<\/p>\n
The story says poor hygiene could also explain an odour, as could infection or the fact that \u201cthe body is draining fluids, and the patient is wearing tight compression garments that can trap sweat, moisture, and bacteria against the skin.\u201d That last bit is per New York-based plastic surgeon Dr. Douglas Steinbrech. Please note, all of these explanations are actually just due to having a body, and according to the experts\u2019 own quotes, not one of them is specific to BBLs\u2014not even fat necrosis, which btw, other plastic surgeons quoted in far more credible outlets<\/a> say is usually odourless.<\/p>\n So, what these doctors are actually communicating, once you strip out the bombastic quotes, is that the only time a BBL should emit an odour is if something is wrong\u2014either you\u2019re not able to clean yourself properly, or you have an infection or complication. But the framing of each article says the opposite: that there is<\/em> an odour specific to this procedure. Of course, if you read several of these articles, you see that many, if not all, of the ones that proclaim BBL Smell is real actually just picked up the Daily Mail<\/em>\u2019s reporting<\/a> and are recycling Dr. Anderson\u2019s quotes. However, the bigger problem is that the quotes simply don\u2019t back up the thesis of the article, and maybe I\u2019m being extra here, but I think that\u2019s a problem. Journalists have a responsibility to be accurate in all parts of the story, including what it implies or alludes to. Philosophically, this is an important element of journalistic integrity. But also, this kind of reporting comes with a real risk of perpetuating stigma, which doesn\u2019t actually make anyone healthier. (Again\u2014highest mortality rate of any<\/em> aesthetic procedure.)<\/p>\n Also, It\u2019s not an accident that BBL Smell is trending now. What I think we\u2019re seeing is a cultural desire to punish women for not adhering to today\u2019s trending beauty standards. I referenced this last year in my newsletter about Lindsay Lohan\u2019s new face<\/a>, but it\u2019s even more relevant here: In the West, we are moving to a new must-have body type and overall aesthetic, and it\u2019s one that emphasizes or mimics whiteness, in everything from body type to makeup styles. There\u2019s data to back this up; in November 2024, The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> reported on the \u201cde-Kardashian-ification of America<\/a>,\u201d citing plastic surgeons from New York and L.A. who were seeing their customer base demand more subtle, natural-looking augmentation, instead of Kardashian-style curves. (This is an aesthetic evolution that we\u2019ve even been seeing among the famous family themselves<\/a>, for the record.) I\u2019m not saying this is logical, or even conscious, but it does feel like there\u2019s a sort of collective shaming of women who invested their time and money, and risked their health, to achieve a body type that is falling out of (mainstream, white) fashion.<\/p>\n And smell is a powerful way to do that. As my current favourite academic, Ally Louks, explained in an article<\/a> for The Conversation<\/em>, \u201cit is well documented<\/a> that smell has been used as a justification for expressions of racism, classism and sexism. Since the 1980s, researchers<\/a> have been assessing the moral implications of perceptions and stereotypes related to smell\u2026 I suggest that smell very often invokes identity in a way that is meant to convey an individual\u2019s worth and status. In Parasite<\/em>, for instance, a working-class man overhears his employer say that his \u2018smell crosses the line,\u2019 which the director describes<\/a> as a moment when \u2018the basic respect you have for another human being is being shattered.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nI will absolutely take this opportunity to talk about the politics of smell, though<\/strong><\/h2>\n