Humans tend to hide themselves when feeling exposed. We cover ourselves in clothes, hide behind masks and hide our emotions by saying we're fine. For some reason exposure makes us feel vulnerable and ashamed. Why do we feel this shame? Things we consider to help us open up more easily, include; trust, feeling safe and feeling comfortable. But is this really necessary, or did we as a society decide that we feel uncomfortable while being exposed, creating a norm where physical and emotional vulnerability is something you have to hide and protect?

For us, this raises the question whether there even is something to protect. Humans are often portrayed as creatures with a core protected by its layers. Taking off some layers makes you get closer to your core; your inner self. But what if there is no core? And instead, the layers are what make the self? In the world where we are born exposed, and gradually covered by layers of social norms, we need to relearn all the behavioral patterns to feel comfort with the true self. Exposure is to be covered, has to have certain purpose and audience. There is very little spontanity in the act, plenty of overthinking and measuring consequences. But what if the true self - the 'core' - only is a social construct that we aim for so passionately? Foucault suggests that the ideals and norms in society - and the need to prove that all this discomfort of uncovering is worth the struggle - are made up by ourselves. In his words, the authentic inner self is a construction by society, and not technically authentic, since it is not inborn. Foucault states that science is brought to our bodies, from birth on, and is served as the truth. This science pulls us back to normality/the norm.

What if we try to expose ourselves in an obvious way without being able to be distinguish or identify it as the exposure itself? Finding different ways of 'masking' could be a nice introduction to opening up, making the path, to openly feel and show yourself, easier to access. If you use a lightweight situation to form a bond with a group, including humor and distraction, there might even be a moment to feel comfortable with each other and possibly feel vulnerable together, without having to feel confronted with it.

In our example, we experiment with our comfort by peeling onions while talking about emotional things we often try to hide. The exposure is still present, yet the confrontational feeling of being seen crying is covered in the act of getting to the non-existent core of the onion. Do you cry because you feel emotional or do you cry because of the onions?