What do you consider to be incest?

[looneygurl]

So last night, I watched the latest episode of Private Practice which got me thinking about incest. In the episode a married couple comes into the practice wanting help in conceiving a baby. We find out that the couple are in fact siblings. Due to some ugly twist of fate, their parents went and got the same sperm donor. Since they didn't grow up together, is it still incest?

What do you consider to be incest? Here are some of the situations that I have heard of that I find to be controversial:

1. Marriage between siblings that are adopted into the same household even though they are not biological related. That's illegal in Canada by the way. Not sure what the rest of the world stands on this one.

2. Marriage between first cousins? Second cousins? It's legal in Canada and in a few states in the US. However it's forbidden by the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.

I remember in elementary school, the guy I had a crush on told me and a bunch of our friends that his parents were first cousins. I was definitely shocked. In between checking to see if he had any visible signs of mutilation or inbreeding (none, he was still cute!) I checked to see if anyone else was shocked. Most were shocked, but surprisingly some weren't. One girl said her parents were first cousins too. Is that really common?

3. What about marrying your deceased spouse's brother or sister? In some cultures this was considered ideal since they can "care" for the widowed spouse and children. Is it still acceptable in some cultures today?


So what do you think?

[7jaii]

Ban on cousins is relatively new. Lots of countries allow it and science research suggest the risks are not much higher than other situations. The word itself is taboo in western culture but with a twist...

You can't say brother w. brother or brother w. sister, but there are tons of legal sister w. sister dvds & websites. Now that's weird. Why don't authorities press charges or why do viewers tolerate it? It's none of our business any ways, with everything going down the dumper (no pun intended) and TV praising roaches like Paris Hilton & Britney, nothing is taboo.

[look30]

While the moral part might not be to appalling because the incest was unknown their kids will play a wicked "duelling banjos"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

[UrbanPoet]

Ban on cousins is relatively new. Lots of countries allow it and science research suggest the risks are not much higher than other situations. The word itself is taboo in western culture but with a twist...

You can't say brother w. brother or brother w. sister, but there are tons of legal sister w. sister dvds & websites. Now that's weird. Why don't authorities press charges or why do viewers tolerate it? It's none of our business any ways, with everything going down the dumper (no pun intended) and TV praising roaches like Paris Hilton & Britney, nothing is taboo.

lol! its also their 'first time' (despite the looseness being the equivalent of throwing a hot dog across a hallway) and they are '18' right?

[7jaii]

lol! its also their 'first time' (despite the looseness being the equivalent of throwing a hot throw across a hallway) and they are '18' right?

Ha ha... I realize internet stuff is make-believe. But when they're identical twins and jamming back to back - they're not spending money on special effects to fool us. If a brother & sister pulled that stunt they'd land in jail.

In between checking to see if he had any visible signs of mutilation or inbreeding (none, he was still cute!) I checked to see if anyone else was shocked. Most were shocked, but surprisingly some weren't. One girl said her parents were first cousins too. Is that really common?

Generally, defects don't just "appear" out of nowhere (ie. 2-3 human generations vs. millions of years). We adopt Darwin's laws because it promotes diversity of genes and increases variability. When we draw from a limited gene pool (ie. marry relatives inside a small isolated village) then recessive harmful genes are prone to appear in their offspring.

Banjo music is a stereotype. There are close family weddings around the world, South Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, S. America...everywhere to this day.

[spf1971]

Ha ha... I realize internet stuff is make-believe. But when they're identical twins and jamming back to back - they're not spending money on special effects to fool us. If a brother & sister pulled that stunt they'd land in jail.

While creepy as hell, it's not illegal for siblings to have sex in the same room.

[Dash]

I went to highschool with a chick that married her cousin at 18 or 19. That was f*cked up!

I know in chinese culture, it's pretty frowned upon. some parents don't even allow their kids to date anyone with the same last name, regardless of whether they're related.

[Eyies]

So what do you think?

Wow lonelygrl15 has abandoned youtube and come to terrorize RFD.

[yuri_c]

i know in some countries, like indonesia, marriage between close relatives is encouraged because people know who they are marrying, and if there's any wealth involved, it's kept within the family.

even today, in rural china... there have been quite a few cases of people marrying within their family either because a) there are too many men (as a result of the one child policy) b) they don't have a lot to offer to attract someone outside their family. in some cases, brothers will even share one wife.

[Eyies]

in some cases, brothers will even share one wife.

Wow never heard of that... it sounds...








... economical

[Dash]

Wow never heard of that... it sounds...








... economical

lol@economical

[Kranberry]

So last night, I watched the latest episode of Private Practice which got me thinking about incest. In the episode a married couple comes into the practice wanting help in conceiving a baby. We find out that the couple are in fact siblings. Due to some ugly twist of fate, their parents went and got the same sperm donor. Since they didn't grow up together, is it still incest?

What do you consider to be incest? Here are some of the situations that I have heard of that I find to be controversial:

1. Marriage between siblings that are adopted into the same household even though they are not biological related. That's illegal in Canada by the way. Not sure what the rest of the world stands on this one.

2. Marriage between first cousins? Second cousins? It's legal in Canada and in a few states in the US. However it's forbidden by the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.

I remember in elementary school, the guy I had a crush on told me and a bunch of our friends that his parents were first cousins. I was definitely shocked. In between checking to see if he had any visible signs of mutilation or inbreeding (none, he was still cute!) I checked to see if anyone else was shocked. Most were shocked, but surprisingly some weren't. One girl said her parents were first cousins too. Is that really common?

3. What about marrying your deceased spouse's brother or sister? In some cultures this was considered ideal since they can "care" for the widowed spouse and children. Is it still acceptable in some cultures today?


So what do you think?

In your description they share the same father but different mothers. So they aren't full brother / sister, but half-brother / half-sister.

In terms of incest, not sure what you would consider incest as it could be cultural. Cousins in one culture is, in another it isn't. Immediate family I would say yes. By marriage is a toughy. I know of at least 2 cases, where two families have that. I believe the kids got married before the parents in both cases. But what if it was the other way around?

I went to highschool with a chick that married her cousin at 18 or 19. That was f*cked up!

I know in chinese culture, it's pretty frowned upon. some parents don't even allow their kids to date anyone with the same last name, regardless of whether they're related.

Uhhhh...you sure about that? Watch enough chinese dramas to say that enough Biu Goh's marry Biu Miu, which means they are cousins. Even in the modern ones, case in point TVB modern series "On the First Beat", cousin Man Jing falls for and chases cousin Chung Lap Man. Lap Man's mom and Jing's mom are sisters. So they are first cousins.

[yuri_c]

I went to highschool with a chick that married her cousin at 18 or 19. That was f*cked up!

I know in chinese culture, it's pretty frowned upon. some parents don't even allow their kids to date anyone with the same last name, regardless of whether they're related.

what is frowned upon?

marrying brother/sister, yes. but marrying first cousins? not really.

there were a few chinese philosophers/leaders who married their cousins. i heard the general rule is that if a male were to marry his cousin, it would have to come from one specific side of the family (not sure if it's the mom or the dad's) so then there's less chances of birth defect.

[looneygurl]

Those two people that I mentioned that have parents that are first cousins are Chinese. I believe at least in one of the cases it was okay because they had different last names. I don't understand where it would be okay in that case though. Biologically speaking, it's the same thing. I guess because it looks less incestuous?

[yuri_c]

Wow never heard of that... it sounds...








... economical

it is. thats the reason why they do it.
there's also other factors like education and beauty. most of the men from the country side have a tougher time competing for women because they are not as "successful" as men from shanghai for instance. so they can't really take their pick and have to rely what is available to them. pretty girls from rural areas, they know they can afford to take the risk of moving to a bigger city and finding a successful husband. so they ditch their hometown (and the men), making it even harder for them to find wives. men from bigger cities don't have to worry as much (assuming they have stable jobs). its always the farmers who are at the disadvantage.