Showered or Sweaty? The Polarizing World of Dick Scent

I used to see a man named Massimo. Like a lot of guys, he had a routine of going to the gym in the evening. One night, I got horny thinking about seeing him after his workout, so I texted him and commanded him not to shower after finishing up. 

Why? 

I wanted to taste the savory post-gym flavor on his dick. Something about the thought of his natural scent after a long day at work and a strenuous weightlifting session made me go wild, and I craved the anticipation of finally taking a whiff and licking every inch and crevice of the sweat that had been marinating on his skin. 

As soon as he got back to his apartment, I was waiting for him. Tasting his natural, intoxicating sweat seeping through the veins of his dick and balls was like gobbling down a savory four-course meal with extra seasoning — simply *chef’s kiss*. 

But, it didn’t take long for me to realize that my craving for lightly scented cock is a unique one. After my night with Massimo, I had a conversation with one of my girlfriends about how a man’s natural musk is a major turn on for me. Her response? “Ew.” 

When I asked her what was so “ew” about it, she told me she didn’t like the “salty smell or taste.” She preferred fresh-out-of-the-shower dick, the kind that “smells like Dove soap” and has no flavor other than “skin that just had some water splashed on it.” 

And so, I was left to wonder: Was my love for dick with some spice an unpopular preference?

Discussions about genital smell preference aren’t new. From Reddit threads about whether “dick breath” is real to Gwyneth Paltrow’s infamous vagina-scented candle, people have strong feelings about genital musk. They seem to center around whether a “natural” scent is inherently better than a “clean” one, and for every opinion, there’s an equal and opposite argument against it. Even on Twitter and TikTok, people (including myself) argue about whether a scentless shower dick is better than one that tells an olfactory tale of where it’s been. 

For a more clinical take, I asked Janielle Bryan, a public health practitioner and sex educator, what’s behind the salty peen versus fresh dick debate. Her explanation was simple — pheromones. “Humans are less receptive to pheromones [than other animals], but they can still influence attraction and arousal,” she explains. “Studies have shown that women demonstrate improved mood and heightened emotional focus after an upper-lip application of male armpit sweat.” Both of these factors — good mood and focus — have also been shown to enhance sexual desire and arousal. 

I also wondered whether there’s an association between emotional factors and having sex at peak musk. Which, yes. “[There’s a] huge correlation in intimacy and couples who enjoy each other’s scent and don’t notice much of a difference between a resting smell and ‘body odor’ (or at the very least, they’re not bothered by it),” says Philadelphia-based sex therapist Colby Agostinelli. In fact, she continues, taking a whiff of your partner’s bodily perfumes can bring you closer because it shows a “radical acceptance” of them that “counters what society told them was gross or bad.” 

This makes perfect sense — going down on Massimo wasn’t just erotic because he looked hot after the gym, it was because his scent made me feel more connected to him. Essentially, there were absolutely no limitations between us during sex, no matter how “nasty” that may seem to some. 

Given the science of smell horniness and the results of the thoroughly scientific Twitter polls above, it appears I’m not completely alone in my preference for dick at its current scent than fresh shower dick. But never fear — I won’t yuck anyone’s yum. 

It’s just that for me, “yum” is a little flavor on my nuts. 

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Tatyannah King

Tatyannah King is a graduate student at Widener University studying human sexuality. She’s a sex blogger for digital platform tabú and editorial contributor for print magazine Sexual Health Magazine. She also hosts her own sex-advice column for millennials on Sexpert.com, America’s leading sex-ed online platform for adults.