Recently, the topic of America's obsession with fragrances and aromas came up at our international chat session.  This proved to be an interesting and stimulating conversation as we discussed the various cultural aspects surrounding this "silent language" of understanding or misunderstanding aromas.		

This was an extremely sensitive topic and we wondered: How does one address or introduce this topic and not offend anyone? Initially, many students were reluctant to voice their opinion on this matter but eventually came around to talk about their experiences. 

The conclusion reached was that Americans are very sensitive to nature's natural fragrances.  The real culprit in this indoctrination is the media: newspapers, magazines and television are sending either direct or indirect messages to the public about cleanliness. Our children are mesmerized about this cleanliness campaign.  The comic strips in the Hartford Courant contribute to this topic of personal hygiene: "Garfield the Cat", "Soup to Nutz" "Jump Start" and "Stone Soup" all addressed the personal hygiene issue. I am attaching the comic strips for your reference.

In our lively discussion, it was observed that American television plays a large role in "educating" or getting the public "brain washed" about cleanliness. Specifically, the "TV  Soap Operas" that appear every afternoon, Monday -Friday, send subtle but strong  messages of  keeping things neat and smelling clean. 

TV commercials advertise about washing clothes with the strongest yet sweetest smelling soap detergents, washing dishes with the newly improved extra strength scented anti-bacterial formulas,  washing and waxing the floor with the shiniest results, polishing the furniture with the brightest results, cleaning the toilet bowl with powerful tropical scented disinfectants,  brushing your teeth with the most powerful mint flavored cleansing agents available, mouth washes that will kill every germ known to mankind, using hand sanitizers with aloe and vitamins, utilizing hydrating hand and body lotion with aloe, soaping up with  the right soap while showering or bathing,  lathering your hair for the shiniest and best smelling hair,  shaving with the shaving cream with the aloe, using spiced deodorants to smell nice for that "right moment", applying hypnotic colognes and perfumes to attract,  and using the softest gently scented aloe toilet paper, for reasons unknown.  No part of the body is sacred or untouched by this relentless campaign to keep it clean and eliminate every possible natural fragrance.  

This obsession of "Cleanliness is next to godliness" seems to be one of the major U.S. commandments. From our conversations with students from other cultures, it appears that the rest of the world is not so inhibited as Americans.

Interestingly, an international student, Leticia Lupinska, wrote an interesting article entitled, "The Great American Nose". She made some interesting observations.  Here are her observations about the American nose. 

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							The Great American Nose

One of the strangest phenomena you will encounter in the United States is that of the Great American Nose.  The American Nose may look like yours and mine, but in reality it's not.  Something seems to have been left out of the American Nose.  It is incapable of degrees of differentiation of odors.  Whereas most of humanity is capable of smelling a wide range of odors, the American Nose can smell only two--good odors and bad odors, right odors and wrong odors.  Of course the American Nose prefers good odors and right odors.  It is quite virtuous, therefore.  It must have inherited all its genes directly from its Puritan ancestors.

After a careful study of the matter, I have come to the conclusion that there are only three good odors, and that all the rest are bad odors.  The three good odors--artificial flowers, artificial lemons, and artificial spices--are used to mask all of the bad odors.  Bad odors emanate from bathrooms, from garbage cans, from old moldy things, and most of all, from human bodies.  All natural odors are bad odors, as you can see, and there are hundreds of American products in the three good odors designed to mask all the bad ones.
Wherever you find the Great American Nose, a hand holding a can to spray, a deodorant to roll on, an air freshener to stick up, or a cleaning solution to wipe on will not be far behind.  Does the kitchen smell like cooking?  Spray it with great amounts of artificial spice.  Does the closet smell moldy?  Fill it with odor of roses.  Does a person smell sweaty?  (Sin! Sin!) Roll on quantities of deodorant with scent of jasmine.  Does the bathroom smell like a bathroom?  Wipe down everything with scent of lemon cleaner.


Pity the poor American Nose.  It is really fragile.  Yet this fragile appendage rules the American.  Should the Nose detect bad odors, you will hear the American complaining loudly, and very shortly excusing himself from their presence.

You may think Americans are an independent lot, but they're not.  They can't go anywhere without extra bathroom paper, disinfectant sprays and cleaners.  I sometimes have the feeling that if the American civilization falls into decay, it will be because the American Nose could not tolerate the smell of it.  It's remarkable to me that with such a handicap as the Great American Nose, Americans have survived this long.

*Leticia Lupinska has lived in the United States for twelve years.  Some of our American attitudes have impressed her, some have amused her, and others have frustrated her.  In this reading, she shares some of her ideas about Americans with you.

Excerpt taken from 25 Strategies: Reading Skills for Intermediate-Advanced Students of English as a Second