What are your views on incest?

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zorrotm95's picture
What are your views on incest?

I believe that love in any form can be celebrated.In our world there is no restriction for hating someone...Brother can hate a sister to whichever extent...Hindu can hate Muslim...Men can hate other men...blacks can hate whites and as long as it is hate there are no 'laws' that define who is to be hated and when or how.But when a person starts loving another person ,people start losing their minds, there are so many constraints.Why so?
Our society has grown (at least in some parts of the world) to recognize the love of homosexuals,inter racial or inter religious relationships.But incest is still a taboo in most parts of the world.

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Nutmeg's picture
There's the immediate problem

There's the immediate problem of birth defects, so you'd have to be sure there were no offspring. It's common in some countries like Pakistan for first cousins to marry, which may also result in birth defects, maybe a few generations down the line. Apart from that I don't see a problem. People should be able to live how they want without others running their sex lives for them.

Travis Hedglin's picture
There is an array of reasons

There is an array of reasons for it, but some are more pertinent than others. The biological arguments, like genetics, are against reproduction through incest. There is also some concern over emotional or psychological manipulation, especially in youths. These explain a good deal of the taboo surrounding it. It is generally held as less taboo, or immoral, in cultures and circumstances where sexual opportunity is very limited. However, we have an almost inherent bias against that act that is probably evolutionary, so in cultures and societies where opportunity is more robust; such practices are seen as less acceptable.

It is likely that implicit bias against it that causes the majority to feel repulsion to it, as far as if it will ever be socially acceptable, I am no prognosticator but I doubt we are anywhere near close to letting that one go yet...

Nyarlathotep's picture
An interesting note on the

An interesting note on the incest taboo. All societies seem to have an incest taboo; however the kinship rules (ie who is taboo) vary widely. Parent-child relations seems to be universally taboo. Siblings relations are almost universally taboo. Ortho-cousins are rarely not taboo. Cross-cousin are widely accepted. The most strict society I know of is the Hmong tribes in Vietnam (and surrounding areas), where relations with ortho-cousins 7 times removed (or more) are considered taboo; it is so strong if you have the same surname, even if the communities are 100's of miles apart, and have never had any known contact, it is considered incest.

Nutmeg's picture
Apart from the genetic

Apart from the genetic problems, the emotion around the subject is not dissimilar to that of religion: irrational, conservative tradition.

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