Today, many people learn about what incest is by watching historical films and series. In the ancient world, this type of sexual activity was very widespread. Today, this action is considered abnormal and vicious.
Who participates in events
Incest relationships arise between close relatives, that is, in the family. Many do not know what incest is, and cannot explain the attraction that has come out of nowhere for the person with whom they live under the same roof. The main participants in these relationships can be family friends, stepfathers and stepmothers, brothers and sisters, parents. An interesting kind of incest — Twincest is waiting for you at the link.
Most often, mature family members who have reached puberty enter into such relationships. This is a completely reciprocal relationship that arises with the consent of each party.
Main Features
To understand what incest is, you need to determine all the signs of this type of relationship between people. The first and most significant sign is the emergence of erotic overtones in ordinary family relationships. This is an open manifestation of sexuality, but at the same time, the paradox is that often not a single person is truly aware of what is happening.
Incest can occur if the upbringing of a person took place in a free environment, without setting clear boundaries. A person understands that it is unacceptable to experience weakness in relation to his own relative, but at the same time he involuntarily perceives him as a sexual object.
Situations arise when a male relative can accidentally kiss his grown-up niece on the lips, hiding behind almost paternal care and attention, but in fact, psychologists believe that this is the first sign of incest, in which you need to be wary.
Another, no less important feature is the absence of clear boundaries between the male and female sexes in the family. An example would be the simplest situation – when a brother and sister use the same shower towel. At first glance, this is a completely innocent and harmless thing, but in the presence of other factors, this can become a trigger for the emergence of sexual affection. Family boundaries are very important.
The third sign of incestuous family relationships or the possibility of boundary violations is the lack of intimacy in activities such as going to the toilet or bath. Such personal self-care procedures should be done behind closed doors, even if the family has a friendly, easy atmosphere and complete trust.
Opinion of a psychologist
This type of relationship, like incest, originates from antiquity, when the pharaohs of Egypt married sisters in order to maintain power in families. The most famous example in history is the relationship of Agrippina, the younger, the wife of Emperor Claudius, with her brother Caligula. Similar motifs can be found in various historical documents, as well as in poetry, novels, films.
Today, incest is practically not common and is considered a disease and promiscuity. Psychologists of the International Psychoanalytic Association consider such behavior in the family to be abnormal. There are ethical standards developed over the centuries that should be preserved between relatives.
You can understand such a phenomenon as incest in completely different ways, but this word has only one meaning – the connection between relatives in sexual terms. For religious people, incest is not allowed due to incest, and from a medical point of view, this is also not a desirable action for the birth of healthy offspring.
Most people interviewed on the streets believe that incest is not an acceptable act. It is forbidden by religion, society, and according to psychologists, it is also a deviation. A full-fledged, well-bred person with good health is attracted to non-relatives of the opposite sex, primarily in order to enter into relationships, marry, have children.
However, another phenomenon arises, in modern society the boundaries are somewhat blurred. Everyone knows for sure that it is not normal to enter into relationships with siblings, parents, but at the same time there are still couples who are also close relatives, for example, an uncle – niece or cousins u200bu200band sisters and sisters.
Despite mutual consent, there is still a mixture of generations and blood, which means that such relationships should not arise between people.
One psychologist compared incest to alcoholism. Both are a very common and serious problem for modern society. The destructive process took place back in the twentieth century, and echoes of this persist today, when the boundaries of relations are blurred. In families in which these boundaries do not exist, alcoholization occurs in order to prevent the occurrence of arousal. One is replaced by another, and if someone stops drinking alcohol, then a sexual desire inevitably arises in relation to loved ones.
Why are family boundaries important?
Each child grows up in a family, matures, realizes his personality, uniqueness. He must learn to manage his life. Every teenager needs personal physical and emotional space. If, growing up in a family, he does not feel his solitude and is not aware of his own boundaries, then wrong desires may appear.
Many psychotherapists note that a huge number of children come to them for a consultation, and not everyone has the opportunity for solitude and setting personal boundaries. Not necessarily incest will occur in such a family, but all relatives live together and merge together, becoming a kind of shapeless mass with a common opinion.
Such unity occurs at several levels: physical and bodily, when only one towel hangs in the bathroom for everyone, psychological – when children cannot make decisions themselves, choose activities.
A little about the origin of incest: the history of the Ancient World
In order to better understand some of the negative aspects of the modern sexual life of people, psychologists and scientists examine the surviving historical documents and build a picture of the sexual behavior of men and women in the ancient world.
Myths, rituals, legends and chronicles, as well as sculptures and drawings, are analyzed. One of the scientists noted that in ancient times, when the foundation of the family was just being laid, it was completely normal for people to enter into closely related relationships.
Over time, not only incest, but also closely related marriages became the norm. People sought to preserve the purity of blood, establish entire dynasties and often arranged marriages for uncles and nieces, or even cousins.
On the territory of the modern country of Zimbabwe, there used to be another state – Monomotapa, and the ruler had more than three hundred wives. At the same time, for marriage, he chose not only those girls who were not part of the family, but also his sisters, and sometimes even daughters. Only the children of the ruler himself could later gain the throne. Interestingly, if one of the subjects engaged in incest, he would be executed.
Pharaohs ruled in Egypt and it was considered normal for them to strengthen their own family tree through marriages with sisters and brothers. To date, scientists have tried to determine through analysis how long incest occurred, but it is impossible to give an exact answer, but it is known that in the 18th dynasty of the pharaohs, marriages between brothers and sisters were recorded. Akhenaten married his sister Nefertiti, but their son developed serious genetic anomalies.
In the days of the Roman Empire, incest was allowed between people of the lower classes.
Interesting facts about incest among famous people
Any taboo often has not only black and white, but also gray shades, which means that what was forbidden for some was allowed for other people. At all times, even in ancient times, there were those who considered incest a terrible and immoral act, while others simply did not know how it could be otherwise.
One of the famous historical figures involved in incest was Charles Darwin. He is known to many as the father of evolution and the author of the book that all medical students read today, On the Origin of Species. However, he also had another side – Darwin was an exemplary husband for his cousin Emma. The couple had children, but almost all of them suffered from incest. Darwin recorded data on the health of children, and judging by his notes, out of ten children, three died in infancy, and three more were infertile.
Later, scientists became interested in this issue and analyzed the genealogical tree and genes of the scientist, as a result of which it was found that there were many incest marriages on both sides and there were practically no healthy children in the family.
The second historical figure is Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Recently, his body was removed from the sarcophagus, and scientists were able to assess what the pharaoh looked like in life. Scientists also tried to unravel the mystery of the mysterious death of the pharaoh. The results of the study surprised many. As it turned out, Tutankhamun was not knocked off the chariot at all, he suffered from a serious genetic disease – he had a pronounced clubfoot, female hips, as well as temporal lobe epilepsy and malaria.
This, according to scientists, led to his death. The pharaoh himself, who also married his sister, had two daughters, both of whom were dead.
The third vivid historical example is the Habsburg dynasty. For a long time this family was the most important house in Europe, but later it turned out that friendly and arranged marriages did not bring due success, and the dynasty branched out so much that it was necessary to keep it at least a little pure.
Such a powerful dynasty nevertheless lost its strength and collapsed when its last representative, Charles II, who left no heirs, died. According to historians, he suffered from infertility due to congenital genetic diseases and deformities.
In the Hawaiian Islands, consanguineous marriages were also widespread, and Princess Nakhienana can be a prime example. She was brought up in a Christian way, however, like many historical figures, she became the main figure, sowing discord. For Hawaiian families, incest was not something surprising, but for the nobility, especially for Christians, it was a terrible act.
The princess defied the rules and married her brother. As a result, she became an outcast. Realizing what she had done, Nakhienana tried to correct the situation, however, she became pregnant. Her brother and husband at the same time announced that this was his child and it was too late. After some time, the former princess had a daughter, but she did not live long.
Another example is Barbara Baekland. She was a famous model and personality who graced the covers of magazines such as Vogue. And like many historical figures, Barbara suffered from mood swings, had mental instability.
At first everything was fine – Barbara and her husband led an active lifestyle, threw parties, but then the relationship deteriorated, and the partners began to drink large amounts of alcohol. Barbara's husband could not stand such a rhythm and left their lives, and their joint son decided to move in with his mother.
In the modern world, incest is condemned by society, and even though it is written about in books and talked about in movies, people understand that this is a taboo business. If a couple, who are in close family relationships, nevertheless decides to marry, she will not be able to apply to the registry office. Although incest still occurs, it is no longer common and even forbidden by society.
On the forums you can find people's opinions about related marriages, and they are all identical: “Some kind of horror, this is not normal!”. “I would never have done that.” Has Game of Thrones been revisited? How can you marry your brother? If people decide on such a marriage, then, as a rule, they carefully hide the presence of a family relationship and are cousins or even second cousins.
What happens with incest? [Plushkin]
