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Thomas Janke Mr. Newman English 101: Rhetoric 22 November 2013 A Clean Bill of Health Whens the last time you washed your hands? How about the last time you took a shower? If youre like most Americans, the answer is likely just a few minutes ago. Its no surprise, our obsession with cleanliness. In fact, the idea of being clean is so deeply ingrained in our psyche that we actively look down on those who arent as hygienically neurotic as the rest of us. Yet its rare that anyone asks the question of whether or not our hyper-cleanliness is really healthy, and whether or not our obsession with hygiene has grown past necessity and into a cultural desire to fit in. When you look around, the truth is that hygiene is a multi-million dollar industry. When you open the front page of a magazine or newspaper, theres an extremely likely chance one of the first few advertisements is related to hygiene, whether it be body wash, deodorant, or even something as common as perfume. Hygiene is no longer something that is practiced, it is something that is marketed, sold, and socially enforced. The healthiness of constant washing is an ongoing topic, scrutinized by those who say it is unhealthy, and supported by those who think it is healthy. The reality, however, is that our obsession with cleanliness has become a necessity as the modern world has developed and bacteria has evolved to live in what we would have assumed a clean environment just a few decades prior. The interesting thing about cleanliness is that it seems to be a revolving door. What was once considered unnecessary and unimportant in the mid-19th century is now one of the largest and most successful industries in the world in the 21st century. What brought this shift from total

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social obliviousness to total social dominance? Katherine Ashenburg, author of The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, points to a certain historic point in our nations history as the cause of our obsession: The Civil War. The Civil War brought realization to many Americans that unsanitary conditions could prove sickly and even potentially fatal, and by the end of the war cleanliness was seen as patriotic, progressive and distinctively American. (Ashenburg) The theory was indeed true, as modern science discovered that unsanitary conditions did in fact contribute greatly to mortality in not just soldiers, but all people. For once, the idea of cleanliness became more a necessity than an inconvenience, and Americans newfound obsession with cleanliness was saving lives. Fast-forward to the 21st century and youll find that advertising has turned hygiene into a full-blown industry, and a very successful one at that. Some argue, however, that the obsession with hygiene and its power in the media is doing more harm than good. Ruchi Gupta, author of The Food Allergy Experience is one of those who believe that our obsession with cleanliness is beginning to hurt us. Cleanliness is important for good health, Gupta states, however, a good thing can often go too far, and in our modern society of nonstop media and product marketing, this might be what has happened to the idea of cleanliness. While it is true that too much cleanliness can be harmful, the vast majority of people are not going beyond what is recommended for daily washing. Would you say that a shower a day, like most Americans take, is harmful? The truth is that there are really very few people who are practicing hygiene to the extent that it is hurting them. While it may be true that media has pushed the idea of hygiene past the accepted threshold, we must remember that in most cases, people are intelligent enough to understand that moderation is a necessary restraint in the pursuit of cleanliness.

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It is easy to look at the massive growth of cleanliness as excessive and unneeded in the 21st century. After all, isnt it true that our advancements in medicine and science have made it easier to treat and prevent illness? While it is indeed true that treating illness has become easier in the past few decades then in times before, its untrue that illnesses have become easier to prevent. In fact, it has become even more difficult to prevent simple common colds and the flu in recent years, and it is largely due to the fact that bacteria and viruses are adapting to our methods of eradicating them. With growing numbers of antibiotic-resistant germs and high rates of hospital-acquired infections, the U.S. needs to do a better job of educating all people, including health care providers, about the importance of good hygiene, says Kim Amer, an associate professor at DePaul Universitys School of Nursing. Amer, as well as many other healthcare professionals, realize that while cleanliness may be a multi-million dollar industry, there are still those who are uneducated about the need to stay healthy using basic hygiene. To say that cleanliness has become an obsession is only true for a handful of people. In fact, a recent World Health Organization publication delineates how many endemic diseases can be prevented simply by using good hand hygiene, states Amer. Until all Americans are well-educated in the basic necessities of cleanliness, describing our affinity for daily cleanliness as obsessive is misleading. It is evident that if such illnesses such as the flu and the common cold still bring thousands to the doctor each year, our grasp on preventative hygiene is not as grossly overstated as some would like to believe. While cleanliness is often associated with personal hygiene, it is not the only type of cleanliness that matters, and not the only type that faces scrutiny. Many Americans are advocates of a clean home, a clean car, and a clean environment. When we look examine this habit of neurotic cleanliness, we discover that our desire to be cleanly stems from our innate desire to be

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in control. David Goetz, author of Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs From Killing Your Soul offers up the argument that our desire for cleanliness in all things is a direct product of our instinctual need to be in control of our surroundings. The Deity of Control commands that we scrub away the chaos and filth that skulk in the shadows of our highly managed, perfectiondriven lives, Goetz says. While being slightly satirical, Goetz provides a very interesting point in that we often actively seek to control our surroundings, and one of the easiest ways for us to do so is to literally scrub away our troubles. It is a reasonable theory then that our newfound desire for all things clean is an extension of our need to be in control, and that the simplest way is with a bottle of Lysol in one hand and a toilet brush in the other. What started as a necessity of life hundreds of years ago now translates into one of 100,000 different shampoo products. Cleanliness has without a doubt transcended the basic need to survive and taken on something more akin to a status symbol, but that does not mean that it has become any less important. Critics of the modern age of hygiene argue that we are abusing the need to be clean, to the point that it has become harmful. While it is true that the American attraction to all things clean has grown rapidly, it does not mean that the average person is harming themselves by showering once or twice a day. In fact, as a country, we are not educated as much as we should be about the need to practice good hygiene methods, and many people are still getting ill because they dont follow enough hygiene routines. It is hard to imagine a life without basic hygiene anymore, as accustomed to running water and disinfectant soap as we are. We have not become obsessed with cleanliness, we have simply adopted it into our daily routine, and many of us are better off for it. Until the day all doctors agree that washing your hands every day is harmful, Ill continue making mine smell like orange blossom and coconut.

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Works Cited Amer, Kim. "Just Wash Your Hands." Room For Debate. New York Times Company, 27 May 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Ashenburg, Katherine. "We Can Thank War and Advertising." Room For Debate. New York Times Company, 27 May 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Goetz, David. "Cleanliness Is About Control." Room For Debate. New York Times Company, 27 May 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Gupta, Ruchi. "There's Such a Thing as 'Too Clean.'" Room For Debate. New York Times Company, 27 May 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.