainly be more interested in a guy who cares for kids, rather than just creating them.

So this means that if I'm over 40 (not yet but getting nearer, dammit :) ) and I biologically cannot give birth then I should be looking for a father type of guy? I know that's who I need because I want to adopt children someday.

But then why I'm eyeing the alpha males then??? ehh... *twinkles confusedly*

life is good :)

g

Well technically age is irrelevant, it's whatever age your hormone levels correspond to in a cisgendered woman.  It's not a hard and fast rule either; there's a lot of variation, and there's a lot of ability to tailor our choices beyond that which another species of primate can.  GENERALLY though, women want fertile and successful men to father their children, because their children will inherit the genes that made those men fertile and successful.  Once she has the children though, and isn't looking to reproduce again, the woman wants a partner who will care for her kids, to ensure the greatest chance of their reaching reproductive age.   It's all hormones though; there isn't some switch in the brain that goes off on your 35th birthday that starts a machine telling you "hey, you should settle down now."