Essay on Incest Taboo - 1719 Words

Incest is a word that is often misunderstood but universally considered taboo. While incest is listed as a criminal offense, many health care professionals have no clear idea of what constitutes incest or some incestuous acts are reportable by law. There are endless academic writings on the subject, yet may confuse rather than clarify because of lack of adequate definitions. Incest may be considered one of the only universal taboos, however, there is no uniformity as to which degrees are involved in the prohibitions. Through this paper I intend to further examine the different definitions of incest and I hope to clarify what incest may or may not be. First we must look at why incest is considered harmful to our societies. The primary†¦show more content†¦Author Jane Leder estimates that 23.000 women per million in (America) may have been victimized by a sibling before age 18. According to researcher Richard Niolon childhood sibling incest can cause serious psychological damage to the younger or less capable sibling. Sibling incest can also damage or destroy sibling bonds, (wikipedia.org). Consensual incest between adults occurs when there is no dependence on the adults as parent-child or sibling-sibling. In these cases, there is no blame to be placed on either adult, and implies independent consent. The last type of incest is sex between cousins and other distant relatives. This type of incest is not considered harmful in some places because the definition of family varies around the world. In most of the Western world incest generally refers to forbidden sexual relations within the family. However, even in the United S tates, definitions of family vary. Within the US, marriage between (first) cousins is illegal in some states, but not in others, and sociologists have classified marriage laws in the United States into two categories: One, used mainly in southern states, in which the definitions of incest are taken from the Bible, and which frowns upon marriage within ones lineage but less so on blood relatives, and another group which frowns more on marriage between blood relatives (such as cousins), but less on ones lineage. Twenty-four statesShow MoreRelatedEssay on On The Incest Taboo1494 Words   |  6 Pages lt;a href=quot;http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/quot;gt;Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Incest is not such a clear-cut matter as it has been made out to be over millennia of taboos. Many participants claim to have enjoyed the act and its physical and emotional consequences. It is often the result of seduction. In some cases, two consenting and fully informed adults are involved. Many types of relationships, which are defined as incestuous, are betweenRead MoreKinship Is Used For Cross Cultural Comparison1519 Words   |  7 Pagesgives us an example of what would be considered incest, however the example of the individuals who are discussed at the beginning of this introduction are not related by blood and were only connected because of the mistress of the other person’s father. Heritier was committed to figuring out if this incest of a second type is actually existent in comparison to incest of the first type since it varies cross-culturally. Heritier discusses what incest of the second type is and gives the example thatRead MoreAn Additional Facet of the Incest Taboo: a Protection of the Mating-strategy Template5027 Words   |  21 PagesTHE ORIGIN AND MAINTENANCE of the incest taboo have been sources of interest and debate for decades in a number of different disciplines. The universality of the taboo, in one form or another, has served to fuel the discussions. Nested within differences in the theorists orientations and conclusions is a consensus that, with very few exceptions, sexual intercourse is prohibited between members of the nuclear family who are not spouses -- father-child, mother-child, son-sibling, daughter-siblingRead MoreOne of the most puzzling questions in anthropology is why marriage and incest taboos are nearly600 Words   |  3 PagesOne of the most puzzling questions in anthropology is why marriage and incest taboos are nearly universal institutions in human societies. In order to answers these questions their many theories will be explained and compared. There are many theories for the universal institution of marriage. It solves a few problems between men and women, but these problems cannot be considered the prime motivation for marriage as an institution. Some of these problems include sharing the products of gendered laborRead MorePros and Cons of Incest3450 Words   |  14 Pagesrelationships, although immoral, should not be banned. These ethical arguments for the issue Incest are as follows: 1. Incest is taboo without a clear rationale as to why Incest has been bashed for centuries by society. But, beyond repeating the mantra that it is unnatural and contrary to the history and tradition of the family institution, there is not much substantive argument surrounding why incest between consenting adults is supposed to be wrong. Reproduction between blood relatives doesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lone Star 889 Words   |  4 PagesLone Star decreases the abhorrence surrounding incest through an assimilation to miscegenation; since the latter is more accepted among society in 1995, a smooth integration between the two make Pilar and Sam’s incestuous relationship seem acceptable. However, acceptability and believability are not synonymous. Though Sam and Pilar refuse to let â€Å"blood mean what society proclaims it should,† they cannot avoid the past’s dominating impact (26). This mere revelation creates a need for denial. TheirRead More Human Suffering : Preventing Humans From Achieving True Happiness2123 Words   |  9 Pagesone another. Another interesting thing about the human struggle between self and society manifests itself in the form of social taboos. Taboos themselves are â€Å"proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable†, and can relate to anything from words, to desires to sexual actions and desires (â€Å"taboo†). A very commonly discussed taboo is the concept of the incest taboo. According to Freud, it is completely within our natures to compete with our parents of the same-sex for the affection of the parentRead MoreComparison Between Durkheim And Freud s Theory Of Religion1110 Words   |  5 PagesFreud the origins of religion identify in totems however, Freud emphasizes more on taboos. In addition Freud applies his knowledge of the human psyche in order to his approach to the study of religion. According to Freud totemism involves of two simple laws, the prohibition to kill ones totem and not to partake in sexual intercourse with the opposite sex of ones totem tribe/clan member, this is to ensure that incest does not take place. The ban to kill the totem sacred to the tribe is however liftedRead More Humanity of the Primitive in Heart of Darkness, Dialect of Modernism and Totem and Taboo1593 Words   |  7 PagesHumanity of the Primitive in Heart of Darkness, Dialect of Modernism and To tem and Taboo   Ã‚  Ã‚   The ways in which a society might define itself are almost always negative ways. We are not X. A society cannot exist in a vacuum; for it to be distinct it must be able to define itself in terms of the other groups around it. These definitions must necessarily take place at points of cultural contact, the places at which two societies come together and arrive at some stalemate of coexistence. ForRead MoreGenetic Abnormalities in Ancient Egyptian Royal Families1658 Words   |  7 Pagesin Ancient Egyptian Royal Families It seems that throughout history, the words royalty and incest have gone hand in hand. Familial interbreeding occurred throughout a significant number of royal lines, including the British, Hawaiian, and Japanese thrones. However, none of these families, nor any other royal family for that matter, can match the profound rate at which the Egyptians practiced incest. Ancient Egyptian royal marriages were almost exclusively restricted to relatives, with very