The Fetishism of Soap and Hygiene and Its Implications for Racist Ideologies
Abstract
Our modern world is over stimulated by a torrent of commodity promotion and
consumption. Most people continue to consume products at a remarkable rate without
ever stopping to think about what it is they are actually buying into, be it literally or
visually, and how what they buy can often have an effect on how they think. In this paper
I attempt to understand the power of commodity culture and it's ability to shape societal
understandings of social phenomena through an analysis of the commodity fetishism of
soap and hygiene and the implications it has had on how people perceive racial hygiene
and ·racial difference. I use an analysis of soap advertisements in the colonial era to
demonstrate the ability of soap, as a fetishized commodity, to spread the racist ideologies
that are found imbedded in it's sale and consumption. I also utilize a critique of current
marketing techniques and promotional material used by development organizations,
focusing primarily on issues of hygiene and sanitation, to describe the shared narrative of
racial inferiority and the power of the white race to civilize and develop that has
continued to structure society's understanding of the sources and .solutions to the question
of racial difference.