For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 12, 2016

As a dude, I wonder how I smell.

This is a strange idea…

“Relax, honey. I washed it!”

Nor mine.

“Use Clean-O Laundry Detergent, you can just smell the difference!”

This is so true. I remember dating a couple of guys who, on paper, seemed to be the match made in heaven….but I didn’t like the way their natural smell was and could not let the relationship progress. But men say the same thing about women. Both my husbands and a few serious boyfriends told me they loved my natural scent. So there IS science and biology involved here.

Blame it on the Pheromones ! They’re like Leprechauns. You can’t see ’em, but the little buggers are all over the place !

Lynn’s Notes:

I was once part of a study in which single women were being asked what it was that attracted us to certain men. My answer was fairly complex, but when I asked the counselor what gave her the right vibes, she said, “he has to smell right.”

There may be even more to it than that – see e.g.. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/08/can-you-smell-perfect-partner on ‘compatibility genes’.

Wonder whether the increase in people finding their mates via the internet will lead to more kids with sub-optimal immune systems?

Smell is a vital part of our senses. Good looking guys can get turned down for having bad breath, stinky feet, BO, stinky cologne. So, yeah, smell is important.

that sounds so true. people have to smell right as well as feel right. the total package. lol

I’ve heard so many stories about the old days at the movie studios. Some of the best leading men had such bad breath that their leading ladies could barely stand to kiss them, let alone just stay in “smelling range” and gaze lovingly into their eyes.

I agree with the smell part.

I guess when I met my future husband never considered if he had the right smell. To me he is gentle with a sense of humor was a turn on for me. 34 years later he is still gentle, sense of humor, and helps me with my mom who has Dementia and age 90.

Panel four— Great Art!!

Smells like snow in the north west part of NY state.

Well, Ellie’s friend Anne figured out her husband was cheating on her after he changed his aftershave from Old Spice to Brut.

Seriously, I saw something on National Geographic about how women are attracted to the scent of men who have different immune system. More genetic variation leads to healthier children. Men are attracted to women with a certain waist-to-hip ratio (translation :curves) because they instinctively know women like that have more successful pregnancies.

Uh Oh.

Smell is indeed important, but not everyone is attracted to the same smell(s). Seems to be true of pheromones, as well.

And if my memory is working, this was the first strip I saw of FBoFW. In 2016