Dismantling the Individualism and Capitalism of ‘Self Care’

I resonate with the idea that self-care shouldn’t be a buzzword used as a bandaid for real pain and suffering. Instead it actually has pretty radical underpinnings that motivate us towards structural change. It is deeply embedded in critical theory and lived experiences of race, gender and class dynamics.

You may have heard this now famous quote from self proclaimed “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” Audre Lorde: “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare”. Lorde was a tour-de-force in the intertwined worlds of Black queer feminism, poetry and critical theory. Lorde wrote these words in one of her writings about her cancer diagnosis, and the stark awareness her declining health had brought her about her limits, our collective fragility, and the power of resistance and survival.

In this way, self-care has its roots not in consumer-capitalism, not in white women appropriating ancient Yoga practices or applying a face mask after a long day of ‘girl bossing’. It calls us to collective care for collective liberation. It invites reflection about systems and structures which harm and oppress, and offers us ways of reconnecting to what brings us joy, nourishment, ease. This invitation allows us to build lives that we don’t have to numb-out from. To build relationships and communities of value, meaning and justice.

Lorde was suggesting that it’s a radical act to show up for yourself in a world that tells you otherwise. In a country founded on (and sustained by) genocide and settler-colonialism, in a world steeped in things like binary conceptions of gender and sex, white supremacy, ableism, fatphobia and classism, self-preservation is political and powerful.

In this way, I acknowledge that as a white, able-bodied, cis woman, self-care is not for me. It is a radical process conceptualised and practiced with tenacity and grit by Black and Indigenous women and gender-expansive folk for centuries. It’s by their wisdom and grace that I can connect to them and learn from them. These people are what Canadian social worker Vikki Reynolds coined my “solidarity team”. They populate my inner world. I connect to their voices and collective wisdom, to call me out on BS, to do better, and to move towards justice.

And sometimes to do that, I need to baptise myself in a body of water at the end of my work day. To do the things that nourish my body and connect me to a broader horizon that keeps me pursuing a fleshy, grounded, nuanced hope.

And so reader, as you are finding these words, may you find practices which shore you up. Today, and all days.

By: Julia Ellis

References / further reading:

Lorde, A. (1988). A burst of light: Essays by Audre Lorde. Firebrand Books.

Poetry Foundation. (2019). Audre Lorde 1934-1992. https://web.archive.org/web/20191127194430/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde

Porteous-Sebouhian, B. (2021, October 27). Why acknowledging and celebrating the Black feminist origins of ‘self-care’ is essential. https://www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/blog/awareness/why-acknowledging-and-celebrating-the-black-feminist-origins-of-self-care-is-essential

Reynolds, V. (2011). Supervision of solidarity practices: Solidarity teams and people-ing-the-room. Context, 116(August), 4-7.

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