Dove bar

Dove, date unknown

Soap

6.5 x 9 x 3 cm

Purchased from Walmart

Personal collection

This object is a brand-new bar of soap from the Dove brand. The brand has been around since 1955 but soap has been around for much longer. Soap was first seen thousands of years ago as a means to cleanse the hands, the face, the body, and clothing. Impurities such as dirt, blood, and bacteria are washed away when soap is used with water. Although an infinite range of ingredients can go into a bar of soap, the main ingredients of fats, oils, and fragrance have been the same since soap was first made. The constancy of this object is remarkable as there are not many things that were created thousands of years ago and have held the same functionality and purpose throughout time.

Many people still use bars of soap but through personal experience I have noticed it is mostly only older generations who use them. Society has since resorted mostly to liquid soap and sanitizers, but bars of soap are still being manufactured and bought by consumers. The scent of this bar of soap brings me back to childhood when I would visit my grandparents; it was the only soap they ever had in their home. After playing outside with the dog and fooling around the chicken coop with many cousins, we were sent inside to wash up and use that bar of soap. Having this bar of soap in my personal collection brings back memories of my grandparents that I will cherish forever.

This bar of soap is meant to represent the past and the way society has addressed viruses. Although there is significant relevance to the present, the only way the word ‘virus’ was understood in the past was in the context of a contagious sickness. Soap has given cleanliness to people for thousands of years. To use soap was to purify and cleanse away the possibility of having and spreading the virus. Before visiting loved ones and after visitation, soap was used to get rid of the trace of the virus to protect ourselves and those around us from catching the virus. This object shows how much modern medicine has changed from the past but also how it has remained the same. Prevention and precaution are always important when it comes to diseases and illnesses.

Cassandra Raposo