Skinship is a term I recently learned. Apparently the word originated in Japan, where it is believed that social interactions are more relaxed and intimate when they take place at the public baths. The idea seems to be that this type of nakedness removes certain social barriers and facilitates emotional intimacy.
A few days after I learned this word I met a woman who described the essence of skinship perfectly without actually using the word itself. She told me that when she and her daughter are in a hot tub together it often allows for a discussion they might not otherwise have. “Being in the water, alone, just the two of us,” she told me, “is a setting for an even more intimate conversation. It causes us to let down our guard a little bit and,” she concluded, “I’m more able to just listen.”
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