The Accidental Amazon » Fifty Shades of Pink — and Still No Cure

“It seems to me that the main reason why the public needs to be aware of breast cancer — or any cancer, for the matter — is because people die of it. But awareness of breast cancer is so last century at this point. What we need is cogent, accurate awareness about breast cancer, awareness about its causes; awareness about the continuing inadequacies of mammography, still the most prevalent screening tool used to detect it; awareness about the life-altering and lifelong collateral damage caused by getting treated for breast cancer; awareness about how and why it metastasizes and how to prevent it from doing so; awareness about the financial, physical and emotional toll that all cancer patients live with forever; awareness about what it means to live with metastatic breast cancer and to wonder how long your current treatment will continue to keep the beast at bay. None of this is cute, pink, fluffy, sexy, or ultimately even about losing our breasts.”

via The Accidental Amazon » Fifty Shades of Pink — and Still No Cure.

Why I Got Clean: Imperialism, Animals, and the Pretty

Imperialism might seem fairly distant from my shelf of pots and potions, but lots of moisturizers in particular, though not exclusively, contain ingredients called petrochemicals.  Petro as in petroleum as in oil. I protested the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and I do my best to avoid financially endorsing or passively benefiting from them. Not to mention, that stuff on my face? Ew, no thank you!

It’s not surprising that there’s a lot of overlap between companies that make clean PCP’s and those that don’t do any animal testing. It’s not just that people concerned about chemicals in their bodies and their environment are often animal-lovers too, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s also because the ingredients used in clean products are generally well-known and safe enough that they don’t even need that level of testing.

As for the pretty, the kicker of it all is that my dirty products didn’t even work that well. My hair seemed to have a (bipolar) mind of its own, vacillating from frizzy and dry to greasy with only rare stops in between. My forehead and eyebrows were seemingly inexplicably dry and flake-y while the rest of my face shone with oil. I’m still fighting an ongoing war with my complexion, but since I cleaned up my act the forehead dryness and eyebrow dandruff have disappeared and my hair has basically stabilized.  That’s the thing about our bodies: what feels good to them often looks good to us.

When it comes down to it, clean products are good for me on so many levels that I’ve hardly looked back since I made the switch.  While I sometimes miss the convenience and prices of CVS and it’s ilk, knowing that I’m actively choosing products that fit and support my values is more than worth it. I might even go so far as to call it beautiful.

Why I Got Clean: Environmentalism & Economics

When that chemical-laden shampoo vanishes down the drain, it doesn’t just disappear. Neither do any of the other products we rinse off or spray into the air or otherwise release into our ecosystem. Some of them (nail polish and remover) are even considered toxic waste, technically and, in some places, legally (like California). I try and reduce my impact on the Earth in many different ways, from using energy efficient light-bulbs to buying organic fruits and vegetables. This is just one more.

As for economics, I try and buy local and/or fair trade products whenever I can, and I’m sure it’ll surprise no one that clean PCP’s are a lot more likely to be both. At the very least they often come from small businesses, which are frequently owned by the same people (women, usually) who make or designed them. Female small-business owners are definitely something I want to support.  Also, while the products can be pretty price-y, especially compared to the ones at your local drugstore, part of learning about them for me has meant learning about ingredients and how to make some rudimentary ones of my own (case in point: one of my favorite facial cleansers/masks is raw honey).  So what I do spend on the more expensive, complicated, fancy stuff, I can balance out with what I’m not spending on the homemade stuff.

Why I Got Clean: Feminism

For me, the decision to clean up my act came from a variety of places.  At the core though, it’s about integrity.  It’s about making sure that every aspect of my life aligns with my values and ideals to the best of my ability. It didn’t make sense to ride public transportation to protests against US military actions in the Middle East with petrochemicals smeared all over my face, or to season my organic vegetables and free-range chicken with lipstick full of lead and carcinogens.  I love using clean personal care products because doing so addresses a whole bunch of issues I care about in one fell swoop, all while taking care of myself and my own health at the same time.  I’m going to discuss each of those issues in a series of posts, starting with the one that’s closest to my heart: feminism.

For me, being a feminist means caring about women.  It means caring about their quality of life and state of mind, their suffering and triumphs, their agency and intellect, and their mental, emotional, and physical health.  If hundreds of millions of women were being slowly poisoned with full government complicity, I would consider it my business as a feminist, and that’s honestly what I see happening here.  The combination of lack of information , misinformation, gender roles and norms, pitiful governmental oversight, capitalism, marketing and outright sexism has proven itself literally deadly in the past, and it’s doing so again.

Sexism because I’m not half convinced that part of the reason cosmetics and personal care corporations are allowed to get away with so much is because their products are aimed and intended for women.  Vain, silly, science-illiterate women who waste all their time with their pots and potions instead of thinking about Important Things, who don’t care if what’s in those pots and potions so long as it helps them catch a man, amirite?  Besides, no one is forcing women to use them (nevermind that we can be fired from our jobs for not using them, as well as face numerous informal sanctions).

It’s pretty much accepted wisdom in the circles I move in that advertising for these products is bad for women’s hearts, minds and souls.  Less well known is how bad the products themselves are for women’s bodies.  Feminists have been doing wonderful things to try and counter the former, but we owe it to ourselves, to each other, and to all women, feminist or not, to refuse to tolerate the later.