Valentine's Day is in the Air, Can You Smell It?
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Wouldn't it be great if you could achieve your New Year's resolutions by having more sex? A healthy sex life will provide you with benefits beyond a satisfying orgasm. Here are a few of the ways sex can improve your overall health.
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Have you ever wondered why perfume and flowers are popular Valentine's Day gifts? Humans have used scents to attract sexual partners throughout recorded history. The use of perfumes has been documented by Chinese texts believed to be eight-thousand-years old. The ancient Greeks and Aztecs used odors in marriage and fertility ceremonies. Odors played a pivotal role in sexual selection among primitive people. In ancient societies women with a strong aroma were considered most attractive, and those with a weaker natural scent used such substances as civet, musk, and castoreum as supplements.
These aromatic animal essences are sexual by nature, as they not only serve as attractants for many humans in the form of perfume and cologne, but also relay the sexual needs of the deer, beaver, and civet cat from which they are derived. These animal scents are quite pungent; however, in diluted forms they are still widely used in perfumes and colognes, providing the basis of the most sought-after fragrances today.
Flowers have also been employed in the search for erotic aromas. Evoking a sense of innocent sexuality and courtly love, to this day the bouquet of flowers is the most innocent form in which sexual scents manifest their influence.
History also celebrates the sexual power of human aromas. The potency of a woman's scent and the hypnotic effect it can hold over men is emphatically acknowledged in Casanova's Mémoires:
"There is something in the air of the bedroom of the woman one loves, something so intimate, so balsamic, such voluptuous emanations, that if a lover had to choose between Heaven and this place of delight his hesitation would not last for a moment."
Napoleon was legendarily obsessed with the scent of his beloved, Josephine. The smell of her is said to have suffused his memories and fantasies. Returning to see her from a campaign abroad, he reportedly sent word ahead that she should not bathe before he got there, so that he might fully experience her intoxicating essence once again.
The language of love further illustrates the influence of personal aromas on the sexual sphere. The Sanskrit word ghra means both to kiss and to smell. The erotic nature of a lover's fragrance is glorified in one section of the Old Testament's Song of Songs. In it, two lovers describe each other's aroma as "a cluster of henna flowers" and "a bag of myrrh that lieth between my breasts." The French verb sentir is used to denote both smelling and feeling, a sensitivity which may justify France's dominance in the perfume industry. Literature often serves as a barometer of the sexual climate within a particular society because love and sex are so often the inspiration for artistic endeavors. Some suggest that erotic aromas were to the French poet Baudelaire what music is to other people.
Human scents, specifically those emanating from the armpit, have also been employed for seductive purposes. During Shakespeare's time it was customary for a woman to place a peeled apple in her armpit, saturating it with her sweat. She would then offer this "love apple" to the object of her desire, and upon inhaling the aroma he purportedly would be instantly attracted to her.
For some, inhaling the scent of a lover may take on a deeper significance than simply attracting a mate. As Jean Paul Sartre said, "When we smell another's body, it is that body itself that we are breathing in through our mouth and nose, that we possess instantly, as it were in its most secret substance, its very nature." Anecdotal evidence suggests that inhaling another's essence can provide solace when lovers are separated. For example, lovers in the Philippines sometimes exchange garments to keep the smell of their loved one about them.
The relative pleasantness or unpleasantness of an odor, how we feel about it and what it comes to mean, owes as much to socialization as it does to individual preferences. Some people insist that a partner bathe before or after a sexual encounter, while others relish the aroma of sex. Havelock Ellis suggests that the appeal of oral sex is due, in no small part, to the exciting nature of the odors that emanate from the genitals. Since the intoxicating aroma of the genitals is captured by pubic hair, Ellis's suggestion echoes the German proverb, "Where there is fur there is joy."
As with other human social phenomenon, the dynamics of personal scents are mediated by cultural mores. Body odors are alternately met with exuberance and disdain across cultures. Among the Papuans, Eskimo, and tribes in Africa and elsewhere, a common form of salutation is to place one's nose to the nose, face, or hand of the other person and smell it. Conversely, in most western societies, natural body odors are often considered unappealing, if not outright offensive. Hygienic standards that include the use of deodorant and perfume or cologne govern most social interactions. This is especially true when we have the most intimate access to another's body - during sexual encounters. Whether the aroma is perceived as positive or negative, the quality and strength of a partner's scent can greatly impact the sexual relationship.
The human sense of smell remains intimately related to our sexuality, though the particulars may shift with time and place. We speak metaphorically of sex and love in terms of fragrances. Scents play an important role in both formalized rituals and informal personal interactions. Positive odor associations can attract lovers, heighten sexual arousal and provide a sense of comfort and connection. Whether conscious or unconscious, positive or negative, sexuality is impacted by smell and smell is vital to sexuality.
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Copyright 2006 Sueann Mark, Ph.D., All rights reserved
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