For one thing, in a capitalistic society, individual productivity is exalted at all costs, and faux self-care, with its focus on the individual, perpetuates this cycle. Instead of allowing ourselves to be human beings, we are human doings—and the self becomes quantified and measured, merely a sum of tasks and accomplishments. But moreover, there is a gender dimension at play as well. The reality is that faux self-care gives us just enough cover to keep us operating in the familiar social and cultural systems that most of us grew up in—the ones where women are the caretakers of other people and
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