The Significance of Human Skin - Assignment Example

Touching: The Significance of Human Skin Consider the case of delivering a child by the use of caesarian operations. Known in short as C-sections, a doctor use this procedure to assist nature in performing something that, in reality does not require any form of assistance whatsoever. In fact, a study reveals that almost half of the births in the current day are performed through a C-section (Chapter 2). further, it has come to light that this procedure is adopted so as to facilitate a convenience of scheduling for the doctors. In other case, the procedure is performed over concerns on the part of the doctor with regards to mental and physical turmoil that the delivering mother undergoes while giving birth. This leads to a notion that a natural process such as childbirth is being treated as a mere medical procedure and also leads one to believe that the justification for such procedures becomes prominent with the complications in such cases. This also protects the doctor from being sued for anything gone wrong or if the child born out of a C-section will be crippled in any way due to obstruction of a natural process. The above argument arises from the questions on the effects that a child removed surgically from the womb would have with regards to its further development. In the book titled ‘Touching: the human significance of the Skin’, the author Ashley Montagu has explained the case of an orphaned kitten that was raised by one Larry Rhine. It is a common and accepted procedure that kittens need to remain with their mother immediately after birth. However, kittens that do not have a mother to be looked after by can still be kept alive through the stimulation (chapter 1) of the skin at specific places, which brings the role of a surrogate mother into focus. In the case of Larry Rhine, the assistance from the ASPCA provided information on the ways to do this and this help the kitten flourish, which was achieved by using a moist cotton swab to massage the path that the food took along the kitten’s body. Using this as a reference, Montagu explains that the human being, by passing through the birth canal, experiences a similar stimulation thereby sending the message to the brain about the alimentary canal’s location. As kittens spend little time while coming out through the birth canal (Chapter 3), it seems to appear that they come out without any such squeezing, a notion similar to a C-section. In this regard, a question arises as to what a mother does to her newborn kittens to keep them alive. In fact, they lick the bodies of the kittens from the genital region up to their mouth, which goes along with the path taken by the food in the kitten’s body. By way of this licking, the brain of the kitten is informed of the location of the alimentary canal and its location through the body. Otto Rank, in the book ‘The Trauma of birth’, clearly states that by avoiding the trauma of birth through a C-section, children often seek success later in their life, an opportunity denied to them at birth. However, Montagu expresses doubts over the wisdom of resorting to C-sections, merely for the sake of convenience (Chapter 9). Of course, a C-section may be necessary in cases where the life of the baby or the mother is threatened by the large size of the baby that prevents it from passing through the birth canal. This natural massage that is facilitated by the birth passage is replaced by the C-section, which involves a use of anesthesia, an incision and the lifting of the baby directly into this cold world. In fact, one of the earliest known C-sections was performed in the case of Julius Caesar, who is also known to have suffered from epileptic seizures. Ironically, Caesar was also killed through the insertion of a knife at the same place where his mother had once been operated upon to bring him into this world. in this context, Montagu discusses elaborately on the human skin by categorizing it as an essential organ of the body and its importance with respect to the development of a human being. In other words, his analysis concentrates on how inward development (Chapter 5) is influenced by the ways in which stimulation is received at the body surface. In view of this, Montagu observes that the skin has been neglected as an organ of the body and attributes his focus to concentrate on the manner in which a deficiency in the development of behavior evolves. Montagu also refers to the 1927 ‘Dermatological Neuroses’ (Chapter 4) by O’Donovan, which states that distressing thoughts show up as blisters on the skin and the many other skin disorders are also a direct result of such stress related issues. This behavior has been attributed to as the centrifugal nature of the skin, which travels from the mind out into the skin. In contrast, Montagu tends to focus more on the centripetal notion, directed from the skin towards the inner mind. The primary reason behind this approach can be attributed to the experiments on rats whose thyroid glands had been removed, in spite of which many survived. A large proportion of these surviving rats were from a group that were treated gently and petted. The other group that was only exposed to humans for basic purposes such as cage cleaning and feeding, displayed a sense of fear and was biting those who tried to catch them. There was no information from existing literature that could point to the impact of gentling on increases in the chance of survivability (chapter 6), thereby prompting Montagu to consult different people involved with animal care. The revelations from these interactions were indeed valuable and led to new understanding on the importance of ‘washing’ or the mother licking her young. This was not for any purpose of cleaning and was intended more for physiological development. Animal babies that had not been licked were likely to die due to the failure of various systems of their bodies, thereby emphasizing on the importance of such stimulation. Experiments conducted by Reyniers aimed at raising germ free animals did not yield the desired results as all the animals died. This trend was reversed by stroking the genital and other regions of these animals with a cotton swab right after feeding, leading to healthy animals from such cutaneous stimulation. Montagu also discusses on the studies conducted on the Masai Women of Africa over a period of 3 decades, wherein they had the first child right after the advent of menarche and nursed it until it was 4 years old. They get pregnant during their next menstrual period and this cycle continues until they attain menopause. Contrary to popular belief, Montagu has pointed out that the notion of looking at nursing (chapter 7) as a dependable practice during birth control was indeed incorrect. To support this, Montagu says that nursing every 30 minutes for the first 4 years like the Masai women is absolutely necessary. Stopping this even for a very brief period would cause the process of ovulation to start over again. Montagu has also suggested that the immense contractions experienced by the uterus over the fetus provide the necessary insurance that ensures the cutaneous (chapter 8) stimulation in preparation for its introduction to the external world. Without this, an uninitiated woman would lose her baby. This observation leads one to observe that studies are necessary to relate between Sudden infant death (SID) to the period spent in passing through the womb during birth. Cases of SID are higher in C-section births. This book by Ahsley Montagu is a treasure trove of knowledge on the importance of skin and its significance in relation to the womb, as also in cases such as breast feeding, stimulation etc. Montagu has discussed on the relevance of touch as a fundamental cure to the problems that affect children during birth and early growth. In this context, all of us must feel fortunate for being bestowed with the greatest skin on our bodies. Doing so will enable us understand the significance of touching.   Read More