The Privilege of Dirtiness

Examining the reality of living in different worlds

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

There is a TikTok video circulating with a white medical professional being interviewed about her children’s bathing habits. She readily admits that her children washes once a week. She said that she didn’t feel the need for them to wash every single day . She expressed genuine amusement at the query into her children’s hygiene habits and her parenting. Last year, another series of videos were trending where white people said they don’t wash their legs and feet in the shower. Some went so far as to admit not showering that often or only weekly. In that same time period , a few white celebrities were freely admitting that they and their children do not wash daily.

There is never something that is all encompassing or will directly be able to be attributed to every member of any collective. For any collective. Which means there will always be outliers and those whom it will not apply. However, there is enough of a pattern for a reasonably intelligent person to deduce a thing as a truth. Many white people’s bathing habits are different. Not bathing is not as taboo amongst white people as it is for others. The people ,with the most privileges, power and resources in this country and arguably the world ,as a collective are not the cleanest people.