I Got the Johnson Baby Powder and the Polo Cologne
do i have enough tumblr love to start asking questions and crowdsourcing?
for those who might not know/recall, the headline is quoted from Slick Rick’s famed la di da di, later reinterpolated by Snoop. Snoop changed the brand of cologne to Cool Water, but kept the Johnson’s baby powder. This is telling! And this Baby Powder Code of Omertá is what I’d like to inquire about…
I’m curious about the demographics of baby powder usage outside of babies. and basketball games. I think the usage implied by the lyrics — both Snoop and Rick have these items in tow “for all the girls they might take home” — is the same usage I have: I liberally powder my balls before doing most anything as a sweaty-musk inhibitor. on really hot sticky days I also have an eye on cutting down any potential thigh friction.
now at this point i put so much baby powder on my balls they’re like my version of white privilege. my boys won’t even raise up off the lawn without the smell of talcum with aloe and vitamin e in their immediate airspace. and if it don’t smell right they just scrunch up their faces and chill. but i’ve received enough “your balls always smell like baby powder” comments over the years *cough* that i wonder now if baby powder usage can be used to profile people:
Race/Ethnocultural & Baby Powder: do black people favor heavy usage over other ethnic groups? do some cultures never use it? do some people only use it in a specific way? is the hip hop lyric an indication of a hip hop/black people trend? Would Radiohead or Dirty Projectors or Katy Perry or Gaga have lyrics about baby powder for pitching men/women on sexual activities, or anything really?
Hipsters & Baby Powder: (not about identifying ‘hipsters’, per se) but is baby powder cool, not cool, or whatever? I could see maybe a lil bit of baby powder signals twee. I could see a MIchael Cera riff using a wee bit and then a black friend like me comes by and he’s being taken aback by the metric tons of cornstarch I pour on the Young & The Restless (tm). In this way maybe baby powder usage can signal a hipster that would wear a baggy pair of bootcut jeans and pumas, but never a puffy coat and timz. Also per the thigh friction angle, skinny hipster thighs wouldn’t be eligible. so maybe lifestyle-diet plays a role? Eating Popeyes carries an invisible Baby Powder tax that you probably don’t account for.
Women & Baby Powder: i guess this is the main group I’m curious about (as per usual), because this is where all my feedback has come from. does a lot of baby powder indicate a dude is still a baby? immature. not man enough for cologne. or does it signify anything hipster or ethnoculture related above? Maybe genuine cool-scenester types don’t use baby powder? they keep it raw and gully. and if you’re a punk girl, you want a guy who keeps his pubic area punk? and if you like men with cardigans, or other yuppie signifiers, then you like baby powder also? in nyc is there more Baby Powder usage on the UES, and UWS than SOHO and Tribeca?
all insights, related tangents appreciated
thanks…
