So I just got finished with the reading for today and I felt compelled to write a thought that I had of the reading, so here it is! So the reading talks about how people avoid skin to skin contact with everyone other and the movie Crash signifies how people miss that touch. I want to offer another way of thinking about skin.

Think of skin as a barrier, something to protect your inner self, a test to pose to other human beings before you open up to a person. If someone cannot accept your outsides as they are, then how can they accept your insides? Your skin poses the question, “Can you accept me as I am physically before I show you who I am spiritually?” Think about it. When you accidentally bump into a person, you apologize. Why? Especially if you do not know a person, it is seen as offensive; but if you know a person and bump into them on accident, you can make a joke out of it and there won’t be any offense taken. Unlike a friend, a stranger does not know or accept you whereas a friend accepts who you are on the outside and inside and can tell joke to humor who you are on the inside.

With regards to the example of the woman being sexually assaulted by the police officer, I want to also state my opinion about this predicament. To me, I think of sexual assault as being someone trying to force a person to expose their inner self. This action looks to break away the ‘skin’ aggressively, making you show who you are by using fear. This is why I believe sexual assault to be as horrific as it is. Who would want to expose their soul to someone who would be as vain as to break away your barrier that protects your most vulnerable self?

But this is just my personal interpretation of this concept.