Perfuming As Obedience

By Ava Barry

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The word obedience often has a negative connotation to it, but what if something was telling you to act obediently every day? Every second? What if I told you that almost all people are obedient to standards set by society and/or religious doctrines. In Deborah Green's book, The Aroma of Righteousness, she speaks about the importance that scent has in both rabbinic life and scripture. Green shows the reader different interpretations of scent from different midrashim. Therefore, women putting perfume on shows that it inherently is a form of obedience.

“‘And why does a woman need to perfume herself, but a man does not need to perfume himself?’ He said to them, ‘Adam was created from the earth, and the earth never decomposes. But Eve was created from bone. For example, if you leave meat three days and it is not salted, it becomes putrid.’”

(Gen. Rab. 17:8) Green, 137

This quote emphasizes how this midrash speaks of women perfuming themselves not because they want to, but because they need to. The notion in this text is simple: if a woman does not scent herself, she will smell putrid. Therefore, the act of scenting oneself is not because women desire to, but because of pure necessity. Many would say that this is not the way current society views the act of perfuming, and to a point I agree. If a woman chooses to not wear perfume she will not smell putrid. But what about deodorant? Scented body wash? Dare I say, toothpaste? All these things are hygiene products, yet they are all scented to adorn the body in one way or another. If someone chooses to go against societal standards and stray away from these hygiene products that adorn your body with pleasant scents, then they will not be welcome or respected in many places. This in itself is a form of disobedience. For example, you can’t show up for a job interview if you haven’t washed yourself in days or decided brushing your teeth is not for you, and expect to be hired. We are obedient to the societal standard of scenting yourself, even if that doesn’t directly mean perfuming oneself. 

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For an individual to be seen as attractive and clean in society, there is an expectation of adhering to societal standards, which as discussed before is perfuming oneself. The midrashim that Green speaks about reminded me that not much has changed in this way of thinking. Perfuming is not necessary, but is almost viewed as giving yourself a good image if you chose to do it. 

“‘From it the chaste and proper daughters of Israel adorned themselves [with perfume] and gladdened their husbands all forty years that Israel was in the wilderness.’”

(Songs Rab. 4:14) Green, 134

This quote from the midrash is speaking about how the women adorned themselves with pleasant scents in order to please their husbands throughout the 40 years in the wilderness, and this action is seen as both chaste and proper of them. Much time has passed between then and now, but the message still stands true. The perfume industry is a 50 billion dollar industry as of 2024, and is only expected to grow in the upcoming years. If you go up to any girl, and ask if they have at least one perfume or body spray, the answer will be yes. Most of us have more than one to be frank. Why is this? Because smelling good makes you desirable, makes you seem put together and clean. Moreover, in different wording, it makes you seem proper. Yet, the link between perfume and chastity is one that may not be as present as the link with properness. 

Throughout Green’s book, she speaks of multiple midrashim and the different interpretations. The spectrum of interpretations on perfume is far and wide in Jewish literature, yet this is merely the connections I made to my own experiences while reading it. Perfuming oneself is a form of obedience, whether that obedience is to God or to societal standards is personal choice to the person that is choosing to do the act of perfuming.