Incest Taboos

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that while a wealth of scholars have investigated the role that the incest taboo has played throughout history, no one has ever arrived at a satisfactory conclusion as to why incest continues to both repel and fascinate. The writer maintains that part of the reason is that, despite all the research, the exact origins of the incest taboo cannot be located. The writer notes that while it is believed by some that incest is secretly desired by the vast majority of the population, others claim that it conflicts directly with the laws of nature, and is thus naturally avoided. Thus, the two-fold nature of the incest taboo is established. The writer maintains that the law against incest is a natural one that is rooted in taboos, that spring out of disgust with regards to the act. The writer concludes that this is a persuasive theory, in that it explains why incest continues to be viewed as taboo in human cultures around the world.

From the Paper:

"While Frazer would also assert, on the psychological level, that disgust prevents people from committing acts of incest, Freud would come to disagree. In his legendary work Totem and Taboo, Freud addressed incest from the standpoint of the Oedipal complex. In Freud's conception of the origins of the incest taboo, in primitive societies, the strongest man of a tribe would possess all of the females in the tribe personally. Eventually, this man would be overthrown by other male members of the tribe, who, jealous of his power and sexual relations with the women, would kill and eat him. They thus had no problem with having sex with women whom their fathers had also had sex with. Shortly after killing the father, however, they would begin to feel guilty. For this reason, they came to form the notion that it was wrong to have sex with one's sister or mother - and enforced this as a rule. Freud feels that people are naturally attracted to the opposite sex of their parents, but prevent themselves from making a move thanks to well engrained social and cultural taboos against incest, as they developed in the scenario above."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Cleopatra: Biography of Cleopatra." TIGERX.COM. 18 May 2008 http://www.tigerx.com/history/people/cleopatra.htm.
• Incest Taboo. Wikipedia. 19 May 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest_taboo>
• Taboo. Wikipedia. 19 Mar.2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo>
• Vaknin, Sam. "Ethical Relativism and Absolute Taboos Incest, Suicide, and Race." 20 May 2008 http://samvak.tripod.com/incest.html
• Freud, Sigmund. "The Individual: Therapy and Theory." 24 May 2008http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/freud/freud02a.html

More papers on Incest Taboos:

• Essay # 2582 : "Incest"
• Essay # 65693 : "Incest"
• Essay # 28255 : "Incest in Different Cultures"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: