The Smell of Others

There is something that is intoxicating about the smell of someone you may not know. A woman that is other in the bible smells of spice and intoxicants, while a man smells of putrid meats. I cannot say that I am unaware of the way that one may smell to another. There have been countless times where I have been victim to the putrid smell of a random man on a bus.

What fascinates me the most out of all of this chapter is the feminization of Israel and how many of the other nations that are masculine in nature and the polar opposite of Israel. The most prevalent example from the book that I can think of is Rome, in all rights the nation of Rome is the polar opposite from Isreal. The core of the matter is that Isreal is one of the first monotheistic religious nations, while Rome is known to be one of the most polytheistic nations before the Catholics took over. While there is the obvious statement that Isreal is the wife of God, it is also important to mention the infidelity of Isreal. In the matters Godly worship, the Israelites are as polyamorous as I am. (Hell I worship as many gods as they do). But I pose the question, as we know, the female other smells of spice and what I can only imagine as alluring hormones, so, when the Israelites worshiped feminine goddesses, did they also take on that smell? The smell of an attractive woman is truely alluring so it makes sense that they would be drawn to a more feminine goddess.

What truly strikes me as odd is the scent that the Israelites give off when they are worshiping other gods such as the golden calf. But when the Israelites accepted God as their only true God, they let off an aroma that was pleasing to god. For this to be the case, it sets up what othering is and how it works. All that is different, smells putrid in the eyes of those who seem more superior. Once they abandon their metaphorical differences this smell is no longer bad but is one that smells normal or fine. What smell association is there with otherness and gender?