Normally my posts are more “spiritual” in nature. This one is a little off-topic… but I promise to keep it “clean.”

There is a brand of soap that is packaged with the description: Family Deoderant Bar. To me, it’s soap. To them, it is a product that reduces the smelliness of one’s family.

This raises the question: Is not a bar of soap more of a personal thing, something you use by yourself, alone in the shower?

Not for the soap marketers. I really have to wonder about them. The commercials show a whole family getting into the shower together, laughing and enjoying their Family Deoderant Bar. The family that bathes together, stays together, I guess. Or, the family that showers together, flowers together? Empowers together? I’m stretching it a little.

My family was never quite that intimate. Bathroom time was always a solitary time. Not that there was much room in there to get two people in at the same time anyway, but really, my family was always a little panicky about privacy. Nudity after the age of two was not acceptable, even at home, alone.

Other families apparently did not share our principles. Not that I knew any of those families while growing up, but I have met a few along the way.

One friend spoke of a family meeting where it was decided that nudity would be allowed within the home. The parents did not want to make a big deal about it; they just didn’t want their daughters growing up with paranoia about their bodies. What ended up happening, though, was that nobody in the family made use of the policy. They all used at least some modesty when making the dash from bathroom to bedroom. The principle of openness was essentially sound, but the experience was one of needing privacy. Which is just as well, especially as parents begin to show signs of aging.

What were your experiences?

We’ll get back to more “spiritual” topics another time.

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