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That's funny - I literally just started reading American Psycho... In the second chapter, Bateman describes his ridiculously long, detailed morning routine. Every product is of a specific, high end brand and he knows the specifics of what each one is for. It took more time to read this chapter than it would have taken me to wash my face and moisturise in the morning. Bateman would have done numbers on Tik Tok.

I took a class in college taught by a Native American woman, and she had some incredible insight on what it means to be “dirty.” Dirt-soil, the earth itself-isn’t dirty when it’s outside. It’s only dirty when it’s brought inside. Therefore, the true definition of “dirty” is things/people where they don’t belong. That blew my third eye WIDE OPEN.

I always found it crazy how, if you're a woman, body hair is "dirty". Like, when i shower, i don't somehow manage to avoid the hair, it all gets cleaned too, how is it dirty??

“Gold hoops” , “slick back hair “ , and “dewy beautiful skin.” This all sounds soooo familiar… interesting how it’s beautiful only when they deem it to be

Hearing that people referred to you as Shane Dawson's racist caricature made my blood boil. That's disgusting

I've always thought about the fact that "clean girl" is always associated with white blonde women even though there is a lot of black content creators who have always focused on body care and fitness who are all dressed up in pink and do their skin care on camera everyday but they are never included with THE clean girls. apparently their "vibes" arent the same..........

An influencer that presented herself as a “big sister” “girls girl” “do as I say and as I do” posted tiktok saying “if you don’t wash your hair everyday, you’re disgusting, dirty and other people can smell you.” I called her out on her bullshit and got blocked. Some textures of hair should not be washed often, also modern shampoos tend to dry the hair and scalp out. It’s weird how some people that present themselves as “relatable” or “for the people” are often the ones that shame others for their choices.

I have oily, acne prone skin. The idea that my skin is “cleaner” with layers of foundation and color correctors is diabolical.

I always HATED when Shane would talk about how "poor" he is while wearing a ripped t-shirt, meanwhile he's standing in a million dollar mansion making god knows how much. I also almost puked when you mentioned the ass picking thing. Holy shit, not even the grossest people I've met would do that.

Heyyy fellow black girl here. That was very brave of you to admit that others called you Shanaynay. Memories like those shame me for some reason I cannot explain. So, I choose to lock it in my mind forever.

Medieval Europeans avoided tub baths but you better believe they were still scrubbing down with a soapy cloth every day. They were ignorant to science but they weren’t too stupid to realize that dirty = uncomfortable.

I remember at school the kids who were made fun off for being unclean were usually incredibly neglected at home but for some reason no one noticed this as a sign of child neglect.

“poop shavings on the couch” really devastated me 😔

It’s crazy how much the internet has stigmatized acne and wrinkles even more than they already were. A “pure”complexion is literally a matter of time and luck before it goes away. We all age (if we’re lucky!) and we’re all one accident away from scarring, one diagnosis away from chemo. Clean =\= health =\= goodness =\= purity.

Saying people didn't keep themselves clean in the middle ages etc. just because they didn't bathe is so misleading. The "problem" at the time was submerging oneself in the water. People still cleaned themselves using washclothes and a bucket etc. Also people changed their linen shirts so often, even multiple times a day. Yes they weren't as clean as we like it today but they weren't some uncivilised dirty people.

i lived in a neglectful hoarder house as a kid and had multiple cats that would pee everywhere. i was unable be seen as clean by my peers because of my living situation, because i didnt own a thing that didnt have the scent of cat piss. today i am so scared of being dirty, i feel like i will never be clean enough, i dont want anyone to smell me i dont want to be seen as dirty again.

i would like to note that jewish communities throughout the middle ages maintained traditional hygiene practices passed down from ancient times which significantly lessened the impact of the plague on jewish communities, which unfortunately led to the belief that we were manufacturing the illness by “poisoning the wells” followed by mass pogroms

I feel like Bernadette Banner’s mythbusting video about dark ages cleanliness might have been a good resource to have around the 26/27 minute mark. It may not have been available when the script was being written, but since Bernadette focuses on clothes there’s a lot of information on why linen was worn as a skin layer and how that affects cleanliness and bathing. Everything about the colonizers being bastards is spot on, it’s just that section that strikes me as perhaps not as well researched as others.

I was once minding my own business outside when an older lady came to me and said "you should consider washing your face" lmao. I told her I've had acne for 19 years and I bet she was thinking "you haven't washed your face in 19 years??" It was a baffling, demoralising encounter. :')

An interesting thing about Roman baths is that they were heated and cleaned by slaves. There were small spaces underneath the baths where enslaved people labored to heat the water. Apparently it was also a status thing to parade your enslaved people at these sorts of places. I think this sets up an interesting idea, that horrible, exploitative things have always maintained the comfort, privilege, and aesthetics of the upper class :)

thank youuuu for talking abt how all this "clean" aesthetic stuff isnt clean at all and is actually incredibly unhygenic. a 30 step skincare and makeup routine every single day to look like a porcelain statue will destroy your skin. a lot of cosmetic surgeries can straight up kill you. shaving/waxing your entire body to hide the fact that you are a mammal is incredibly unhygienic

I have sensory disorders that trigger migraines, idc if I'm considered ""unhygienic"", I'll never wear perfume.

It's crazy how all ills of society circle back to classism one way or another.

I've got a younger sister in her early teens. She wears a full face of makeup and does her hair every. damn. day. Recently we took a trip to the beach and EVEN THEN, when we would be splashing in the water and just hanging out (family and a few close friends) she took a couple hours to do hair and makeup. She is in middle school. She'll talk about working out for better legs/glutes and I sit there like...do you hear yourself? At such a young age you're putting in all this effort to look "perfect"? As a fucking CHILD you spend this much time and money and energy on "clean" appearances all while she gets maybe an hour of sleep each night. I worry for her and all the other little girls who see all of this shit on social media and think it's normal and healthy to have a ten-step skincare routine and don't see how it's not so much health and hygiene as it is companies exploiting their insecurities. Sorry if this comment seems a little aggressive, I'm fine with people using makeup and all, but I feel like there's a point where the reasoning being personal choice doesn't outweigh the fact that a lot of it is very exploitative.

My dermatillomania having self can NEVER relate to the clean girl aesthetic because of my skin picking wounds and scars on my face. The amount of people who assume I'm dirty and don't wash my face and give me unsolicited skin care advice without knowing I have an excoriation disorder is astounding.

I once stayed at a hotel that was kinda shabby. There was old mismatched furniture. But it was SUPER clean. I've also stayed in nice-looking hotels that clearly spent the budget on the decor and not adequate housekeeping. Its like that.

As a disabled person who has to schedule my showers around my other needs within the hourly limits of my care giver I feel discussions around hygiene are usually lacking in nuance and empathy, very few people choose or desire to be dirty, while tolerances varies if someone is noticeably 'unclean' there probably something else going on.

Important note about the white linen shirts, they did have an actual purpose! Those clothes are closest to the skin, meaning that they were directly in contact with the sweat and oils of the skin. This protected the nicer outer layers of clothing (which, depending on the make or fabric couldn't be washed). The linen layer would be changed out and washed, sometimes serveral times a day, and was actually a very effective method of staying clean. Obviously using that to perpetuate colonial violence is bad, but it did have a use beyond that.

honey wake up new shanspeare post

I will say, in regards to the white linens - those do actually help keep you clean. Linen is a naturally mildly abrasive material and anti-bacterial, helping clean you while you're wearing it. The cottons and plastics that are used right next to the body is actually a lot worse for our cleanliness and our skin (but cheaper for companies to make so more profitable).

My roommate over the last 3 years (who I am related to, but owns the house) is a very Rae Dunn white girl aesthetic subscriber, and has a crusty Maltese and three she doesn’t take care of. The house APPEARS minimalist and pristine, but then you notice strange rings on the floor,and smell a strange funk from her room. She lets her dog piss and shit everywhere, only picking up the poop and throwing a paper towel on the pee to sop it up, and her cat box is constantly overflowing and dirty to the point I have to buy more litter for my OWN cat box, as all the cats use the one that is cleaned regularly. She only mops and cleans the litter box when she’s expecting company, but she has a mini fridge in her bathroom to chill skin care items so they cool her face when she applies them (they do NOT require refrigeration at all) and buys all of her hygiene items from Ulta while food rots uncovered in the fridge and dishes pile up from her using every pot and pan in the house for a single meal that will go in the fridge to rot, and then she’ll ask ME to do the dishes while not sharing the food she made. It’s a fucking nightmare, so whenever I see her picture perfect Insta selfies it makes me so mad, KNOWING that she lives like a pig. Me? I look and live like a gremlin, but at least I try to keep things clean, it’s just tiring when there’s animal piss everywhere.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for addressing the disability aspect of the concept of “cleanliness” - the dehumanization of disability and the view of disabled people as not deserving of the same standard of living as abled people is often overlooked in the social space.

Real clean girl tiktok would be nurses, doctors and orderlies pointedly washing their hands with meticulous care as needed and warning you how there are free beds in the ICU if you don't.

On the subject of all the white linen shirts/chemises - people used to own so many because they were easier to clean than outer garments, so instead of constantly washing your 1or two outer dress(es) or tunic(s), you switched your undergarment every day or so as it got sweaty/grimy.

This clean girl aesthetic just makes me think of Frank Reynolds covered in hand sanitizer lamenting not being pure.

"we're people not Pinterest boards" I LOVE YOU SHANSPEAR (PLATONICALLY)

I really wish people would stop conflating "hobbies" with " hygiene". If you have an extensive skin care routine, great for you! But I think it is very insidious to assume that you are more hygienic than other people because of that. It's not the same thing.

Small correction: As far as I know linen shirts and undergarments do actually help keep the body clean, but they to have to be changed daily for that. That’s also why they owned so many of them, they were one of the few types of garments that were washed regularly. This isn’t to say that it justifies them using linen shirts as a justification to opress and colonize native and POCs.

I was so nervous about watching this when I saw "anti-hygeine" because I've seen so much about men not practicing proper hygiene, and as an autistic man it really bugs me, especially one who was previously unhoused and one who lives somewhere without a shower, meaning I have to daily wash in a sink, or run a bath (which feels inherently wasteful), I was nervous to watch yet another critique of something I am only so capable of influencing (during the winter, washing in the sink felt genuinely painful for me) But this was a wonderfully written, truly critical and informed look at our cultures attitude toward cleanliness Vs hygiene and I really appreciated watching it. Thank you for making it, I hope everyone sees it, and everyone understands.

every time someone mentions "dewy" skin as a goal, all i can think is 'you want to look moist? you want to look sweaty?'

People used to always try to give me tips on getting rid of my huge eye bags and get so offended and confused when I tell them I like them. They remind me of my dad. I used to be told how much I looked like my abusive mom, and the eye bags connect me to my dad, and make me feel better and I recognize my face better when I'm in a bad mental space.

I have a chronic illness, sometimes I am literally too tired to shower. The idea that some people are choosing to not wash is bizarre to me.

My nan always told me that her wrinkles were because she laughed or that she had smiled that much that it just left an imprint in her skin for the rest of her life - It showed a lifetime of happyness. Freckles, sunspots, tan lines, moles, laugh lines, stretchmarks and everything that has to do with living shows on our skin. Why would you want to go through life looking like you just came out of the god factory?

Theres an overlap with "clean" eating and wellness culture's obsession with bodily purity, where what food you eat is elevated to a moral imperitive.

So it's better to "appear" clean vs. actually being clean. I'm sick of people

this is so random but my boyfriend was waiting at a bus stop and a random old white lady stopped to tell him that his chronic hormonal acne is the result of 'dirty pillowcases' and that he 'needs to just wash his pillowcases more'... unprompted...

There’s no clearer example of effective cleanliness= excessive consumption than those ‘shower with me’ videos where people have fifty different kinds of body wash and body scrubs all neatly lined up in their shower

A note from somebody pretty deep into European historical costuming/reenacting: I think it's helpful to frame the cultural positioning of white shirts in a way that's a little more mundane. These shirts were the length of modern dresses and were, usually, the only piece of clothing directly contacting your skin, so they would be picking up all of the skin-oils and most of the skin-smell. They would be changed super often, I've heard some accounts that it could be multiple times a day. So saying they owned more shirts than any other item of clothing is like saying a modern American owns more underwear than any other item of clothing. And I definitely do own more pairs of underwear than pants! It's maybe tied with shirts. I'm critiquing the book you're using as a source, more than anything, because I personally don't really believe that treating attitudes from the past as foreign or super different from us is that helpful. If we make the much closer comparison--to the near-ubiquitous modern-day underwear--we suddenly have an example of a group of people who felt almost exactly the same as us about the necessity of their chosen undergarment, which is *different* from ours, and you can see that that attitude, which was a part of the xenophobic colonialism-justification-machine, isn't missing from the modern day. Edit: So, basically, the point I think you made much better at the end about the way that hygiene becomes tied up in morality (understandably, often through mass death events) and then people don't push past the initial disgust response in the way that would be necessary to understand how someone else might have a different cleanliness routine or even *gasp* a different *definition* of hygiene altogether. Great vid, Shan!

Self care is taking an hour out of ur day to watch shanspeare and not 11 step Korean skincare routine atp

Being disabled and on benefits, I have been penalised more than once because of a perceived too much hygiene at the assessment stage and it was always super focused on my hair. I have curly hair so had an assessor say that the fact my hair wasn't matted meant that I was overstating my disability because they couldn't understand the concept of braids and that just because my hair looks clean doesn’t mean I wash it daily. Something that would not be good for my hair anyway! Keeping up with the expectations of different groups over how hygiene and disability is an exhausting mix of moving goalposts.

I just need to add that the "European" part of history is only about the more popular countries. If you see any black plague statistics you can see how little it impacted Poland. It's a combination of small cities spread around but also that people were bathing much much more. We don't really have a lot of slavic/early christian history of these regions (because christians eradicated it and slavic people had much less written texts) but it's sad to ignore what little we have. Europe is not a monolith either. It's sad to lump it together just to prove your point. Same with Jewish bathing traditions and much, much more.

Another autistic chiming in: I was a full-grown adult when I realized that nobody had ever taught me, step by step, how to wash myself. I guess I was supposed to pay attention to how I got washed when I was small enough for that to happen, and just keep repeating that, but nothing stuck. It probably doesn't help that all the grown-ups who raised me are also neurodivergent (if undiagnosed). Before I had a set of steps, the act of a full-on 'shower' seemed like a bit of a waste, since I just did a kind of all-over swipe with soap instead of a proper wash. I'd just as soon wash my hair under the tap and be done with it, since I hate being wet. Once I had the steps, it made more sense. There is a system and a routine, and something is being accomplished. Another thing they didn't bother covering in so-called health class.

4:03 we need this reminder! Acne shouldn’t be seen as ugly! The only reason I hate pimples is because it HURTS.

I’ve gotten into so many arguments with my mother over shaving my legs because she insists it’s a matter of hygiene instead of aesthetic preference. I don’t shave my legs because I don’t want to. It doesn’t mean I don’t clean myself??

I have had an ongoing struggle with my daughters dad. We are not together and he believes showering everyday is a MUST. I grew up with eczema, something our child has and I KNOW that it is both unnecessary amd actually harmful to certain skin contions. My daughter always comes home with dry flaking skin, causing her eczema to.flare, which is very painful. This notion of having to bathe or shower everyday (obviously if you work in a dirty environment or work out and smell then, please do) but otherwise there is nuance. With me her skin always looks great, rarely to never has flare ups. Because i bathe/shower her every 2 or 3 days depending on what she has been up to. If we go to the sea, yes, we wash that off. Too much washing with certain conditons can make them worse and more of a struggle to live with. Water can be physically painful when there's a flare up. Equally, of you are man with a daughter, educate yourself on how the privates should be washed. Ie, JUST water. We have a delicate microbiome, just as the skin does and it needs to be preserved. Ive seen this change in hair care for those same reasons. Our natural oils need time to work to keep us healthy. Sadly this has not yet been reflected in the department of showering. Just like evrything in life. More is not better. Some of us are lucky and our sweat doesnt smell, thats just luck, like thick hair or acne. The idea that a child who simply goes to school and comes home NEEDS to shower every single day is harmful even to those who do not have skin isssues. In the UK and france (where im from). Babies are not bathed for at least the first week. You use cotton balls and warm water in their folds and obviously clean the nappy area. But the stuff on their skin when they are born is an important health benefit in strengthen their non existent immune system. I am always shocked when i see american babies getting fully bathed at the hospital. Stay healthy, but not sanitised. We are primitive beings. And the frequency with which you wash your whole body should be nuanced based on your own circumstances.

“We’re people, not Pinterest boards” is such a great quote

I really miss who I was before I heard “poop shavings” and “poop on her sleeve” 🤢🤢🤢. But this video really shined a light on arguments I would have with a white friend in middle school. She thought I was gross for not washing my hair everyday (🙃) but I thought she was gross for taking “2-minute showers” that were basically comprised of washing her hair and letting the shampoo run down and not scrubbing her legs or feet.

I have no idea what poopgate is and I dread the fact that I will probably be learning about it in this video.

First, love all your vids 🩷 A few annotations: The European Middle Ages had a very thriving bathhouse culture, and those were sauna-like baths rather than... immersive baths, for a large part (pardon the Kraut for clumsy formulation). People also washed at home, the accessories were a staple in inventories and are shown in pictoral sources. Change in the Early Modern, yes, but they were scared of Syphilis rather than the Plague. Linen shirts are actually amazing at absorbing any body debris that you shed during the day, and they can be boiled to disinfect them. High-rise humanoids also frequently wiped down all over with linen cloths, which were often drenched in perfume. As a key component of perfume was acohol, they were basically wiping down with disinfectant wipes. I can also recommend linen shirts ratther than skin in summer for whitebreads like me as sun protection. The Early Modern sucked hard for a large number of reasons, but that worked.

Have you watched Bernadette Banners video on historical hygiene? It's fascinating! She made some interesting points about the importance of linens and the logistics of bathing

Tbh I always see the dewy/glassy skin and think it just looks greasy 😭

i'm wondering if the 'clean girl' kind of sets big name influencers apart from the rest and makes them more unattainable than your average influencer? since tiktok, virtually anyone can be an influencer, i can't help but think that these unattainable aesthetics of cleanliness and pefection is a way of some of these content creators to try and distinguish the proverbial cream from the crop...

Its kind of ironic how we've become so obsessed with constant washing yet our fashion has gone the opposite. We wear polyesters (aka plastic) which traps heat yet doesnt protect from the cold. So its just not breathable. For the information they had at the time, people were quite clever when it came to clothes. Clothes could protect them from the sun pre sunscreen and outerlayers could last a lifetime because of how valued they were and taken care of. Linens could be bleached and cleaned to protect the outerlayers from the bodies sweat and crap. Good and bad given the information they had

I have such horrible cleanliness anxiety. I’m constantly worried I smell bad or I missed a spot while bathing.

A lot of West** Asian practices are seen as unclean still today. Things like foot-washing in the sink (Wudu) or eating with the hands rather than utensils. A lot of it comes off as obvious racism in the lens of concerns about cleanliness and hygiene

I remember a newsletter from Jessica DeFino, where she mentioned that in the body acceptance/self love discourse, skin wasn't included. If you have acne, theres little in media and society that suggests that such a thing is normal or acceptable. I am experiencing hormonal acne, and i must take medication to control it. So many people suggested i have a more hygienic routine to get rid of the acne. Its infuriating, to assume that lack of hygiene is the reason for my acne.

its crazy how ive seen people argue up and down that brazilian waxes are for hygiene. i wish more people realized that having body hair is not an unhygienic thing. it also shows unfair standards put on women and femme-presenting people because i've been told that having leg or armpit hair is unhygienic but the same people wouldn't bat an eye if a man is covered in hair.

I find the morality applied to hygiene so wild, like ppl defending invaders (sometimes after condemning them) on account of hygiene or cleanliness practices they brought with them because the people they invaded were so ~filthy~ before; it really feels like an imperialist tool

Jenna marbles was a good example of an influencer who wasn’t seen as anti hygienic but still didn’t perform it to the camera (in the sense that she didn’t show up in a full face always).

Love the plague mask in the background

the whole moral of this video, that cleanliness in the modern era is associated more with consumerism and looks and smells versus the bacteria and actual dirt, expresses my thoughts perfectly. there was one thing i was surprised not to hear in this video, the link between female sexuality and hygiene in society. i often hear men talk about women who are open about their sexuality, especially if they have different partners frequently, do sex work, or if they use sex toys or masturbate, smelling "fishy", being "ran through", having "arby's roast beef" or just in general being unhygienic. the whole roast beef thing being linked with uncleanliness in and of itself is an issue.

As someone who suffers from contamination OCD, I gotta say this "clean" movement has made it really hard to get unbiased information to help soothe my anxiety about cleaning and disease and hygiene. It isnt great that im seeking affirmation from the internet for this as that can feed the obsessions on a good day, but its overwhelming when people online seem to be afflicted with a kind of "social contamination OCD" and end up making over the top clean lifestyle content with voice over rhetoric that is honestly triggering.

Thank you for saying we're currently living thru a pandemic. Wit almost everyone I know ignoring covid, it can feel like I'm "crazy" for still being cautious 😆

One of my besties asked me again and again "how come my hair grows faster" and I told her point blank: firstly, it's genetic, but also - I don't wash it everyday, I wash it twice a week at most. The natural hydration of the scalp is indispensable for normal growth of the hair, so if you wash it everyday even if you moisturize - you're not replacing your natural oils.

The reason for linen shifts had less to do with the color (beyond how easily white could be bleached) and more to do with being a barrier between the skin and clothing, linins were relatively inexpensive and could be changed and washed regularly whereas the outer clothes were more expensive and difficult to wash. The shifts were so completely equated with cleanliness cause they kept clothes clean from the unwashed wearer, and the wearer clean from any unwashed bedding. So it was essentially a 1-1 for underwear and the equivalent of modern people oppressing others for wearing underwear that is "too slutty" no matter how normal it is lol

Funny enough I saw a TikTok about how not painting your toenails and not having a pedicure is unclean... Had me a bit confused because since when? I get wanting to look nice but how is it unclean? I don't have 60-80 dollars to spend on a pedicure every other week 😭😭

As an autist with executive function, Jay is absolutely right. I can know I need a wash for days on end but just not be able to start

The quote about “Baths, sex, and wine ruin our bodies, but they’re the essence of life,” just has me thinking of the song from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-“Cold Showers”

I don't understand glass skin as an aesthetic. That's just me in a tropical country when I'm kinda sweaty and oily. I'll naturally glow like that just walking outside lol.

Will say I’ve noticed this outlook that my trans and queer friends are perceived as dirty often. Sometimes it is even something I see being perpetuated in our own group unconsciously. I know a lot of trans men or transmasc ppl are seen as dirty because not only are we altering a “feminine body” and covering it with hair, a lot of times we are plus sized or start balding etc. Some transmen seem to even show disgust at others changes or their own because of our obsession with keeping these bodies hairless, skinny, luscious, and smooth. edit: A note on transwomen, I identify a lot of my trans fem friends with smell. Strong perfumes and lotions and hand sanitizer. Good smells, but strong flowery fruity scents. I think they feel an insane pressure to not smell bad or be caught being gross. People are not lenient to women. Let alone those who are transgender.

i recently saw a video about "the nasty smell of bbls", a video compilation of people talking about the bbl smell and how many creators believe It's because these women don't wipe well. I took notice of a few things, this almost exclusively refers to black women, the criticism also comes from black people, it was often anecdotal evidence in spaces like the club or a party, it fully blamed the person who had the bbl, it felt permanent (as in no amount of cleaning can solve it). big asses have existed during centuries and people have found ways to clean them, but somehow increasing the size of the ass makes it impossible to wipe? i just don't buy it. It felt very much like a targeted dig towards a particular group of black women who enjoy their fuller figures. As it to say "it doesnt matter how pretty you are, you are nasty"

Hair texture definitely figures into the "clean girl" aesthetic as well. No 4c girlies allowed, no coarse leg hair, or facial hair of any sort even if it's light blonde.

Cleanliness and disability is a very interesting topic. Disabled people are often seen as morally and literally unclean. There are many ressons for this, many of them rooted in religion and capitalist society. Paired with many disabled peoples physical issues and barriers with washing, this is a really difficult thing for us. Add being fat AND having acne to the mix, and I regularly get called dirty by my family, even though I'm not. I truly believed I was for years, but my partner who showers daily, sometimes twice daily, and is very particular about hygiene, assures me I am far from smelly or dirty, and am actually one of the cleanest people he's met. I speak as an autistic wheelchair user with chronic pain and a hypermobility/joint disorder. I wish this was talked about more! Thanks for raising the topic in the video.

can I just say its odd to call wearing makeup clean when it is grimy and uncomfortable to me

I saw the thumbnail and thought to myself 'Oh yeah, it's April's Fools Day! Ha ha! What a quirky joke premise!' Then I realized 'Oh wait. It's March 31st. *Oh no.'*

So, I'm a fat influencer in the beauty space and I'm very open about my struggles with hygiene and cleanliness. I shower two to three times a week, but due to a number of factors, I find it incredibly difficult to get myself into the shower and sometimes can try all day and still fail. I'm not saying I'm every fat influencer, but I feel like my audience feels compassionate and often seen by my struggles, and sometimes I even go to them for help if I need an extra boost to get myself in the shower. I guess I'm just saying this because even though fat people are treated worse overall, there are ways to overcome that and still be yourself.

People seem to forget that cleaning to much can be bad for you. I can't help when people say they wash their hair everyday. Its so bad for your hair to wash it everyday.

Intelexual Media did a video on a history of hygiene and the hygiene olympics among black women on her channel a while ago. I feel like that's a good companion video to this one for anyone else interested in the topic.

A close friend of mine told me she could “never live with a plus size person because, you know…” and I (formerly plus size at the time) was like Uh no I don’t know, and she had the gall to tell me that all fat people smell and she can be friends with them but cannot live with them. The same person told me that my greasy hair and cystic acne were because my body was unhealthy, “healthy body, healthy skin” 😂 I laugh now because the only thing that cleared up my acne was accutane and know now how dumb she is.

I’d rather have a puke dress than a poop couch 😭

In defense of Ye Olden Europeans, they generally weren't really that dirty. You're right, they didn't bathe. Part of that was the worry about open pores, but part of that was the fact that it was a massive main in the a*s to fill a bathtub. Instead, everyone had a pitcher of water and a basin, and they washed using water and a cloth most days. Hair was washed less frequently, so it was brushed daily, kept up (for women), and tucked under linen caps. Linen really is good at wicking away sweat, which is why they wore linen shifts, chemises, and undershirts. Those were washed as much as was practical, and white linen was a symbol of wealth. It's more expensive than unbleached linen, and it showed you could afford to buy new ones frequently. tl;dr European weren't just stinking hogs. They did care about hygiene, and poor hygiene would limit your opportunities.

I'm fat and bearded and there have been more times than I could keep track of where someone "complimented" me by saying I smell surprisingly good and they assumed I would smell bad when they first saw me.

When my disability rly took off my first year of college, I remember skipping showering for days bc I couldnt stand long enough to shower w/o terrible pain. I've still barely admitted that to anyone, bc I didn't want to be seen as gross. And then my second year, I had access to a shower w/ a seat and it was like a MIRACLE to me - but I was still worried ppl would think it was gross for me to have to use the seat in a communal bathroom. Social pressure to not only be uber hygienic, but specifically to perform it in certain ways, always leaves out people and creates shame. I think the specificity of HOW hygiene is performed is even more damaging, because it does not consider that the natural variance in ppl will require variance in how common tasks are done (whether it be bc of ability, finances, housing status, culture, age, etc).

i really appreciate the timing of this video, i'm having the worst acne of my adult life right now and it's making me feel like garbage. i have huge, angry red pimples all over my T-zone and i hate it so much. i'm coming off a depressive episode that brought up a lot of bad habits (not showering, eating junk, not excercising, not sleeping enough, and the list goes on) and my body is NOT happy with me.

The phrase 'clean girl' insinuates that everyone who does not look, behave, or groom themselves in the same manner is therefore 'unclean', which is why this phrase has always repulsed me.

I want to be so fr here and point out that the loosening of covid precautions has absolutely contributed to this skyrocketing of performative cleanliness and hygiene. ppl love the clean girl aesthetic but I have ever seen so much open-mouth toddler coughing in my life. I'm seeing people send their kids to school and going to work with symptoms that never would've been okay a couple years ago. People are getting sicker, accepting more unhygienic behaviors while performing cleanliness with skincare products and hand washing. People will spend all the money in the world on their "cleanliness" but won't wear an N95 in public spaces, leaving disabled people stuck in their homes, further limiting their access to hygiene products and habits. I would love to go to a nice bath house or get a groupon facial, but people are rawdogging covid air among other illnesses while chasing aesthetic health and hygiene. actual doorknob licking while scared of acne from mask wearing. but hey, your skin is clear I guess.

Reminds me of the "yall don't scrub your legs with PUMMICE every day in the shower?-!?!?! Your momma didn't teach you to CLEAAAANN YOURSELF?!????"

Hygiene Ego is the perfect term to encapsulate this BS idea that if you’re not wasting resources and spending large amounts of money on products then you’re an automatic outcast, and unworthy of respectability. You aren’t regularly scheduling manicures and spa facials? What’s wrong with you?

This reminds me of all the times I've stumbled into tiktok and instagram reel commets (worst place on earth) about people bragging about how often they shower. There are always *always* those people who shower once, twice, thrice a day and hound everybody else for being unhygienic, simply for the crime for not bathing ridiculously often. The snooty attitude is one thing but it always made me think "Where do you get all the time to be doing this? The money to pay the water bills you rack up this way? All the money on products you use?". Showering so often, especially with soaps and scented shower products will seriously mess up your skin. The need to bathe is also seriously dependent on your lifestyle: what you do day to day, how much you sweat, how dirty you get, how much body odor you produce, your general abilities to bathe, etc etc. I honestly think showering twice or thrice a week is plenty for most people and the fear of being seen as "dirty" or "smelly" isn't conducive to a healthy mindset when we're literally animals in fleshy bodies.