What do you personally find ‘disgusting’? What revolts you? Makes you cringe? Causes a gag reflex? Invokes a shudder? Well, the chances are that if you’re a woman (or really have always wanted to be one) the list will be much longer. And the chances are that I might even be on it.

But ‘tests have shown’ (zzzzzz) that the designation of ‘disgusting’ is far more profound among women than men. And I love a real, honest-to-goodness, gender difference that they can’t shout ‘me too!’ about.

They showed images of things to lots of people at the London School of Hygiene, to men, women and all others. Lumpy milk, skin lesions, gone-off food, someone using someone else’s roll-on deodorant, eating something off the floor and ‘sexual situations’ (undefined in the article I read but you can imagine… ok, I can imagine). And the subjects scored the images for levels of ‘how disgUSTING is THAT!!!???

And sour milk and skin lesions aside, there’s not really much I actually find ‘disgusting’. Though many people find me to be totally so. I’ve never been ‘precious’ about hygiene. Other than my own, showering twice every day. But whereas I have the ‘2-second rule’ about eating food off the floor, especially chocolate which automatically receives an unlimited extension, Mel has a ‘if it even looked like it might have fallen on the floor, throw it out’ rule that is total. Lila doesn’t, oddly, and she’s a proto-woman. And is thus on life’s ‘learning curve’ in which the consumption of mud, sand and earthworms is a mandatory requirement. Only then can you define ‘disgusting’ with any sense of objectivity.

They reckon this unquestionable gender difference stems from women’s ability to produce only a few offspring whilst men can father thousands. Each week. So women need to be more aware of potential diseases and infections. But there again, they always reduce any genuine gender difference to reproductive specialising because they’re really not allowed to speculate on other causes that may offend the militant femmies.

And its not my place to cause offence. Its just my hobby.

Happy hygienic Monday

A xxxx