Mayim Bialik

[famvir]

Lordy. I do use paper towels. I use them when I clean off my pallete and then toss the paper towel that is now full of wet paints.

When I clean the house with a wet rag, I put isopropanol alcohol on it and wipe the handles on the fridge and cabinets, wipe the sink, wipe the bathroom floor, wipe the rim of the toilet, wipe inside the toilet, in that order! THEN I WASH THE TOWEL IN THE WASHING MACHINE! You don’t wash the rim of your toilet then hang the towel up to dry and use it in your kids face. And it’s all pretty quick. From fresh towel from the drawer to soiled towel in the washer in 3 minutes, and I’ve freshened up the kitchen and bathroom.

So yeah, that’s gross. It’s fine to wear your hair in a bender ponytail and a hoodie, but you look gross Mayim. You look like a bag lady that uses a soiled smelly moldy rag to wash your kids faces. You look like a filthy hoarder lady that never washes herself or her clothes. You look like you smell, Mayim. And I assume this is the look you want to portray for yourself because I can’t imagine your teaming up with Bounty and them forcing you into this very special stinky filthy mom look you are literally sticking in my face.

It’s a head scratcher. I assume it’s just on the internet, because I can’t see how that would sell paper towels.

[Ginger]

Thank you!

Mayim and Bill Nye were announced simultaneously as Bounty's new brand partners, so I think it's about both of them exploiting their science credentials in order to sell the lie that only disposable towels are "hygienic", which we all should be extra paranoid about "right now" because of, you know, the thing that Bounty can't directly mention in their ads because it would be illegal.

[petitesuite]

Her marketing paper towels is definitely disingenuous (particularly since I can't imagine she actually needs the money and it's more than a little fear monger-y), but I am a little surprised to see "I'm mad she looks grubby." If she gets paid regardless of how 'groomed' she looks, more power to her, surely?

[Ginger]

I expect people to meet some basic standards of grooming in professional settings. I don't think getting away with looking like a slob while undertaking professional work is something to celebrate on principle.

I don't wear makeup to work or dress up in constricting clothing and shoes. But if I'm on a Zoom/Webex with cameras on, I absolutely make sure that I have showered, made my hair clean and neat, have on clean clothes, and basically appear professional and not like I'm slobbing around and don't care.

Mayim does herself up for her podcast. Maybe Bounty wanted it to look like one of those videos she posts when she's feeling depressed, aimless and lethargic? I'm just not impressed. It's not a vibe that makes me feel inspired to get back to my spring cleaning either.

[prisma]

My parents loooove their disposable paper products. Especially my dad, who reflexively rejects anything that smacks of environmental responsibility. I think it is one of his greatest shames that neither of his children use paper towels. If it comes up he get irrationally angry about it. He was helping me do something at my house a while back and he needed something to wipe his hands off on and I gave him a clean rag and he WOULD NOT USE IT. It was like I was offering him fine linen. He also insists towels do not clean up spills as well as paper towels.

Anyway, I don't really care about Mayim but I'm a little sad that Bill Nye is endorsing Bounty as well.

[Ginger]

When I'm visiting family in Switzerland, they don't have any paper towels or paper napkins anywhere. I spill things on and around myself constantly, and it drives me crazy that I don't have an autonomous way of cleaning myself up. It makes me feel helpless and embarrassed.

The first time I went there, I was a teenager, and my aunt served cloth napkins with dinner. I had only used cloth napkins at restaurants. I wiped my hands on the napkin continuously and at the end of the meal, it looked really grubby. My aunt looked at the napkin, paused, and said, "Oh...I guess I will need to get you a fresh one for tomorrow." Turns out, those cloth napkins get folded up into a special cloth pouch at the end of each meal and are used all week until laundry day, so they aren't really used for much except covering your lap. It's not like I would have been eating with my hands, but I still needed to wipe them for whatever reason. Swiss people don't apparently.

[famvir]

I seem to get food all over my mouth when I eat. When there is nothing to wipe my face with, I have been known to surreptitiously wipe my mouth with my hand, then wipe my hand on my socks. I think I must have a small mouth, because I don’t know how your Swiss folk can manage to eat that precisely.

[Ginger]

Mar 24, 2005 17:46:37 GMT -4 famvir said:

because I don’t know how your Swiss folk can manage to eat that precisely.

I am apparently also unable to take a shower without getting water everywhere and the Swiss aren't big on bathroom towels, so I had no way to clean their pristine modern bathroom up after my shower. I had been given one towel, which I would describe as an oversized dish towel. (I understood for the first time why when I was growing up, my mother always used a tiny, scratchy, threadbare little towel. It's a Swiss thing!) I felt like a giant American mess the whole time I was there. Whenever I get home, I look at my paper towels, my fluffy bath sheets, all the wide roads and giant parking spaces, and I sing in my head, "And I'm proud to be an American..."

Anyway, I'm reminded of Mayim, before she started landing so many endorsements, posted a non-monetized video about how the only cleaning chemicals one really needs for one's bathroom are vinegar and baking soda. No need to pollute the water supply with commercial cleaning chemicals. That was until she got paid to endorse commercial cleaning chemicals and she changed her tune.

[scarlet]

I remember watching one of her vlogs a couple years ago where she went on and bloody on about how she *only* used cloth napkins because paper products were evil, yadda yadda yadda. Guess all those principles went out the window when $$$ were involved.

[Ginger]

Oh yeah, here it is.

We don’t use paper napkins or paper towels in my house, and these sons of mine go through shmates and cloth napkins like there isn’t a drought. Well, there actually is and I’ve tried to encourage them to wipe their faces on napkins more than once please before putting them into the hamper. Anyway, I do a lot of laundry.