There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of self-care, which a quick Google search yields is “the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.” Tending to one’s own emotional, spiritual, social, psychological, and/or physical needs is a worthwhile endeavor and should certainly be supported. I’m not going to bring this into question nor challenge this.
“Self-care” as an industry, however, has evolved into a $450 billion dollar business over the past decade and devolved into a victim-blaming ploy aimed to profit off the exploitation of workers. This version of self-care is commonly promoted when workers turn to their employers for improvement of working conditions and employers respond by saying that the problem needing to be remedied isn’t the working conditions, but rather the workers’ perceptions of the working conditions. They say the workers must not be doing enough self-care or the right type of self-care — the idea being that if workers would just take enough bubble baths, take paid leave, or do more deep breathing exercises, then they would be content with their exploitative working conditions.
Consider this scenario:
Rosario is hired at a medical clinic as a full-time nurse. After a few months, she begins working excessively long hours. Her supervisor tells her this is only temporary as they are currently understaffed.
After a year of working excessively long hours, she speaks with her supervisor about the toll overworking has had on her. She shares she’s constantly exhausted because she doesn’t have time to sleep for a full night, her relationship with her daughter (for whom she is the primary caretaker) is being strained due to not having time to spend with her, and her mental health is starting to decline. Rosario shares she doesn’t know for how much longer this can continue.
Her supervisor hears Rosario’s plea for a reduction in work hours and responds by asking what Rosario’s self-care habits are. Her supervisor reminds her that she can always use her paid leave time to take a day off and remarks how it sounds like Rosario could really use some self-care to better manage her mental health. Her supervisor says the clinic is understaffed and so everyone’s been working too much, but hopefully there will be new staff soon.
By framing Rosario’s issues as her inability to properly practice self-care for herself, the medical clinic (via her supervisor) completely avoids any responsibility for having created the exploitative circumstances in the first place. This all-too-common scenario positions self-care is a tactic of worker exploitation.
To the benefit of the employer, the relationship between the worker and their engagement in self-care is positioned reciprocally. If the worker is engaging in enough or the right kind of self-care (as determined by the employer), then they will continue to be exploited without complaint. If the worker, however, is not engaging in enough or the right kind of self-care to remain silent and complicit in their own exploitation, then they are clearly not the “right fit” for the workplace. They are perceived as being not committed to the mission, and are usually punished, pushed out, or fired outright.
Employers are not the only actors culpable in the utilization of self-care for worker exploitation. According to a report by an international data analytics and market research company, “the rapid rise in U.S. healthcare costs is concerning for many Americans … The increase is causing intensifying financial pressures … and has driven Americans to take charge of their own health and wellnesss … As a result, self-care is pervasive and growing … creating a behemoth $450-billion opportunity.”
The connection isn’t being obfuscated. Exploiting the increasing financial instability of the American working class is a business opportunity for the emerging self-care industry.
If, for example, Rosario concedes to her exploitation and attempts to seek out reprieve, perhaps she will turn to the slew of purchasable self-care products available (given that she has the financial resources to do so) such as meditation phone apps, bath bombs, adult coloring books, essential oils, or at-home foot spas. Unfortunately for Rosario, no quantity of self-care products will alleviate her problem of not having the time and being too exhausted to utilize them. Ironically and often, even some self-care products themselves disclaim how their utilization is not a substitute for actual mental health or medical care. Many Americans find themselves in similar situations like Rosario’s and feel stuck in a Catch-22 of sorts.
Let’s look at Rosario’s situation again with a different outcome:
Rosario is hired at a medical clinic as a full-time nurse. After a few months of working excessively long hours, she speaks with her supervisor about a reduction in her working hours. Her supervisor apologizes and says she will speak with clinic managers to discuss a reduction in clinic hours due to their currently being understaffed. She tells Rosario to only work the hours she was hired to do.
The solution to worker exploitation isn’t difficult to envision but requires prioritization of worker well-being rather than profit margins. Until we have a reckoning with the concept of self-care, it will continue to function as a tool of worker exploitation.
Until then, consider this final scenario:
Rosario is hired at a medical clinic as a full-time nurse. After a few months of working excessively long hours, she speaks with her supervisor about a reduction in her working hours. Her supervisor says this isn’t possible. Rosario begins speaking with her co-workers about unionizing. Ultimately, the medical clinic staff organize and meet with the medical clinic leadership to engage in collective bargaining. The medical clinic staff have their request for working only 40 hours per week met as well as other demands. Rosario’s mental and physical health improves as she can get more sleep now and her relationship with her daughter improves because she is able to spend more time with her.
This scenario is also not difficult to envision but requires workers standing together united. Let us remember the words of the late Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Freedom is never given voluntarily by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” May the workers of the world bring forth this reckoning.
