Incest poll

[Kramerman]

Oh, and yes they were all damned fine company in bed.

i suppose a little practice never hurt

[Thorn]

Brothers masterbate brothers and have sex with each other all the time. Doesn't make them gay, but it does happen.

[Az]

[Boris Godunov]

It's interesting to wonder what is the objection to sibling incest when the possibility of reproduction is removed. Since most objections to incest are on the basis of interbreeding, can one say that two brothers or sisters experimenting with each other (assuming consentual) is really a bad thing? Young teenagers are going to look to experiment with each other, siblings or not.

That being said, the very idea of fooling around with my brother makes me want to hurl violently.

[Alex]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov

That being said, the very idea of fooling around with my brother makes me want to hurl violently.

This is the objection you were looking for.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Alexnm


This is the objection you were looking for.

Ah, but that's a personal objection. Sleeping with a an ugly woman instills the same reaction in me, but I wouldn't call a guy who did so sick and wrong. I'd call him the American male norm.


Someone could quite possibly see no problem with fooling around with his sibling in a consentual manner. I want to know how we tell that person it's wrong without the "you'll have deformed children!" argument.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
It's interesting to wonder what is the objection to sibling incest when the possibility of reproduction is removed. Since most objections to incest are on the basis of interbreeding, can one say that two brothers or sisters experimenting with each other (assuming consentual) is really a bad thing? Young teenagers are going to look to experiment with each other, siblings or not.

That being said, the very idea of fooling around with my brother makes me want to hurl violently.

the reason why it is wrong is caught up in your last line

the relationship of sibling, like that of parent, is not one for sex

I mean, it would be the same as having sex with your dad, it is wrong for that relationship

Jon Miller

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
the reason why it is wrong is caught up in your last line

the relationship of sibling, like that of parent, is not one for sex

I mean, it would be the same as having sex with your dad, it is wrong for that relationship

Jon Miller

As I said to Alex, the "grosses me out" factor isn't enough to justify condemning it. After all, how many of you guys are grossed out by the thought of participating in homosexual acts?

I don't think the parent/child analogy is that good, because in any parent/child relationship there is an inherently disparate power relationship. A parent can much more easily coerce an unwilling child into doing something than a sibling of comparable age can. I would think sibling couplings would be, by and large, consentual in nature.

As to that not being what the sibling relationship is designed for...not sure how that helps a moral case against sibling incest. If it isn't a question of procreation or establishing a longterm romantic relationship, that doesn't seem especially relevant.

[Boris Godunov]

DP

[Ned]

There was a study that showed that women are attracted to the smells of strangers and repelled by the smells of their family. (The opposite is true when they become pregnant.) So, even though an older sister could suduce her younger brother, most women are repelled by more than just the idea of it.

[Dr Strangelove]

I think that the problem is that there is always a possiblility of pregnancy when sibs of opposite sex are involved. No birth control method is perfect. Vasectomy and tubal ligation come close, but since it can be assumed that we're talking about young people these methods generally aren't an option. You can't realistically consider the morality of incest in the absence of the possibility of reproduction.

You can however consider that an incestuous relationship would inherently give one sibling an unfair power advantage over the other within the family dynamic. You should also consider that since we're likely talking about children that even an age difference of 3 or 4 years represents a major difference in emotional and intellectual maturity, and there fore the older sib would have an unfair advantage over the younger.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
I think that the problem is that there is always a possiblility of pregnancy when sibs of opposite sex are involved. No birth control method is perfect. Vasectomy and tubal ligation come close, but since it can be assumed that we're talking about young people these methods generally aren't an option. You can't realistically consider the morality of incest in the absence of the possibility of reproduction.

You can in regards to same-sex couplings. Also, incestual behavior need not necessarily involve vaginal penetration. There is oral and manual sex, after all.

You can however consider that an incestuous relationship would inherently give one sibling an unfair power advantage over the other within the family dynamic. You should also consider that since we're likely talking about children that even an age difference of 3 or 4 years represents a major difference in emotional and intellectual maturity, and there fore the older sib would have an unfair advantage over the younger.

This is more akin to what I was looking for, but I don't really buy it for closer siblings. My brother and I were 2 years apart, and there is no way he could have coerced me into doing anything with him. I think there is a lot of situational complexity here. If we're talking about two siblings who are near the same age masturbating together or engaging in oral sex, I can see it being totally consentual sexual experimentation.

I guess I don't see why anyone should feel ashamed if they engaged in such behavior with siblings.

[Lord Merciless]

I can imagine incests were common practice among early humans. Some clans would eventually figure out that it was not really a healthy thing, thus, these clans gained some evolutionary advantages over others. Maybe the Neanderthals went down because they didn't figure this out?