Emily Duprie
A woman and TikTok user by the name of Allison McCarthy (@abmccarthy5757), has spoken out about how she only showers twice a week and surprisingly, the comments are divided. Now, before you turn away from this discussion in disgust, take a look at Allison’s reasoning below, and let us know if bi-weekly showers are something you could get behind.
Allison’s viral video received over 6.8 million views on the popular social media platform, TikTok. She is a 27 year old woman living in Boston, Massachusetts who claims she was shocked to find out some women are showering daily. The creator presented herself in her video in a clean fashion, so maybe her reasoning for only showering twice a week holds some water after all.
She began her video by explaining that she hates taking a shower if she’s not washing her hair. That being said, she goes without bathing too. “So I’ve recently found out that I am in fact a gross human being and this is because most girls, when they say that they wash their hair twice a week, they literally mean wash their hair – and they shower every day,” she explained in a video. “I only shower once or twice a week. I’ve gone five days without showering before.”
One could say, and many did in the comments, that she could just pop a shower cap on if she didn’t want to get her hair wet, but that didn’t seem to occur to her. “Why would I get in the shower and not wash my hair?” Allison questioned. “But I don’t want to wash my hair every day,” she continued. “So I’ve had to start saying that I ‘wash my hair twice a week’ – but I only shower twice a week.”
For some, especially those on the autism spectrum, simple tasks such as showering can be extremely difficult. An article published by Hidden Talents stated that “Children on the autism spectrum are often overstimulated during bath time. This may be because they do not enjoy the sounds and feelings associated with being in the bath or the need to sit still during their discomfort.”
Though it’s unclear if Allison is on the autism spectrum or not, this argument should definitely be considered when expressing your opinion on a lack of hygiene maintenance or how people go about it.
Allison’s viral video discussing why she only showers twice a week sparked a lot of debate on the topic of personal hygiene.
Some commenters agreed with Allison without hesitation, while others thought it was gross to only shower twice a week.
Replying to one of the naysayers, Allison insisted that the comments section showed she wasn’t alone in her opinion. “I am sorry that I had to be the one to break the news to you, but I think it goes to show that this is more common than people think,” she said. “But they just aren’t talking about it and I unfortunately decided to talk about it.” She said.
“I also think it shows though that you aren’t noticing that all these people aren’t showering because we don’t smell. I’m sure there are people who don’t shower and smell, but I don’t smell and I don’t need to wash my hair, so why would I shower?”
Some of the debate found in the comment section can be seen below:
So, after becoming more familiar with Allison’s side of the debate and seeing some opinions of others, what are your thoughts on cutting down your weekly shower time? Some people use showering as a therapeutic practice and are even known to shower more than once a day.
One could also argue that taking less showers will use less water. Maybe it would be good to only shower when necessary or, maybe in this day in age, it’s only fair we take a few extra showers to wash away the increasing stress the majority of us are going through.
Let us know what you think!
