Professor Matthew Cobb

But I mean, that's generally with very extreme odour.

And it's basically a metabolic thing, right?

So it depends on what they're producing in their sweat and how that is then eaten by the bacteria.

But it's a combination of things.

Are there sex differences in body odour?

Yes.

I mean, how would you know?

Yeah.

How would we actually find out you'd have to take people to a desert island, stop them cleaning themselves or whatever?

I don't know.

It would be very difficult to be very confident that you had identified differences that were simply to do with sex and not other features that differ between us.

That having been said...

There are clearly differences between men and women that are going to be associated with their cleanliness, which are all to do with gender rather than sex, to the way we think about the sex roles in different societies.

There's the Western model that would tend to suggest that it's...

less unacceptable for men to smell of body odour than it is for women.

And women are supposed to be these beautiful, fragrant individuals.

And you've only got to go into the supermarket and see the range of products that are available for women to deodorise themselves compared to men.

But I don't think that's because women smell more.

I think it's because...

women are more attuned to this current cultural norm that we've adopted.