Body Odor and Biopolitics

<p> Originally rooted in stereotypes about race and class the modern norm of bodily odorlessness emerged amid 19th and early 20-century developments in urban sanitation labor relations and product marketing. Today discrimination against strong-smelling people includes spatial segregation and termination from employment yet goes unchallenged by social justice movements.</p><p> This book examines how neoliberal rhetoric legitimizes treating strong-smelling people as defective individuals rather than a marginalized group elevates authority figures into arbiters of odor and drives sales of hygiene products for making bodies acceptable.</p>