Why is incest bad?

MillerCross

Because derails and because people seem interested in discussing it.

Vorpy

Incest isn't bad. Not to me. And that's all that matters.

Inbreeding has some other connotations to it, and parental incest relations have different things to think about before getting into them, cousin/sibling incest is generally more okay compared to that.

vandro

You are making half the threads here, this place would crumble without you. Bad Joke

Anyhow, my take on incest depends on a multitude of factors, but:

Parental Incest: No.

Sibling Incest: Depends on the case.

Vorpy

Checklist:
Cousin testing: okay
Cousin to cousin romance: okay
cousin to cousin intercourse: okay, if iffy
Cousin inbreeding: depends on the genes being used. two dysfunctional or people who inherit diseases or health problems should not breed, just in case.
Sibling testing: okay
sibling romance: must be kept secret.
sibling intercourse: must be kept secret, most likely not okay.
sibling inbreeding: no.
parental testing: no.
parental romance: no.
parental intercourse: no.
parental inbreeding: 100% no.

nohaynicklibre

parental romance: no.
parental romance: okay.

What

Vorpy

fuckin windows 98.

-edits the post-

Forzare

Parent-child: Bad.

Brother-sister: Ehhh. Bad.

Cousins: Fine by me.

2nd cousin or more: Why's this an issue?

All Nines

^ I think you meant parent-child.

GLORIOUSLeader

^^^ lol macs r superor bich 

Forzare

^^ derp

fix'd

Wicked223

Someone keeps pointing out that inbreeding only causes genetic defects over multiple generations, but I've never seen any citation for this.

ClockworkUniverse

It doesn't necessarily even cause genetic defects at all. It carries forward mutations of any kind, so strategic inbreeding can actually be beneficial to a species.

Forzare

Like with dogs.

Vorpy

and guppies.

because holy crap.

vandro

Sibling incest cases may vary a lot: There's blood siblings who have grown up apart almost their whole lives...stepsiblings who indeed have grown together, stepsiblings who have become siblings recently, etc...Some of those cases I don't find objectionable, but some others I do. 

CommandoDude

Cousin testing: score!
Cousin to cousin romance: rednecks only
cousin to cousin intercourse: yes please
Cousin
inbreeding: produce x-men mutants? DO IT
Sibling testing: put your sister to the test
sibling romance: father I want to marry my brother
sibling intercourse: hawt
sibling inbreeding: DOIN IT
parental testing: your mom
parental romance: wat
parental intercourse: the proper way to greet parents in Japan
parental inbreeding: you can't have kids before your first period

Katrika

Parent-child: No, issues of power imbalance and consent as well as mixing familial love and romantic love.
Sibling-sibling: No, mixing familial love and romantic love and depending on ages, issues of power imbalance.
Cousin-cousin: Kind of depends on the culture, but not inherently wrong. (Inbreeding okay as long as it's not generational)
2nd cousin-2nd cousin: Okay (Inbreeding okay)
Uncle/Aunt-Nephew/Niece: No

Counterclock

Westboro Markensins or w\e

Zombie babies and stuff too.

Vorpy

power imbalance.

what is this even supposed to mean?

Noimporta

That their relationship is not in equal terms, one has coersion power over the other.

MillerCross

Basically, one is forcing their pseudo-romantic companion to have sex with them because they hold some kind of psychological leverage. Such as...you know...being a parent.

I really should refresh tabs I leave open more often. >_>

Vorpy

Ah, okay, now it makes more sense. I don't see how this applies to siblings since generally they are under the same control (the parent), and normally in families the older siblings don't have more say or influence over the others until they reach the age of 18.

MillerCross

Depend on the age gap between said sibling. It's highly likely that you respect your 10 years-older-than-you sibling. Or at least, that he is influential enough, I think.

Also, it depends on how the parents in question raise their kids and if they taught them to give their siblings some sort of higher respect or something. -shrug-

CommandoDude

"That their relationship is not in equal terms, one has coersion power over the other."

Newsflash. Happens all the time, but its not the government's place to legislate relationships. The government's job is to stop domestic abuse, not prevent it.

Vorpy

I think they mean:

"No, I don't want to sleep with you daddy."
"Do you want to be grounded?"
"....no..."
"Then listen to your father and get over here."
"....sigh..."

captainbrass

From what I've read about abusive relationships in practice, it's probably a lot less subtle than that and based on physical violence or fear of it. The people who go in for having incestuous relationships with their kids are often also the people who are violent to them, and to their spouses, and generally. Fred West, the English serial killer, would be an extreme example of that.

Vorpy

I don't think that applies to every incestuous relationship, just the few that stood out.

MillerCross

While I would say that the power imbalance thing doesn't apply to all cases, I'd wager that there aren't just a few cases. The thing about it is that it's not just a parent using punishment as a way of getting sex with her kid. It can be a parent teaching her young daughter that sex with adults at her age is fine and dandy. Or an older sibling telling her that having sex with him/her is good for whatever reason. 

Taking that approach into account, then I'd say that there're many cases of it happening, yes.

MoeDantes

at OP

I recall hearing that inbreeding actually fucks up the offspring's genes somehow--makes them retarded, more likely to have disabilities, get sick, etc. So I think maybe that's why incest is looked down upon.

Kino

@OP: Short answer? Because it's gross.

Counterclock

^ Come on now, we're not children anymore.