Of Mudbloods and Bathtubs

[oneandthetruth]

Author’s note: This essay offers a Watsonian explanation for certain things in the Potterverse. It ignores any Doylist explanations for those things, including Rowling’s.

In reply to my DH sporking, chapter 29, maidofkent wrote in part,

You're right that it seems pretty hypocritical to joke about Snape running away from shampoo, when the male

Comments

[annoni_no]

Bathing wasn't merely a question of religious impropriety or arrogance, it was considered a vital health issue. The predominant medieval medical theory (Miasma Theory) held that disease was caused by foul humors in the air. Bathing opened the pores to these infectious fumes, increasing the risk of illness and epidemics. Even the injunction against bathing as an expression of the sin of Vanity was rooted in concern for public health. Sinning invited the Wrath of God which could take the form of plague or other natural disasters, any of which would be devastating for the community.

It should be further remembered that the connection between bathing and illness first became prominent in the 14th century. Prior to that, public bath houses had been quite common, however much the church might have disapproved. Hogwarts was supposedly founded in the 11th century, so the importance of bathing probably wouldn't have been a major divide between the wizards and Muggles.

It's easy to look back with 20-20 hindsight and sneer at our ancestors for being so ignorant, but that's merely an expression of arrogance, privilege, and complacency built on centuries of dedicated research and lost and ruined lives. Even the scientific method, a carefully structured guide to research designed to reduce errors, was something that had to be invented and is in fact extremely counter-intuitive to natural human thought processes. This is why budding scientists, and really all citizens, need to be trained in how to use it properly.

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Interesting note on how Sev's environment growing up could have influenced his latter hygiene choices, assuming we believe our Brave Gryffindors were telling the unvarnished truth in their descriptions of the professor they disliked.

[hwyla]

Just a note - Hogwarts is supposedly founded in the late 10th century - 1000 years before the 1990s. Not 'quite' 11th century. I rather like the idea that a famous poem about a particular battle, which featured a Godric (actually 2 Godrics), marks the time just before Hogwarts. It's the Battle of Maldon, which occurred in 991. Very close, but since 11th Century could mean up to 110 years later, I thought I would point it out.

[for_diddled]

"Bathing wasn't merely a question of religious impropriety or arrogance, it was considered a vital health issue. The predominant medieval medical theory (Miasma Theory) held that disease was caused by foul humors in the air. Bathing opened the pores to these infectious fumes, increasing the risk of illness and epidemics."

And (although it's not often remembered) public bathhouses were actually quite unhygienic. After all, the baths were all communal, and they didn't have any mechanisms yet for replacing water, so before long you'd essentially be wallowing in other people's filth. There's a reason why Galen advised that people with open wounds shouldn't go to the bathhouses.