Synesthesia, and the difference between men and women

[cosmolinguist]

Come on, how can I help but laugh when Andrew and I are collecting out dirty clothes so we can do laundry and he says, 'What's this stuff on my underpants?'

But over my giggles he protested, 'It's not mine! It smells pink.'

'Really,' I said. I seem to be using my dubious tone of voice a lot more the past couple of weeks than I did previously. 'Does that mean you're blaming it on me?'

'Yes! It's pink.'

'How can something smell pink?' I wanted to know.

'It smells like a woman thing... Here,' he added, showing me the article of clothing in question, 'doesn't that smell like woman?'

I smelled it. 'It smells like my deodorant, actually.' It looked like it, too, white and flaky. I was about to explain that it wouldn't surprise me to find that this is the case, as a big chunk of it had inexplicably detached and flown everywhere when I took the lid off one day, the way it might when you reach the end of the container, but this one's almost new, so I can't explain its lack of cohesion. Anyway, it got all over the floor in Andrew's room, so I'm not surprised his clothes got tainted.

'Exactly!'

I realised he'd said something atrocious that I thus had to argue with. 'Deodorant is not a "woman's thing"!'

'Yes it is!' he insisted. 'Men only wear deodorant if a woman makes them.'

That made me laugh.

Comments

[comradexavier.livejournal.com]

No woman has ever needed to make me wear deodorant. I don't like to smell me without it.

Actually, that's not a conclusive argument; there are two possibilities that would fulfill it: either he's wrong, or I'm not a man.

[cosmolinguist]

That made me laugh. It also made me more sure that he's wrong, which is nice.

[scarletdemon.livejournal.com]

I have to remind my husband to wear it. He doesn't think men use such things.

Bah!

[strangeidea.livejournal.com]

Deoderant is for the weak! What sort of man is he that he lets women push him around like that? The International Conspiracy of Males will hear of this!

[toastedtuna.livejournal.com]

My husband won't use it because he's afraid of the aluminum in it causing Alzheimers when he's older. When I tell him he can get the stuff that's aluminum-free, he says, 'BAH!' and still won't use it.

And yeah, he DOES need it. He says, "I don't smell." That's because he's fried the sensors in his nose with his excessive gas.

And he wonders why I never want to get my freak on...

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

One of my exes was the obsessively hygenic type. He'd shower twice a day in the summer and he always -- always -- made sure to wear deodorant.

[gentleman-lech.livejournal.com]

I wear deoderant, willingly and on purpose, even when I'm not expecting to run into women. And it sure doesn't smell pink. At least not that anyone's ever said...

[stealthmunchkin.livejournal.com]

That's the thing, you see. Men will, on occasion, wear non-smelly deodorant. But they won't wear pink-smelling things unless forced.

[cosmolinguist]

I do not wear pink-smelling things. The deodorant is the only thing I brought with me that smells at all (well, except the lotion, but that scent has become dangerous now...). Don't go accusing me of femininity; that's almost as mean as calling me American.

[stealthmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it definitely smells pink, that's all I'm saying. Pink.

[gentleman-lech.livejournal.com]

Well, I can certainly agree with the pink part.

[kratkrat.livejournal.com]

The more you write, the more this Andrew character cracks me up. Sounds like a great guy!

[cosmolinguist]

If I've given that impresioon, I am happy, because that's what I think he is.

[stealthmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Ah, she just gives you the edited highlights. I'm crap really

[cosmolinguist]

::hits you::

[gentleman-lech.livejournal.com]

[joins Holly in hitting you] Hey! What did we say about that?