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.
Bruh - I’m tomboy, was raised to out-compete other boys, and am gay as can be.
The only time there’s ever been a fishy smell that’s been noticable above clothing was from someone with an infection, which is usually caused by poor hygiene. Sometimes that smell can linger, especially in a washroom if their bits have been exposed.
The only other thing I can think of is if someone has been menstruating into a pad that’s overdue for a change? Blood and the whole mucus and others that come from a woman can give a pretty horrible scent. But that’s gotta be so rare, and again, usually coincides with poor hygiene practices.
Everyone has a different scent (and taste), but it’s so rare (unless you’re between another’s legs) that you’ll smell it. Those jokes are in poor taste just like small dick jokes are. Men are just as capable of smelling awful down there, too. No one gender is particularly prone to stank more than the other.
So if you have at least okay hygiene practices and you’re not trying to paint the walls with your vagina, you’re fine.
In my experience, there’s definitely a difference between period smells and dirty vagina smells. But like you said, basic hygiene pretty much makes it a non-issue.