in future.
Sep. 18th, 2003 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraque_bkFirst: I do not have an axe to grind here. I honestly don't have strong feelings about this subject one way or the other, and it's not my intention to offend anyone. I don't want to be inflammatory, I just want to improve my understanding. But I'm going to talk about incest, so if that makes you too upset to argue rationally, you may want to skip this.
A long time ago, a friend and I were discussing the gradual drift towards sexual permissiveness in this society, and I mentioned in passing that I thought that same-generation incest (without having children) would eventually become generally acceptable. She disagreed, but her arguments did not convince me.
So I want you to tell me why my viewpoint is incorrect. Not morally wrong -- I'm not interested in judging sexual morality here, I'm only interested in what you think will happen in society, and why. How does the sibling incest taboo differ from the homosexual taboo? Why would one become accepted and not the other?
Incest is not a universal taboo -- it's accepted in some cultures, in some contexts.
It's disgusting to many people in this culture -- but so is homosexuality.
It can produce unhealthy children -- but between contraception and medical advances, how much of a problem would this really be?
Acceptance of it could result in more couples who are not having children -- but so does homosexuality. Incestuous couples could adopt.
It has a connotation of abuse to many, and indeed abusive incest has harmed many. The same can be said of homosexuality. Where's the evidence that same-generation incest is necessarily abusive?
There is a minority of people who enjoy it and/or prefer it and wish it were permitted, and others who are already willing to defend their right to practice it consensually.
And consider this: A lot of you reading this are involved in Harry Potter fanfic. Incest stories are not at all uncommon in this fandom, and even people who don't write it, read it, or like it (such as myself) have become desensitized to its presence. I don't care that it exists, and apparently neither do most other people in the "liberal" areas of the fandom. Does this not serve as a model of exactly what I'm asking about? Is this not an example of a diverse society observing a minority trend to break a taboo, initially being upset by it, but eventually tuning it out and accepting its presence?
Once again: *I'm not saying incest is good*. I'm only saying that I think the incest taboo's days are numbered.
So have at it. Change my mind. Don't worry about offending me; I don't have anything invested in believing either way. I'll let you know when I'm convinced.
A long time ago, a friend and I were discussing the gradual drift towards sexual permissiveness in this society, and I mentioned in passing that I thought that same-generation incest (without having children) would eventually become generally acceptable. She disagreed, but her arguments did not convince me.
So I want you to tell me why my viewpoint is incorrect. Not morally wrong -- I'm not interested in judging sexual morality here, I'm only interested in what you think will happen in society, and why. How does the sibling incest taboo differ from the homosexual taboo? Why would one become accepted and not the other?
Incest is not a universal taboo -- it's accepted in some cultures, in some contexts.
It's disgusting to many people in this culture -- but so is homosexuality.
It can produce unhealthy children -- but between contraception and medical advances, how much of a problem would this really be?
Acceptance of it could result in more couples who are not having children -- but so does homosexuality. Incestuous couples could adopt.
It has a connotation of abuse to many, and indeed abusive incest has harmed many. The same can be said of homosexuality. Where's the evidence that same-generation incest is necessarily abusive?
There is a minority of people who enjoy it and/or prefer it and wish it were permitted, and others who are already willing to defend their right to practice it consensually.
And consider this: A lot of you reading this are involved in Harry Potter fanfic. Incest stories are not at all uncommon in this fandom, and even people who don't write it, read it, or like it (such as myself) have become desensitized to its presence. I don't care that it exists, and apparently neither do most other people in the "liberal" areas of the fandom. Does this not serve as a model of exactly what I'm asking about? Is this not an example of a diverse society observing a minority trend to break a taboo, initially being upset by it, but eventually tuning it out and accepting its presence?
Once again: *I'm not saying incest is good*. I'm only saying that I think the incest taboo's days are numbered.
So have at it. Change my mind. Don't worry about offending me; I don't have anything invested in believing either way. I'll let you know when I'm convinced.
