Why do we shower every day?

Where does this social expectation come from? Do we need to? The answer is probably not. North Americans are the most profligate users of potable water in the world. At a time when our fresh water supplies are under threat, we are consuming almost double that of the average European, Australian, Israeli, Saudi, etc.

Bathing borders on an obsession for North Americans. Even the tiniest condos in downtown Vancouver have shoe-horned in two bathrooms: preferring to devote precious space to ablutions, than to a more comfortably-sized living, bedroom, or even for extra storage. There are more bathrooms per household in Canada and the US than anywhere else: every bedroom must have its own ensuite so that we can pee 3 feet from our beds. Why? Is North America the incontinent continent?

Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have altered radically, but these dramatic changes have largely gone unnoticed.Homes, offices, domestic amenities (such as hot tubs, in-home theater systems) domestic appliances and clothes play a crucial role in our lives, but not many of us question exactly how and why we perform so many daily rituals associated with them.  Showers, heating, air-conditioning and clothes washing are simply accepted as part of our normal, everyday lives, but clearly this was not always the case. When did the daily shower become de rigueur?

I am reading a fascinating book on this subject called, “Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality”, by Professor Elizabeth Shove who is a senior lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University in UK (very close to where my family live). This intriguing book brings together the sociology of consumption and technology to investigate the evolution of these changes, as well as the social meaning of the practices themselves. For example, she explores the effect air conditioning has had on the siesta which at one time was an integral part of Mediterranean life and culture. This book interrogates the meaning and supposed normality of these practices and draws disturbing conclusions.

There is clear evidence supporting the view that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces. Shove maintains that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption. This shrewd and engrossing analysis shows just how far the social meanings and practices of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have eluded us.

I think there is clear evidence of that when we return to the shower discussion. Let me be contentious: perhaps we are led to the expectation of a daily shower not by personal hygiene needs, but by the massive body care products industry. Washing too much depletes our skin’s natural moisture so that we not only need soap but we also need conditioners and lotions. It is an escalating battle as your skin tries to compensate, produces more oils and back to the shower you go to use more products, and so on. 

A scary implication (scarier than over-oily bodies) is that unless you specifically source earth-friendly organic products, lotions, shampoos, creams, conditioners, etc contain ingredients with dubious implications (many of which are petroleum derived), as well as potentially toxic agents (such as parabens) that are not even included on the label. They are not regulated to a level that would make most people feel very safe. Not only are these products going on your skin, they are then coming off again and into our water treatment systems, into our rivers, onto our farmland and, well, you get the picture. By the way, Treehugger has lots of advice about healthy products.

So it comes down to behavior change and rethinking our bathroom habits. Try turning off the water when you soap up – this is normal in Japan, France, etc. Also, it is really OK not to shower every day. I shower 3 times a week: any more frequently and my hair stands on end, my skin flakes. Then I am back using lotions, conditioners, creams, etc. Yuk.