I was watching YouTube at home. There was a video about Westerners’ shower cycles. It’s likely exaggerated for entertainment purposes. However, the video showed that some people wash their hair only once a week, while others, in extreme cases, don’t wash their hair at all or only once every two months. As a Korean, I was personally shocked by this video. Many Koreans, including myself, wash and shower every day, or even just once every two days. And if you wash and shower every three days, people in Korea might think you’re dirty. They’d probably hate it because it smells. The comments on the video were exactly what I expected. But seeing this phenomenon made me wonder if our country is making a big deal out of it.
I have a lot to say about smell, especially. I think Koreans are incredibly sensitive to smells, especially women more so than men. I think the declining smoking rate in Korea is largely due to women’s extreme aversion to the smell of cigarettes. This problem becomes even more severe when it comes to hygiene. For reference, I remember being bullied in fifth grade when I washed my hair and showered once every four or five days, and my friends called me “radioactive,” saying I was dirty. It’s just too much, isn’t it? It wasn’t my experience in middle school, but there was a similar atmosphere, and perhaps because of the trauma from that situation, I wash every day.
So I decided to post my curiosity about this on Reddit. I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree. I think it’ll lead to some really interesting communication. My English isn’t very good, so I used Google Translate. Please forgive any awkward sentences.
submitted by /u/Small_Anteater951
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