ABSTRACT
Life begins in the body. The living body is a sensing body, and it feels pleasure and pain. It contains orifices through which we relate to our environment. These relationships can be satisfying or frustrating. The little human needs to give up some of the bodily pleasures in exchange for the pleasure of recognition and appreciation and that’s why pleasures of the body often inspire shame: “I like my poop,” says a child. “Why would you take it away from me?” When children are potty-trained, the relationship between them and the pleasure they derive from their bodies becomes complicated: Because of language, the psyche begins to split from the body. Humans invented a way to relate to desire as a form of satisfaction; only in language, an appetite is something to have: lack turns into desire.
