On the ethics and legality of incest

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Thanks TA.

[rasetsu]

When you attribute morality to genes instead of cold spots in the wall, many of these problems disappear.

[FBM]

Merge, DSI?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Merge, DSI?

DSI and Devogue.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Merge, DSI?

OKays.

[normal]

Anyway. Eew.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There was a study of dogs a few decades ago. The researchers took some pups from a litter at birth and raised them with a different bitch, no further contact with the original litter. Then they reintroduced the pups to the other dogs in that litter. The animals that had been raised together would not mate, but the separated ones would mate with the ones that remained with the bitch without hesitation. This, the researchers concluded, implied that there was some sort of pheromone process going on, with "litter mates" off limits to breeding.

My anthropology prof, who assigned the study for reading, said somewhat disgustedly, "It has been deemed unethical to try this experiment on humans."

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I'll also reprise an article by Johann Hari, from back in 2002 on this subject:

Forbidden love

Can sex between close relatives ever be acceptable? Johann Hari on the queasy issue of 'consensual' incest

<SNIP>

We should, however, be wary of damning incest on these grounds alone. To prohibit two people from having sex because their offspring may be "defective" or "inferior" is to adopt the standpoint of a eugenicist. Indeed, Dr Sean Gabb has clearly shown that the impetus behind the 1908 Punishment of Incest Act was just that: the proponents of the act were exactly the same figures who advocated the "sterilisation" of the "feeble-minded". If we prohibit incest on the grounds that it risks producing "defective" children, we must also prohibit reproduction by haemophiliacs and the carriers of a host of other "defects".

In any case, we must acknowledge that, with the rise of contraception, we have succeeded in separating sex from reproduction. Another unashamed participant in incest discovered in a chatroom, "daddysgirl", insisted: "We would never have a baby, it would be all screwed up and wrong. I use the coil." So has a window opened for "safe" incest? And if so, is our visceral disgust just a remnant from a vanishing age?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... eatures103

I think that says it all for me.

[Audley Strange]

Is there not a power/expliotation differential though w/r to a parent and child that could be construed as questionable when it comes to consent?

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Is there not a power/expliotation differential though w/r to a parent and child that could be construed as questionable when it comes to consent?

But we're not talking about children. It must be between "Consenting human adults"

[Coito ergo sum]

Is there not a power/expliotation differential though w/r to a parent and child that could be construed as questionable when it comes to consent?

Between a parent and a literal "child," of course, but between a parent and an adult child? Not so much.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Is there not a power/expliotation differential though w/r to a parent and child that could be construed as questionable when it comes to consent?

Between a parent and a literal "child," of course, but between a parent and an adult child? Not so much.

Parents manipulate their children routinely, at whatever age.

[Coito ergo sum]

Is there not a power/expliotation differential though w/r to a parent and child that could be construed as questionable when it comes to consent?

Between a parent and a literal "child," of course, but between a parent and an adult child? Not so much.

Parents manipulate their children routinely, at whatever age.

People manipulate people routinely, at whatever age. Nobody is protected from manipulation. Seduction is 1/2 manipulation. An 18 year old man ought to be able to withstand his mother's manipulation and keep her off his dick. If he can't, then what the hell are we giving people like that drivers licenses and enlisting them in the armed forces for?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Good question. I've asked myself that many times when I got a Momma's Boy assigned to me.

[Svartalf]

There was a study of dogs a few decades ago. The researchers took some pups from a litter at birth and raised them with a different bitch, no further contact with the original litter. Then they reintroduced the pups to the other dogs in that litter. The animals that had been raised together would not mate, but the separated ones would mate with the ones that remained with the bitch without hesitation. This, the researchers concluded, implied that there was some sort of pheromone process going on, with "litter mates" off limits to breeding.

My anthropology prof, who assigned the study for reading, said somewhat disgustedly, "It has been deemed unethical to try this experiment on humans."

Beside the fact that humans don't do litters and that waiting for the kids to reach breeding age puts such a thing outside practicality?