Between skin hunger and bodily vulnerability A phenomenological approach to touch deprivation

Abstract

This article shines a phenomenological light on the experiences of touch deprivation and skin hunger that have emerged as a result of Covid restrictions. First, a definition of the lived body will be provided, along with an explanation of the mutually constitutive relationship between body and touch. Following on from this, the skin will be presented as a medium of touchability that also plays a fundamental role in the creation of identity. A close examination of the body and the “skin-self” reveals that human beings are constantly in contact – in touch – with themselves, the world and potentially other human beings. The relationship between lived bodies and their fundamental potential for being in touch with one another through the medium of skin give insight into the importance of skin-to-skin closeness and skin-to-skin touch for interhuman communication and human vulnerability. Permanent deprivation of touch thus constitutes a significantly vulnerable experience, central aspects of which will be laid out in the final chapter of this article.