I came across a video of some elderly Chinese people on a bus covering their noses while sitting near a black woman. Naturally, the woman interpreted it as racism, and honestly, I can understand why, ive seen videos like that and Imagine being the only Black person on a bus, noticing several people covering their noses when you sit nearby. Your first thought probably isn't going to be, maybe they don't like my perfume. It is probably going to be, they don't want to sit next to me.
But things get interesting when the video was quoted by a chinese account and the person in the quotes said its not tha they are being racist, its just your perfume. I've seen discussions like this before involving foreigners travelling to China and other parts of East Asia. Someone enters a bus, train, elevator or other enclosed space and notices people covering their noses or mouths. They immediately assume the reaction is about their race but from what the chinese commentator explained it isnt always the case as she says there is a biological difference here that makes the explanation deviate from plain racism. A large majority of people in East Asian populations carry a variant of the ABCC11 gene associated with reduced production of the compounds responsible for underarm body odor. The prevalence is particularly high in some East Asian populations.
That doesn't mean that East Asians literally cannot smell, sweat, or ever have body odour. That would obviously be an exaggeration. It means that the average experience of underarm odour can be different from what someone from another population is accustomed to and if you grow up in an environment where strong body odour is relatively uncommon, your nose might simply be less accustomed to certain strong scents.
Someone from another country might shower, put on their favorite perfume, they then get onto a crowded bus and to them its a case of i smell good but to someone whose nose isn't accustomed to strong fragrances, its a case of “why is my nose being attacked?” and according to her, suddenly someone covering their nose can look like an act of discrimination when it might simply be a reaction to a strong smell. That possibility is worth considering.
At the same time, I don't think we should go too far in the opposite direction either. Not every uncomfortable interaction involving a Black person in China or East Asia can automatically be explained away by perfume, body odour or cultural differences. Racism exists everywhere, and Black foreigners can and do experience discrimination in different parts of the world. Now of course no one is inclined to believe the woman, that they are not being racist and to be honest i dont entirely believe her too but we learn every day. I will post a link to the video below