ABSTRACT
Help with bathing and washing involves nakedness, touch and the transgression of the normal boundaries of adult life. To receive such help thus represents one of the great watersheds of aging or disability. In the chapter that follows I will explore what this involved for individuals in the study (mainly older people, but including some younger physically disabled: the study is described more fully in the Appendix), looking at the meanings they ascribed to bathing and showering, their feelings about their bodies, and their preferences in regard to the sources of such care. Bathing, like all personal care, contains transgressive aspects and the chapter will explore how these are negotiated and their significance for the ambivalent forms of closeness that are created by such care.
