Smells and Bells

Smell the Flowers by Kirsten Star Smell, to me, is the most primitive sense. When most mammals are born, they immediately can recognize their mother’s smell and form an attachment to that smell. Mammals like puppies are almost entirely limited to only the sense of smell until they develop more of their other senses. The sense of smell also becomes the most primitive when considering humans and the phenomenon of perfume. For years, humans hunted certain animals for the purpose of obtaining the musk produced in the anal gland. This musk in small doses can act as an aphrodisiac when put into a perfume even though it has incredibly primitive origins. Though most of Western culture has an aversion to smells considered gross or undesirable, the wealthiest of women are still willing to pay heavy prices to spray a smell once obtained from the anal glands of other animals. The sense of smell is not something that humans can control and adjust but rather it is only changed by evolution over...

“You can’t pick out a fragrance for someone else.” That was what my mom told me in high school. It seemed to me that perfume was something all the grown-up women in my life used, so I figured it was time for me to get in on the action. I asked her if she would get me some perfume for my birthday and she refused. She told me that everyone has to pick their own fragrance. Perfume is generally a gift only received from a romantic partner because it is so intimate. Even then, a scent picked for you by someone else may never feel quite right because our scent is tied to our personality.  http://stylecaster.com/beauty/perfume-for-your-personality/ Scent is an incredibly intimate, personal sense. It starts with the simple nature of how it works; to smell someone, you must be close enough for their particles to reach your nose. There are very few people in one’s life that spend enough time in this close proximity to actually know someone else’s’ scent. We know the smells of lovers and ...

The incredible inequality of the sexes is revealed in this week’s reading of the Aroma of righteousness by Deborah Green. It is not only that women are not equal to men but that women are practically a different species. According to R. Joshua, the Bible states that Adam was created from the earth while Eve was created from the bone. Therefore, women slowly decay over time and must cover up their putrid smell by using different unguents (137). Throughout this chapter, Green gives instances in which women would purposefully adorn themselves or their garments with perfume. It was believed that the women used the smell of spice to keep their husbands interested for the forty years of wandering through the desert (136). It is as if the only reason to keep a woman around is to entice her husband to have sex with her and that she has no other purpose or used expect to take care of the resultant children. Green also mentions several times how it was Eve who sinned and got Adam kicked o...

Upon indulging my thoughts with the contents of,  Smell,  in "A Natural History of the Senses", I have been stuck with the image of thousands of colorful uniquely shaped molecules floating off of every surface around  me  and invading my nostrils. With such a variety of surfaces in almost every space, it is astonishing that one can possibly distinguish one smell from the next. However, I find it a rather disturbing that almost all manufactured products have been instilled with chemicals with the intention of slipping unconscious wants and desires into our daily lives. For example, as Diane Ackerman described, filling the air with the smell of pizza through the air conditioning of malls to make people want to eat food. Its the exact same idea as subliminal messaging, although it should be called "subliminal smelling" and its almost impossible for us to escape from. It appears our sense of smell, having once been so vital, allowing us to ...