you made incest seem like it's "wrong" or bad. Incest that is not consensual can be damaging, I will agree to, but consensual incest, when both people are okay with it, is not hurting anyone and they should be allowed to be together. Even though it is considered "wrong" and causes most people to have a knee jerk reaction of "ick," love is love and who are we to say who people can and can't love?
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honestly, so long as they don't reproduce, i couldn't care much less. consenting adults, after all. the problem is that risk of inbreeding if their birth control slips, that's the main concern.
Well, despite my personal revulsion of incest, Nomen Nescio pretty much said what I was thinking. As long as it's between consentual adults and there is no reproduction involved (which actually is harmful), who are we to say it's wrong?
After all, the only reason incest might be so uncommon and looked down on might merely be because we evolved a "reverse imprinting" instinct, as is theorized. Which means that people we were raised with since childhood are simply not acknowledged as potential mates by our psyche no matter what.
That all depends upon their ages, doesn't it, as that is one measure of the relative power of a person in a family. I remember reading about a survey they took among incestuous partners, and about half of them agreed there was nothing wrong with it, but . . . . . The half that agreed were the men, and the half that disagreed were their daughters.
Ehhh... this is a pretty morally complex issue, particularly because incest (even consensual incest) can cause genetic disorders. If said couple decides not to have children or they screen their offspring for genetic issues, than I don't really see a problem with consensual incest either.
Agreeing with Neo that this is a complex issue.
If they're siblings, it's a bit squicky but as long as you don't procreate (or it's same sex) I don't really have a right to impose my beliefs on you.
Cousins? Less quicky. Second cousins? Genetically not incest anymore.
On the other hand, intergenerational is very much a no-no.
For me the issue is rooted in abuse of trust. I actually read a news story very recently where a Texas couple seeking fertility treatment just found out they happened to be fraternal twins separated at a young age. Given they had no knowledge of their blood relationship when they began their sexual relationship (and no memory of even having a twin) and thus no emotional ties to distort or manipulate I would not find any decision on their part to continue their relationship exceptionally objectionable despite my own opinion being that I would freak the fuck out upon receiving that kind of news about someone I not only had sex with, but married.
In all other cases family - even distant relations or those on terrible terms - has a standing assumption of trust and authority that can be very easily invoked to pressure someone into doing things they would not normally consider for anyone else. Even if neither party has manipulative or selfish intentions it is something that affects their judgement in a way not present when interacting with people that are not known relatives. I'm more leery of kissing cousins than the aforementioned twins as a result.
My opinion may be skewed having grown up with family members whose primary method of interaction was emotional blackmail and I am willing to concede it may be entirely fucked up as a result. It is, however, my honest opinion measured in my own logic for anyone who wants to consider it. One should not be afraid of expressing their views.
That being said people who argue for social acceptability of incest are by and large almost guaranteed to be doing so because they do have selfish intentions and believe they can invoke familial status to coax a member of their family to gratify them.
@Passerby :
Actually, the only member of my family I'd be interested in is an older second cousin, and she's married anyway.
But I think the option should be available for those who want it.
With siblings, incest is really squicky (but I suppose if they're both adults and there wasn't a big age gap when they were growing up and they don't reproduce, it's not the worst thing in the world), with 1st cousins, it's still weird, but much less gross than siblings (and reproduction is okay if cousin/cousin relationships don't happen too often in the same family), but the older partner in an intergenerational incestuous relationship deserves to be forced to walk barefoot across scalding Legos for a mile.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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