Sexual and Nonsexual Aspects of Human Touch
We often talk about the way we talk, and we frequently try to see the way we see, but for some reason we have rarely touched on the way we touch. --D. Morris The largest organ in the human body is not the heart, the lungs, orany other part that is usually considered to be the most vital of organs;in fact the largest and perhaps the single most important organ in thehuman body is the skin. The skin makes up about 15 percent of the body'stotal weight, and occupies an average of 21 square feet of surface area.(Givens, Touch Cue) The human skin experience is also unique from othermammals because the skin is almost completely exposed due to the smallamount of human body hair. This uniqueness of the human skin leads to thepossibility of a very unique experience: the human touch. "'Touch' is byfar the longest entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, covering fourteenfull columns. The word covers access to our emotions, our mind and ourpride," (Montagu, in Albery et al) and the experience of the human touchgoes far beyond a simple surface contact. The "soft" or protopathic touchwhich is experienced in the hairless regions of human skin is the most
It is a sad day when a species that has evolved language and massive citiesand philosophy and art is outdone by apes on a simple thing like socialpeace, and the ability to experience our own bodies. (Leidloff in Albery et al) "Interestingly, nonhuman animals thatare touch-deprived not only lose weight, but become aggressive. However, even leaving aside spiritual reasons for touch to havecurative properties, such healing makes sense in evolutionary terms. " (Heller) Oneinstance of such accusations was a photography student in New Jersey whotook nude photos of his six-year-old daughter as a part of a completelynonsexual art project. Reiki is unique from Therapeutic Touch and othermessage therapy methods. Included in this category would be (e. "Itis precisely as bad as it sounds. A more extreme exampleis the self-clasping gesture and self-rocking observed in the extremeconditions of Romanian orphanages. Nearly 60 percent of women believe that they touch othersmore than their male counterparts. Especiallywhere faith is a part of the equation, it may be difficult to defineprecisely to what degree touch (and not some other factor) played thedefining role in healing. (Heller) Therefore, a parent's fear of expressingthe very necessary physical affection with their child is well understood,and it is a difficult situation to balance. However, the negative aspectsof touch are generally only present because of the taboo and stigma thathas been placed on an otherwise completely natural occurrence. When the brain'spleasure circuits are on, the violence circuits are off, and vice versa.
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Acceptance Essays
