Episode 128 – Cleanliness

How often should we be showering each day to remain ‘clean’? How many times can we re-wear our jeans before they become dirty? In episode 128 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a look at cleanliness. They get into how humans have turned cleanliness into art, the double standard of cleanliness for humans vs pets, and the historical weaponisation of cleanliness against marginalised groups, such as queer people and people of color. Why are we so focused on dirt when it is nothing more than matter out of place? And what is up with TikTok’s obsession with the Clean Girl Aesthetic? In the bonus, Ellie and David discuss cleanliness as a social construct, dirtiness and isolation, and Michael Serres’ excremental theory of property.

Works Discussed:
Bruce Bagemihl, Biological Exuberance
Dana Berthold, “Tidy Whiteness: A Genealogy of Race, Purity, and Hygiene”
L’Oreal Blackett, “In The “Hygiene Olympics” Black Folks Always Win — But Aren’t We Tired?”
Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger
Virginia Smith, Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity

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