Decolonize Self-Care

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Decolonize Self-Care emerges out of a careful exploration of seemingly casual trends on social media, and in the world at large, in which health and wellness had expansive markets. Capitalism itself seemed to be working in a new way-rather than markets operating under the signs of "competition, " "assertiveness, " and "aggression" (associated with masculinity)-"softness, " "gentleness, " "empathy, " and "compassion" (associated with femininity) appeared to have a new and valuable place within the logic of the free market. Influencers on Instagram and celebrities hawked jade yoni eggs to promote feminine health, elixirs and mindfulness practices to enhance brain power and sexual desire, and clean eating and functional medicine to rid the body of toxins and impurities. These trends often involved "Eastern, " "holistic, " or "alternative" frameworks and techniques, promising increased health and wellness. To this end, "self-care"-the broad theme bringing all of these trends together-appears to have become a keyword of our times.  The promises of the self-care industry were ones that we feel attracted to and wary of all at once. Beyond concerns about the evidence base for products that promised increased health and wellness, the authors are skeptical of the politics and political economy surrounding these remedies. The markets-and marketers-were increasingly upper/middle-class cisgendered white women. And this demographic shift was often hailed as feminist. In Decolonize Self-Care, Spurgas and Meleo-Erwin argue that self-care has become big business with global markets valued at 4.2 trillion dollars (according to data published by the Global Wellness Institute in 2017). These wellness markets are dominated by elite white women in the global north. More specifically, elite white heterosexual womanhood per se is waged by the self-care industry to sell products, goods, and services. In effect, the self-care and wellness markets rely not just on inspiration but aspiration to generate profits. That elite white women are, by and large, the movers and shakers in these markets is ironic given the fact that much of the self-care and wellness industry traffics in vague notions of "the East" or indigeneity in marketing materials. In some cases, self-care and wellness goods, products, and services do have origins in the global south and indigenous cultures. Yet such populations typically do not benefit from the sale of these products by the self-care and wellness industries. Moreover, insatiable global north demand for them can impede local access to them. Self-care industry offers the illusion of change while keeping in place and bolstering the conditions-namely systems of racism, misogyny, cissexism, heterosexism, ableism, and colonialism-which have caused the need for self-care in the first place. Capitalism cannot be reformed to be more humane or able to provide care. Thus, the authors consider what damage is done when entrepreneurs, corporations, celebrities, and publics continue to invest in the reform of capitalism.