Touchscape

It is not just the air that touches us, although its touch is constant. Our body touches every chair it sits on, every piece of floor or ground it stands on, every surface it lays on, every piece of clothing in contact with the skin, every tool our hands wield, everything we attempt to grasp, lift, propel, receive, or deliver. And perhaps, most importantly, we touch each other in myriad ways, sometimes automatic, sometimes perfunctory, sometimes sensuous, sometimes romantic, sometimes loving, sometimes aggressive, sometimes unfeeling, and sometimes with anger. Depending on how we are touched, we can feel loved, accepted, and valued, or ignored, disrespected, and assaulted. We touch through handshakes, a hand on another's shoulder, an arm around another, through pats, hugs, lifts, embraces, kisses, caresses, dances, massages, and usually, in games where such touch is regulated by different sets of rules than our normal social code, through colliding, tackling, checking, grappling, even kicking and punching. And there are times when, not in games, we might be either touched or touching another in ways that are unkind, even menacing, or worse. Of course, increasingly, there are laws regulating that kind of touch in society for the protection of our basic rights of safety and bodily sovereignty as individuals. …