I’ve been a tomboy from a young age. My friends have always been guys, and I developed a dislike for being around other girls around age 10-11 because the people who bullied me were all girls.
When I was a teenager, I kept hearing that girls and women supposedly have a strong “fishy” smell. I know it’s a meme, but I’d seen and read enough firsthand stories that it stuck with me. I even came across accounts from gay men who said that every woman they knew smelled that way, and that it influenced their attraction to men.
In my case, I seem to be an exception. There’s no fishy smell on myself, just normal skin or sweat when I’m active, or at night when I’m due to shower. But that actually made me even more uncomfortable around groups of girls and women, because I really hate the smell of fish or seafood in general, and if there’s a lot of women in a room, that smell lingers even after they’ve left.
Sometimes I feel embarrassed, because people see me, see that I’m female, and I worry they automatically assume I’ve got a rotting crab factory somewhere.
In my experience, if they do that, they’re misogynists anyway. It’s kind of a ploy that people only cite in a desperate last ditch attempt to feel superior to women; I didn’t know about it until an insecure misogynist i knew started to go on about it all the time. This is because it’s something that only really arises when you’re close to a womans genitals - i know there’s some fantastical stories suggesting otherwise but bear in mind they might be reddit creative writing.
I mean, what you describe in that quoted section is literally misogynistic profiling, so believe me you want those people to stay away.
I know someone in my own life who does have some (different)) Body Odour problems, some things she could do are get exercise at least every 3 days, clean her room more, eat more healthily, get up earlier and not bedrot. (I’m trying to help them, it’s also a new problem and I don’t want to push it too much.)
But how does this anecdote help you? Well, as long as you’re leaving your own room and home often - ideally spending time breathing outside air - then I think you’ll be able to pick up on any bad smells from your own body or clothes. If not, then relax.