Don't Touch the Ducks

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 Whenever I think about touch I am always reminded of the touch and feel books I had as a kid, however this one sentence in Constance Classen’s book The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch “ It seems that we have so often been warned not to touch that we are reluctant to probe the tactile world even with our minds” has made me realize that I have never actually felt a real duckling’s down feathers because I’ve always been told not to touch the ducks so I don’t know if they actually feel soft or not, by the look of them I imagine they do, but I don’t know. 

Image link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006U3RNEW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

It made me realize just how many things we are told not to touch in our lives mostly for our own benefits like fire or a wild animal, but it also made me realize that people are often embarrassed to admit that they did things like burning themselves on a hot stove because they think its stupid that they did so. even if it was out of curiosity to see if the stove is hot. I lost my train of thought in this post a while back, but anyway. I don’t think people should be considered stupid or feel embarrassed for touching things out of curiosity.

Comments

  1. Emerson McEvoyApril 13, 2022 at 11:39 AM

    I also had these books as a kid and I had never thought about how I've never actually felt a real duckling's feathers. I've only ever felt simulations or replicas of ducklings' feathers and I wonder how similar they are to what real ducklings feel like.

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  2. Marissa KanakryApril 13, 2022 at 5:48 PM

    What a great throwback Sarah! I, too, had these books as a kid. I'm the type of adult that walks into Target and touches everything (clothes, mugs, pillows), but I was definitely raised to not touch things in stores because my parents were afraid I would break something. You mentioning how people touch things out of curiosity reminds me of a museum I went to called the "Please Touch Museum" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but even that is aimed towards kids, so I feel like adults need more places to "probe the tactile world."

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  3. Dana WoychowskiMay 13, 2022 at 7:11 PM

    What an interesting take on touch that I have never thought of. We try to teach kids sensory experiences with books like these that have you touch different textures or play different sounds, yet in the real world kids are deterred from touching most things because we don't trust them to handle objects. It is an interesting dichotomy brought up by your post. How confused children must be when touch (along with other senses) is simultaneously discouraged and encouraged.

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