Incest

Incest is sexual activity or marriage between very close family members. It is a taboo, as well as a criminal offense, in virtually all societies. In many societies premarital sex is allowed or encouraged; in most such societies, the same restrictions apply to sexual unions as to marriage.

Incest versus exogamy

Anthropologists have found that marriage everywhere is governed (often informally) by rules of exogamy (one must marry outside of one's group) and endogamy (one must marry within one's own group). What is considered a group, for purposes of either exogamy or endogamy, varies considerably. Thus, in most stratified societies one must marry outside of one's nuclear family (exogamy) but should marry a member of one's own class, race or religion (endogamy). In this example, the exogamous group is small and the endogamous group is large. But in some societies, the exogamous group and endogamous group may be of equal size. This is the case in societies divided into clans or lineages.

Related Topics:
Anthropologists - Exogamy - Endogamy

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In most such societies, membership in a clan or lineage is inherited through only one parent. Sex with a member of one's own clan or lineage — whether a parent or a genetically very distant relative — would be considered incestuous, whereas sex with a member of another clan or lineage — including the other parent — would not be considered incest (although it may be considered wrong for other reasons).

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For example, Trobriand Islanders prohibit both sexual relations between a man and his mother, and between a woman and her father, but they describe these prohibitions in very different ways: relations between a man and his mother fall within the category of forbidden relations among members of the same clan; relations between a woman and her father do not. This is because the Trobrianders are matrilineal; children belong to the clan of their mother and not of their father. Thus, sexual relations between a man and his mother's sister (and mother's sister's daughter) are also considered incestuous, but relations between a man and his father's sister are not. Indeed, a man and his father's sister will often have a flirtatious relationship, and a man and the daughter of his father's sister may prefer to have sexual relations or marry. Anthropologists have hypothesized that in these societies, the incest taboo reinforces the rule of exogamy, and thus ensures that social ties between clans or lineages with be maintained through intermarriage.

Related Topics:
Trobriand Islanders - Matrilineal

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Chinese society provides an example of a society with a very broad notion of the exogamous group, as relations between two individuals with the same surname may be banned.

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Some cultures cover relatives by marriage in incest prohibitions. For example, the question of the legality and morality of a widower who wished to marry his deceased wife's sister was the subject of long and fierce debate in 19th century Britain, involving, among others, Matthew Boulton.

Related Topics:
Deceased wife's sister - 19th century - Britain

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The Tanakh (Old Testament) contains prohibitions (primarily in Leviticus) against sexual relations between various pairs of family members. Father and daughter, mother and son, etc., are forbidden on pain of death to engage in sexual relations. According to the interpretation given to it by some anthropologists, it prohibits sexual relations between aunts and nephews but not between uncles and nieces.

Related Topics:
Tanakh - Old Testament - Leviticus

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