Hoarding

I have PRODUCTS! Soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, creams, ointments, serums, gels, man i’m insane. I have beauty and hygiene products I don’t even use, that I haven’t used in months. And I’m always buying more. This must be hoarding, this is definitely hoarding. The thought of parting with them makes me anxious. And some of them aren’t even good for me. The macadamia-nut body butter gave me hives! But I buy them because they’re all so pretty, they smell so good, and they make ME feel all pretty. I know their dirty little liars, and I know beauty is a made up idea rooted in white supremacy, so why do I still have them!? Because I want what they promise. They promise me they’ll make me healthy, and pretty, and acceptable, lovable even. And it’s harder to stand all alone. 

I would say I have a cleaning routine but it can’t be all that efficient if I still have all these damn products. My routine doesn’t often extend to my things: my products, my clothes, my books, my papers. I take it for granted that they belong. That’s something I can change! Every couple of months I can go through my belongings and clear out what I’m not consistently using. But the things I can’t donate, or repurpose, or gift, will be thrown in the trash. And there’s gotta be something else I can do! Something other than that. 

Matter Out Of Place

Wrappings; the thin filmy plastics, the cardboard boxes, everything I pull away or rip apart before I can get what I really want. This matter doesn’t fit neatly into a classification, into an action. When I hold it in my hand I don’t know what to do with it. I have no immediate use for it, I don’t see where it can fit; I haven’t been given a reason to care for it. Also, this object has served its purpose, it’s lived its life, it’s done what it was intended to do, so now it belongs gone. It was intended to protect an object, to keep an object pure and fresh for my consumption. Damn! Is that the point of packaging!? Well that’s disgusting. If someone talked about a human that way I would kill them! So why are objects allowed to be talked about like that? An object is not a person, but they are made by human hands, thought up by human minds, they are an extension of humanity. Why do I owe them less? AND it’s the thought itself that’s so disgusting. Ownership. There is no such thing. There should be no such thing.

Hoarding and Cleaning – prompt

Something in my immediate environment that there’s a significant amount of is clothing. Clothes to me are a way to express myself, so having that variety gives me something to look forward to, and it’s just fun. Even though I do wear all my clothes, an argument can be made that it’s a form of hoarding. A few times in the past I’ve held onto certain articles of clothing knowing I wasn’t really going to wear them. For example, being given clothes that I was very optimistic about and didn’t want to get rid of, in case they’d ask about it. Many people hoard clothes and it accumulates so much that it impacts their everyday life, and that is a more concrete example of clothes being hoarded. The ways we get clothes can also be problematic. Normalization of ‘shopping hauls’ and not wanting to be seen with the same thing twice is a societal issue we all engage in. Fast fashion additionally contributes to these unhealthy habits making us believe it is something we need, and unethical environments for factory workers. We should aim to get clothes we know for sure will be worn many times, as well as urge others to shop reused clothing.

Matter Out of Place – Kaiya

Resting on my desk is a damp paper towel, used to wipe the surface of the desk. The towel is still white in color, and not showing any signs of stains. Despite its clean appearance, the towel is deemed waste. This is based on the fact that the towel has served its single purpose. This mindset around waste is shown in the article. The idea of use and purity is something that is brought up in Mary Douglas’ definition of dirt, she also goes on to describe what we think of as ‘dirty’. Douglas explains that the way we think of dirt is based on classification and cultural aspects, she also talks about the context in which we think of waste and how it changes with the context of the object. The paper towel is a cleaning tool, something pure, it now holds the dirt that was once on my desk. The classification for the paper towel is now broken and it is therefore waste. The context of the paper towel is also taken into account when asking if it is dirty because it was sitting on my desk. If the paper towel was instead in the bathroom or on a counter would it still be waste? In what context would it not be perceived as waste?

Hoarding and Cleaning

When reading this prompt, I am immediately transported to my childhood bedroom. On one of my walls, practically every inch of the wall is covered with several hundred photos worth of pictures that have been chosen, printed, and taped up over the course of four years. The pictures mainly consist of my favorite humans, art pieces, films, and nature spots. It is a great depiction of my strong interests both in general and specific ways. Comparing my definition of hoarding to collecting or just simply owning things is the distinction that hoarding has the ability to destroy multiple facets of a person’s life including their ability to live in the space, work, or family. Being that this is not the case for my photo collection, I would not say that I am a hoarder. However, there does lie a great deal of anxiety about any sort of parting or destruction to my photos. For example, I did take photos of that specific wall and nothing else in my room, in case I missed it while being here at Hampshire. Creating something similar even in a small capacity was my greatest priority when it came to room decorating. I spent the last week before coming here choosing my absolute favorite photos to put on poster boards for hanging up here. However, having some emotional connection to one’s things is not out of the ordinary. Plus, if anything did ever happen to them, I do think I would learn to accept it being that the majority of photos I got online, so I still have access to them. Being that my items are up on a wall, and I feel like cleaning those is not at the top of most people’s cleaning lists, I would not consider this a lack of cleaning routines. While hoarding tendencies are common, I do not consider my photo wall to be a form of them. 

Matter out of place

The object I chose was a fake eyelash tray. Each tray typically comes wrapped in cardboard and with a set of eyelashes lightly glued to the tray. I typically have one of these lying around on my desk, as the spot where unused pairs stay, and the current pair I wear for a couple of days is set until the next application. When all the pairs have been worn multiple times, and I have thrown them out, then I will throw away the tray. Upon looking at this item before I throw it away, I would not consider it dirty, but I would consider it trash or waste. If there was visible dirt on it, or if I was aware or could visually tell that it came in contact with another substance, such as pasta sauce, to give a random example, then I would consider the tray dirty.  I do consider the tray to be a part of the eyelash packaging, and in general, packaging overall feels safer to engage with compared to what is being packaged, mainly the item being packaged is likely being packaged for a reason. In this context with the tray, I would consider the eyelashes that were once on it more gross than the tray, as they have touched my eyes and have likely accumulated dust and dirt throughout the day. While yes, the tray could have done the same while sitting in my room, I wonder if my lack of physical presence in the second situation influences my perspective at all. The fact that the tray can no longer be used in the way I see fit is why I would consider it waste. If Mary Douglas describes dirt as being matter out of place, then maybe I would have to consider my item dirt, as at this stage of its existence, I do see it as matter out of place. However, I don’t entirely agree with Douglas’ definition and therefore willcontinue to refer to it as waste rather than dirt.

How Waste Can Fluctuate

A plastic bottle of soda that has been drunk is considered waste. It is an extremely common object that people pick up after every gas station trip or meal at the Bridge. You will find a plastic bottle in pretty much every trash can or recycling bin on campus. “Matter out of place” is how Mary Douglas defines dirt, in this case a plastic bottle would qualify. When it was full it was matter in the correct place but by the time it was empty it became out of place because it can no longer be used for its intended purpose. “Use” or “potential” is a better way of distinguishing what is dirty and what is not. That concept would also allow the ideas of dirty and clean to fluctuate and change based on perspective. When it comes to a plastic bottle it could be considered dirty or waste when you finish your drink but you could also wash it and use it again which would prevent it from being waste, or you could recycle it and it could become something new which would prevent it from becoming waste, or it could be tightly packed full of plastic and become an eco-brick to build a home and prevent even more waste.  

Matter out of place- Food packaging

A type of waste that I generally contribute a lot to is food packaging. I buy a lot of pre packaged meals and snacks in lieu of actually cooking, and the wrappers go straight to the trash. The wrappers are considered waste, in my opinion, because their original purpose has been served and they no longer have any use. Mary Douglas may say that this Trash is matter out of place because there is no correct place for the wrappers to be after they have served their purpose (other than in the trash can). I believe that they are also wasteful for another important reason- one that Mary Douglas doesn’t touch on but is increasingly relevant in our modern world- and that is the fact that this food packaging is very harmful to the environment as well as other people’s societies (landfills). Trash, especially plastic, isn’t biodegradable and ends up in the ocean and other natural habitats, harming animals. The production of plastics is also damaging to the environment. In my opinion, the positives of the convenience of food packaging don’t outweigh its negatives- making it waste. I do want to cut back on my consumption of these products, and I have gotten better with it recently.

Matter out of place – prompt

Something in my everyday life that’s generally considered to be waste are napkins. The average student here at Hampshire uses napkins for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and other snacks in between.  Mary Douglas’ conception of dirt being that it’s “a matter out of place ” aligns with napkins being waste. Though it can be transformed to fit aesthetics, its original usage makes it inherently out of place, something only temporary. It’s also very interesting how the value of a napkin could change in an instant; one minute it’s a sense of security to clean up a small mess, the next it’s thrown out and no longer important. Another idea from the text mentions that “saliva pollution can be transmitted through some material substances.” I wonder how these ideas/rules around cleanliness and pollution evolved to more modern day times. Where do reusable napkins/towels of all sorts fall on the clean/dirty scale? What would that conversation sound like? Whilst on the topic of reusable napkins, a new conception of waste can be applied to this idea. One of the google definitions of waste state that “use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose.” It’s intriguing because, after looking at this definition, I take a look around my dorm room and notice how many things have no purpose. Their only purpose is to be of no value.

Hoarding and Cleaning – prompt

Examine the items in your immediate environment. Are there any particular things that you seem to have a significant amount of? (Include photos if possible!) Could someone make the argument that this is a form of hoarding? Are the existence of these items the result of a lack of cleaning routines, or is there a more compelling explanation?

Readings from this week include:

American Psychiatric Association. 2013. “Hoarding Disorder.” DSM-V. Washington, DC.

Herring, Scott. “Collyer Curiosa.” In The Hoarders: Material Deviance in Modern American Culture, 19–50. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.

Martens, Lydia. “The Visible and the Invisible: (De)Regulation in Contemporary Cleaning Practices.” In Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination, edited by Ben Campkin and Rosie Cox. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007, 34–48.