Cleanliness – A Matter of Appearance or Hygiene?

Posted by Luvy Love

Cleanliness – A Matter of Appearance or Hygiene?

Who would have thought that the history of cleanliness is so messy? Our obsession with dirt has the potential to make us sick.

In the 17th century the thought of a daily shower filled a Frenchman with fear. Wouldn’t it practically be asking to get sick by splashing away, opening our pores and leaving the body so vulnerable and inviting all these diseases? Well, the filthy, stinking truth is that today, the Frenchman would have been disgusted with our daily bathing habits.

Cleanliness has changed a lot in the West and considering our relative lack of physical efforts which I compare here with our ancestors, from public baths to today’s obsession with hand sanitizers down to teeth whitening strips, why do we really consider our daily shower an ideal anyway? Haven’t you heard before ‘the less we sweat, the more we clean’?

What do you think – Is cleanliness a matter of Appearance or Hygiene?