Boyfriend won’t stop telling me I have B.O.
A woman shares her struggles with her boyfriend constantly telling her she has body odor, despite being meticulous about her hygiene and receiving reassurances from others that she smells fine. After confronting him, she discovers the shocking reason behind his behavior—a manipulative tactic learned from his father to lower her self-esteem. She decides to end the relationship. Read her story below.
‘ Boyfriend won’t stop telling me I have B.O.’
I have been with my boyfriend for over a year and everything has been great except for one thing. Every single day, at least once, he will tell me that I stink and smell of b.o. When we met I showered every day, applied regular deodorant in the morning, brushed my teeth three times a day.
Now I am so paranoid about smelling bad that I shower at least twice a day, I apply new industrial strength deodorant every few hours (I have a reminder on my phone), perfume, and I brush my teeth anytime I eat or drink something that isn’t water.
I feel like I’m going crazy. I didn’t think I smelled bad in the beginning and I don’t think I smell bad now but I obviously smell bad to him right? Im that weirdo that keeps “sneakily” smelling their own armpits. I have been to the doctor and he has said there is nothing medically wrong.
It has honestly gotten to the point where I literally shove my arm pit in friends and families faces asking if I smell bad, they all say I don’t smell like b.o. at all, one friend even said I smelled too clean like a lush store. I am getting so paranoid. He won’t cuddle or anything when he says I smell. I really don’t know what more I can do?
Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:
Pancreatic_Pirate − Holy s**t, that update. His father basically groomed him to be an emotional abuser. So glad you ended that; hopefully he learns from this.. Edit: clarity
softserveshittaco − Imagine telling a girl she smells to make her want you more. F**k people are stupid
WavesnMountains − He’s negging you so that you’re desperate to earn his approval. Break up with the piece of s**t.
-dingbat- − Your edit shows how utterly pathetic and m**ipulative he is. How disgusting of him. He drove you insane and caused you emotional distress and didn’t even bat an eyelash. Him and his father are pieces of s***. Get rid of him, and tell his sorry ass to go get therapy and stop being such an emotionally a**sive trash can. Yuck. Go take care of yourself love. And breathe.
[Reddit User] − Break up with him. Either his sense of smell is off or he’s doing this on purpose to hurt your self esteem.
Princess-She-ra − Either it’s just one of those times where *you* smell bad to *him*, and to him only. Or he’s doing this on purpose to avoid intimacy or control you or something. An ex husband of mine did this to me, wouldn’t be intimate but blamed me(a number of reasons, including I had bad breath). I went to the dentist who told me there was nothing wrong with my breath.. “It’s not you, it’s him”
CharlzyWoodzy − He’s doing this to make you paranoid and question yourself. It’ll start with this and escalate to other issues. D**p him and get a partner who thinks you smell irresistible and can’t get enough of your scent 💜
libra10101988 − That update SENT me oh my word. What an asshat. Good for you for standing up for yourself
[Reddit User] − For all the dudes saying OP was too harsh, Op should’ve given him a chance since he saw the errors of his ways etc. her boyfriend told her she stinks the entire time they dated, he denied her physical affection, and for what? Because his dad taught him a s**tty tactic to keep the woman your dating feeling low so they won’t cheat on you.
Any dude with common since can see that’s a s**tty move and decide against it. “But virtual senpai, his dad groom him to be that way” nah, miss me with that. Dude clearly said it was tactic his father used on his my mother for X reasons. That’s not ingrained in you that was a suggestion he thought would work for him.
[Reddit User] − Leave his ass man thats extremely f**king mind games s**t
It’s heartbreaking when a loved one manipulates insecurities for control. How would you handle discovering such a toxic behavior? Share your thoughts or support for this courageous decision in the comments below.