The Politics of Care Work
Today's Guest Post by Isabelle Boundy
Hello! Hope you all had a great week and are ready for another fabulous guest post.
Thanks so much for the enthusiasm for our first guest post last week. Isn’t Sam a treat? You’ll want to catch up here–unless, of course, you don’t enjoy people divulging what skincare treatments they’ve had and learning about their beauty secrets.
For our second guest post installment, I have the honor of introducing you to another one of my best friends, Isabelle Boundy. I promise I didn’t only accept pitches from my nearest & dearest, they’re just slated for the front end since they have some ~important obligations~ to attend in the upcoming weeks ;)
I accepted Isabelle’s pitch because I knew it was going to be distinctly different from anything I’ve ever published on Hotline Skin and, frankly, from most beauty writing we’re exposed to. Isabelle’s a therapist and brilliant writer, who puts an enormous amount of care and intention into her words, whether an essay or a birthday card. Her writing style is nothing like mine and one of my favorites to read, even if, like today, it makes me tear up a little. Enjoy.
Take a minute and travel back in time with me to summer 2022. Harry Styles’ “As It Was” sat at the top of the Billboard charts; The Bear had just premiered on Hulu; and the January 6 subcommittee, led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), was presenting its case to the American people.
This last political and cultural event meant the former president’s MAGA groupies were circling the media, relentlessly discrediting the subcommittee and its investigators. In one such media hit, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) joined Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on her podcast to get in on the action.
Admittedly, I have never listened to MTG’s podcast, and I have no intention of doing so. But, in a clip from this particular episode that did make its way to my Twitter feed, it seems Gaetz and Greene got into a back and forth over– of all things– who hates Rep. Adam Schiff more.
Ultimately, Greene handed the ‘who-hates-Schiff-more’ gauntlet to Gaetz when he declared: “I would rather give Nancy Pelosi a sponge bath than endure like one dinner with Adam Schiff.”
Greene laughed, calling the image “disgusting,” and pushed Gaetz a step further asking, “would you trim her toe nails?”
Not to be outdone, Gaetz asserted, “I would trim her toenails with my teeth before I would go to dinner with Adam.”
There are so many things about this exchange that are bizarre and dumb, and it’s fair to wonder why I would even bring it up two years later. But, what’s lived rent free in my mind for the last two years has been the public’s response to this exchange as much as the exchange itself.
On social media and cable news, people across the political spectrum decried Gaetz’s comments as weird and creepy, which is undoubtedly true. But what was most telling, to me, was that Gaetz’s comment was a public declaration that the most undesirable, unpleasant, disgusting act he could think of was helping an older person bathe. And what’s more, the public writ large seemed to agree– what commentators took issue with was not that Gaetz had decried and devalued a necessary and humbling act of caring for fellow human beings, but that he had invoked a senior colleague in doing so.
The sponge bath comment illuminates our deep seeded, collective disregard for care work. Indeed work that involves direct, human-to-human bodily contact– work done by home health aids and visiting nurses; nannies and daycare workers; cosmetologists and estheticians; not to mention mothers writ large– is almost universally undervalued and underpaid, if it’s paid at all. Culturally and economically, we’ve decided that the work of caring for another human’s body is either frivolous and vain, or disgusting and base.
What’s ironic is that far from being base or frivolous, grooming is necessary and those who help us do it are providing an invaluable service. While Gaetz and MTG may think they’re above helping another person bathe, let’s look at what happens to our skin if we’re not bathing regularly. If you need a refresher on the anatomy of skin, refer to Jolie’s A Hand Drawn Anatomy Lesson post from a couple weeks back.
First, and perhaps most obviously, you’d smell. Sweat, sebum, and dead skin cells are a breeding ground for bacteria and pretty quickly produce an unpleasant odor.
The longer you go without cleansing or exfoliating, the more build up of dead skin cells there will be. At best, your skin will be dry and uncomfortable; at worst it can trigger or exacerbate things like corns, calluses, warts, eczema, and psoriasis.
Inadequate cleansing can also disrupt oil production, particularly on the face and scalp. This can result in a lovely combination of dry, itchy skin that flakes, feels greasy, and/or traps the excess dead skin cells to clog the pores and cause breakouts. You can expect your scalp to be itchy, itchy, itchy in response to irritation and inflammation, which can, in turn, lead to hair loss.
Now we get to the really unpleasant stuff– the stuff that happens most often when you aren't afforded the hygienic care you need. Skin flexures are areas of skin that come into contact with a fold or bend. I’m talking about your armpits, groin, underboob, behind your ears, in between your toes and fingers, etc. Not regularly cleansing these warm, moist skin flexures can lead to the development of an inflammatory condition called intertriginous dermatitis or intertrigo. Intertrigo is associated with infections like candida and athlete's foot, but can lead to more serious and highly contagious bacterial infections like impetigo and ecthyma.
All this to say that far from being frivolous and unimportant, taking care of your skin, hair and nails is really important! Without regularly cleansing and exfoliating, our skin becomes a breeding ground for yeast and bacteria that leave us way more vulnerable to infection. People who clean and bathe infants and young children– wiping their bottoms, treating their diaper rash, trimming their nails, cleansing their skin and hair– are ensuring their survival. And the people who give sponge baths to disabled adults and the elderly are ensuring they can live the remainder of their lives with some level of comfort and dignity. In the words of Will Hunting, there’s honor in that.
In her 2022 book Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, Angela Garbes argues that our economic system does not have the ability to properly value care work. In a capitalist system that values work in terms of production, efficiency, and profit, caregiving is comparatively inefficient. But, she argues, “If we were to think about work in terms of our humanity– making people feel dignified, valued, and whole– then caregiving is the most important work we can do with our time on earth.”
This reframing of the value of care work hits at the crux of my frustration with the sponge bath comment. To entrust another person with caring for your body is profoundly vulnerable. Whether you’re getting a facial, or a haircut, or a wax or– perhaps most vulnerable of all– having your diaper changed– you’re placing enormous trust in those providing the service. Far from being “low-skilled,” estheticians, cosmetologists, childcare providers and home health aides are highly skilled in understanding privilege being afforded to them by their clients. They approach their work with honor and humility, not with contempt and disgust.
If Gaetz and MTG live long enough, there will likely come a time when they are beholden to others to maintain personal hygiene. By that time, I hope they’ve come to appreciate and honor care work. In turn, I hope those tasked with assisting Gaetz and MTG also conduct their work with tenderness and care, in recognition of our common humanity.
Isabelle is the author of The Holding Environment on Substack and a practicing psychotherapist at Union Square Practice in NYC. In addition to her Substack, you can find Isabelle on Instagram at @theholdingenvironment and at isabelleboundypsych.com.
Office Hours Reminder
Join us for Office Hours on Sunday! This exclusive weekly opportunity is available to paying subscribers.
Every Sunday at 5pm EST, I’ll begin a new thread for the week in Substack Chat, where you can ask me anything. Every Monday from 5-6pm EST, I’ll be in that chat live, answering questions for the hour. That way, if you can’t make it, you can submit any time after 5pm Sunday and still get an answer. If you can make it live, join in! You can ask questions in real time and (hopefully) interact with others in class ;)
Thank you thank you, Isabelle. Don’t forget, you can keep the convo going in the comments!
Have a great week! See you on Sunday for Office Hours.
xx,
Jolie
This was great.
I really enjoyed this and appreciate the conversation the topic. Not enough folks understand the importance of taking care of skin 💗