“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
~ Audre Lorde
Image of the phenomenal Audre via David Mixner. Quote via Yum & Yuk.
Self-care as Political Warfare
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How true! Thank you for this post.
Oh, am I smiling at this one. The pressure to not take care of ourselves comes from so many different directions — surprising ones, too. Thank you!
To be clear, “care for the self” is a term from Michel Foucault, the late French philosopher. It does not really refer to “the California cult of the self”, or New Age, yoga, new clothes, etc. Rather, “care for the self” refers to ancient Greek and Roman notions and representations of sexuality.
For Foucault, “care for the self” is more about how to use pleasure and aesthetic beauty to live a more full life. It really is more about Greek philosophy than anything.
This is great! Thanks for posting it
Avodah, thank you for adding that bit about Foucault.
How much do we know about how much Audre Lorde know about what Foucault was writing, and how much she agree with it and took it into her own philosophy?
Thanks!
Celia