Perfumed Bodies and the Politics of Scent: Olfactory Somaesthetics from Vatsyayana to Digital Media

Abstract

This paper examines the perfumed body as a site of aesthetic self-fashioning and political negotiation, tracing a trajectory from the classical Indian formulations of Vatsyayana to the disembodied dynamics of contemporary digital media. Utilizing Richard Shusterman’s framework of somaesthetics—the critical, meliorative study of the body as a locus of sensory experience—this research posits that the deliberate scenting of the human form is a potent act of “olfactory somaesthetics.” This practice is shown to be deeply embedded in social hierarchies, cultural identity, and power structures. The paper first analyzes the pivotal role of scent in the cultivated life of the nāgaraka as detailed in the Kāma Sūtra, where perfumery (gandhayukti) was an essential art for social distinction and seduction. It then explores the olfactory rupture of the colonial period, where European notions of deodorization were employed to construct a hierarchy between the “sanitized” colonizer and the “over-scented” colonized. Subsequently, the paper investigates the re-emergence of scent in post-liberalization India as a marker of global aspiration and fluid consumer identity. Finally, it interrogates the paradox of scent in the digital age, analyzing how contemporary media platforms market olfactory experiences through visual aesthetics and influencer narratives, thereby transforming the perfumed body into a mediated, aspirational signifier. Through this historical arc, the paper demonstrates that while the means of its expression have radically evolved, the utilization of scent as a tool for crafting and communicating the self remains a fundamental and politically charged human endeavor.