This idea took on a new vitality in A Burst of Light, a book by Audre Lorde. In the third volume of The History of Sexuality, he examined how ancient Greeks pursued ideas about the “ care of the self”. The roots of the current ideas about self-care are to be found in a book by the intellectual historian, Michel Foucault. For instance, the pro-golfer Bryson DeChambeau recently described his self-care ritual during the PGA tour: eating well, listening to his body and playing Fortnite.Īlthough self-care seems to be everywhere today, it hasn’t always been this way. Although it is still largely targeted at women, self-care has starting to appeal to men too. Type it in and thousands of images of glossy-haired women lounging in health spas will pop up. The hashtag #selfcare has been used more than 18 million times on Instagram alone. This could mean self-care becomes just another brand of self-helpĪ whole self-care industry has popped up in recent years peddling products such as temporary tattoos featuring slogans like “I am enough”. Other suggestions for self-care include tracking your menstrual cycle, having date nights with yourself, doing craft activities such as crochet, learning the art of saying no, and “ consciously unfollowing” people on social media. Some common forms of self-care include getting enough sleep, eating well, physical exercise, meditating and doing things you like such as watching an 80s teen film. It includes nearly any activity people use to calm, heal and preserve themselves in the face of adversity.

Self-care is self-help for a time when about a third of the population will suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder during their lives. It’s lifestyle advice for an age of diminished expectations, where most people have given up on getting to the top and the best they can hope for is to get through the day. While the earlier self-help movement focused on improving yourself, the relatively new self-care movement focuses on preserving yourself.

W hat do professional golfers, radical queer feminists and Instagram lifestyle influences have in common? They are all devotees of “self-care”.

Audre lorde penguin