Skin: What a Marvelous Sense Organ

You can read in many different places that our skin is the largest organ of our body. Some parts of our skin we know quite well, such as the skin of our face. We identify with that skin a lot. Other parts of our skin we may hardly notice, like the skin on our elbows, lower back, or maybe the tops of our feet. Our skin has social roles; it defines certain aspects of our social identity. We usually want it to look good and so as a society we spend a lot of time and money on things that smooth and nourish the skin with things like facials, chemical peels, sliced cucumbers and botox injections. Our skin simultaneously leaves us open to superficial judgements and prejudices, related to the color and pigment of the skin as well as the number of wrinkles it holds. Our skin protects us from the outside world with its barrier function. And yet it allows us to feel all barriers melt away, like the comfort of skin to skin contact.