Incest: A Crime or Just a Taboo?

24.05.2011 | By: T. B.

Incest is normally considered as a crime as well as an unforgivable sin. But was it always like that? Check out below!

Incest is considered to be a crime in today's society. (PhotoXpress)

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Incest is one of the biggest taboos

Incest is definitely one of the most traditional taboos where there is no room for left for debate. Not only that incest presents a taboo in our society and is considered immoral, it is also a violation of the law. In the West, the view is that two people can have a normal sexual relationship if they are less than cousins. Family relations below that level are admissible.The word incest mostly triggers the following arguments:

Incest is not always a paedophilic act but it is still a crime

In most cases, incest is the matter of dominance of the strongest (mostly a man) over the weakest (mostly a young girl). However, not all incestuous relationships are like that. Some people choose incest because of love. In Germany, one case was called “the crime without a victim”. A brother and sister started a family, but were sentenced to prison despite their claims that love was real and that it was the most wonderful thing that happened to them, and it was not their fault that they fell in love. In any case, here is an example that the argument – incest is paedophilia – does not always hold true.

Incest in the past was not a crime but sometimes even encouraged

There are numerous historical assumptions claiming that incest was even encouraged many times during the history. There are several reasons. Some royal families (also pharaohs’ families) promoted marriages within family, above all, to retain the unity of the throne and continuation of the royal family – without smearing their reputation. Some families did it in order to ensure a homogenous community. These are only assumptions. Anthropologists, historians and sociologists still argue about these issues and theories.

Prohibition of incest is not a biological category but a psychological one

If people were unaware of their blood relations, they could fall in love (not only have sexual intercourse) with each other. There are cases when a father and his daughter fell in love, but they had not lived together for a long time and they could not have had a mutual libidinal bond similar to the bond between a father and daughter living together her entire childhood. The situation between brothers and sisters is similar. In the tragedy Oedipus the King, Sophocles says exactly that – therefore, if you are unaware of your blood relations, or you were separated from a parent in the childhood, an incestuous bond can be formed without realizing it.

Children of people who are relatives by blood presumably have more defects

It is interesting that anthropologists reject the essence of this theory because defects of the children subject to incest are not caused by incest itself or mixing of blood. The reason for more defects in these children is that relatives have similar genetic codes, which means that as a result they also have similar genetic defects which a child is more likely to inherit, as opposed to a genetic disorder that only one parent has. Contrary to the theory, it is believed that reproduction among relatives might lower genetic defects in our population. Therefore, if children with defects die before being able to reproduce, the extreme consequence of reproduction among relatives will result in a reduction of poorer genes in the whole population.

Incest turns on as well

Prohibition and taboos surely contribute to the fact that you soon realize, if you look at pornographic material, that incestuous relationships are truly desired material.

None of the above assumptions commonly linked to incest has been confirmed by hard evidence which would prove without a doubt that incest is something generally bad and absolutely unacceptable. Prohibition of incest is a standard set by our society. A society can only function for a certain time if it sets standards. However, societies change and develop in time. There is always the question of where we are going next. This article is not meant to defend incest. It is merely a starting point for further discussion. Not only about incest but also about all the taboos you carry inside and never think about.