foid asks if showering once every 2-3 days is normal after boss brings it up in a meeting. Comments blow up to over 3000 and locks the post.

OP

EDIT: Thanks for the perspectives everyone - l did not expect this to blow up and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the vastly different responses (thank you to those who treated my question as genuinely not stupid). I think my main takeaway is that while not everyone thinks not showering every day is objectively disgusting, I can be taking more steps to make absolutely sure I don't smell bad so I'm considerate of others. It was helpful for me to see all the factors people consider when making their showering decisions. Since the people in my life are eager to hug me, choose to sit close to me, select me for people-facing leadership roles, and are very honest in every other area of my life, I'm choosing to continue doing what's right for me and make more drastic changes if I see evidence otherwise.

I (F25) typically shower every 2-3 days. When I say I don't shower every day, I mean I do not step into a shower at all, not just skipping washing my hair. My curly hair doesn't really get greasy, but if it does, I hide it with different hairstyles and accessories. I don't sweat often, always wear a scented deodorant, and just work an office job with a few days remote.

A few days ago I saw a post absolutely blasting people who don't shower every single day, and many people even said they shower multiple times a day. The comment section was pretty unanimous and I'm feeling self conscious about this, especially because I've always had an almost nonexistent sense of smell. My boss also made a comment (EDIT: in a conversation completely unrelated to hygiene) assuming everyone showers every day and I lied and went along with it.

My ADHD brain can't fathom doing such a taxing routine every single day. I also hear that it's not great for your skin and hair to shower every day and the WHO doesn't even recommend showering every day. Are daily showers just a thing in the USA? Do I actually have poor hygiene and everyone just bears with me?

It depends on the person. If you have BO then you need to shower more. If not then it's fine

The tough part is that I can't tell. Anytime I ask my husband, who's probably nose blind to me, he just shrugs and says “you smell like you, and it isn't a bad smell.” Not very helpful lol.

Oh look, it's married to another

I was told I smelled "unwashed" a few times at work, and the last time I was told that I said truthfully "but I showered 3 hours ago and put on clean clothes and deodorant"

It turns out it was my bed. I had been sleeping on a mattress that had no sheets for years. Just nasty sweaty unwashed mattress. Replaced the mattress, which was inexpensive because it was a hand-me-down from family, and kept clean sheets on it regularly. The "unwashed" smell went away immediately.

Just average redditor things.

How's you butt and junk? That kinda gets smelly pretty quickly….sitting in it all day long. Farting, wiping in a rush…more sitting…pubic hair gathering food crumbs…

i'm sorry.. food crumbs??

Yeah, food crumbs

my dude are you eating sandwiches in the nude or something?

And many more such revolting stories of redditor hygiene throughout the comments.

https://old.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1crxf42/is_it_really_unacceptable_not_to_shower_every_day/?sort=controversial

!foidmoment