Trending:
- A man on Reddit sparked debate after revealing his ex-girlfriend’s showering habits.
- He asked other Redditors if he was in the wrong for calling out his girlfriend’s lack of hygiene, which, in part, eventually led to their breakup.
- A double board-certified OB/GYN breaks down the importance of genital hygiene for females after the subject went viral online.
Would you break up with your partner if they didn’t shower regularly?
One man has gone viral on Reddit’s “Am I the A——” subreddit after revealing he called it quits with his girlfriend because she only showered “once of twice” a week.
In the post, the man explained that his former significant other refused to shower daily, even after regularly working out at the gym and enduring long, sweat-inducing sessions inside a sauna. Her body’s scent eventually impacted their intimacy and sex life, he claimed.
“I can smell her, very badly. Almost to the point where I try not to breathe in too close to her because it’s not good,” he wrote.
The man revealed he dropped multiple hints in a way that he believed to be assuring, not accusatory. But after his girlfriend didn’t pick up on his cues, he started to feel “resentment” because her smell was the “one thing that was bugging” him.
“I couldn’t hold it any longer. I tried one last time to ask if she wanted to take a shower with me, to show I did want to do stuff with her, but she declined. Then I said ‘I know you say you don’t sweat, but I can smell [it],'” he claimed, adding that he told her he’d “appreciate” it if she showered more.
He wrote that her reaction was all but pleasant. “She asked if I found her disgusting,” he said, adding that his girlfriend’s reasoning for not showering often was because she wanted to avoid washing her hair regularly.
In his original post, the man admitted that their relationship was “borderline” over, but in an update shared on Feb. 28, he revealed that their romance had been called off for good. “She refused to accept she was ‘disgusting’ by not showering and did not see anything wrong. Impossible for me to change her mind. No point for me to argue with someone like that,” he wrote.
“What could I have done differently?” he asked. “Is it normal that women shower less than men?”
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The topic has since caused a polarizing debate on how important hygiene is — regardless of the relationship (though plenty of people told the original poster that he could have handled the situation differently). His question was met with 16,000 reactions and more than 4,000 comments on Reddit. Jenna Bush Hager even weighed in on the subject when it was discussed on a recent segment on Jenna and Friends. “I’ve had a partner for 20 years and if Henry [Hager] was like, ‘You need to go shower,’ I’m not sure how I would take that.”
There are tons of varying opinions on who was in the right here, but one thing’s certain: showering is a must from a medical standpoint, especially for women.
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Dr. Kecia Gaither, a double board-certified OB/GYN and Director of Perinatal Services and Maternal Fetal Medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln in the Bronx in New York City, tells PEOPLE why it’s vital for women to maintain genital hygiene in order to “maintain overall health.”
Washing regularly down there maintains the natural balance of bacteria and pH levels in the vaginal microbiome, while also preventing bacterial vaginitis, yeast infections, urinary tract infections and inflammatory skin conditions like contact dermatitis, adds the medical expert.
Cleaning the genital area with warm water and a mild, unscented soap and gently drying it with a soft towel is up on Dr. Gaither’s list of best hygiene practices. She also recommends wearing breathable cotton undergarments and to avoid tight clothing to reduce moisture build-up. And, when selecting body washes, she suggests shopping for products without “unnecessary additives like antibacterial agents or strong perfumes.”
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