Incest
When we think of incest in today’s
time the first things that usually pop into our heads are back woods country
people, West Virginia, meth heads, mental handicaps, and deformed babies.
Incest is something that disgusts us to think about in our culture and
environment but is something that was prevalent many years ago. Back during the
times or royalty families were known to inbreed so that there family tree would
be pure[1].
Incest was also seen in Egyptian and Roman times, it was an accepted practice
by the Egyptians but it was not approved of by the Romans[2]
Not only is incest seen as morally
wrong but also there are laws regarding the matter. Here in the Unites States
incest is defined as “sexual contact between those so closely related that if
they were to marry it would be illegal”. Just to give an example of how different
cultures view incest, in India and areas of the Arab world around half the
marriages happen between first cousins[3].
Here in North Carolina it is a felony to have any sexual
relations between a grandparent and a grandchild, a parent and a child, a
parent and a step-child, a parent and a legally adopted child, or a brother and
a sister whether they are full blood related or are half siblings. If sexual relations
happen between an uncle and a niece, an uncle and a nephew, or an aunt and a
niece, and an aunt and a nephew they can be charge with a class 1 misdemeanor.
When it comes to marriage in North Carolina you cannot get married if you are
closer kin than first cousins or if you are double first cousins[4].
When it comes to children who have been born from incest
couples research shows that there is a higher chance for birth defects. In a
study conducted in Czechoslovakia on babies born from incest couples less than
half of the children were healthy at birth, 42% of them were born with severe
birth defects or either died after birth, and 11% of the children were
considered mildly mentally impaired[5].
Incest will always be something
that is morally wrong, taboo, and legally wrong in our culture. Incest is an
act that causes effects that last a life time. It is something that cannot be
tolerated.
[2]
Sex info. Online, "Incest Laws
in the United States." Last modified May 25, 2012. Accessed March 26,
2014. http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/incest-laws-united-states.
[3]
Sex info. Online, "Incest Laws
in the United States." Last modified May 25, 2012. Accessed March 26,
2014. http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/incest-laws-united-states.
[4] Cousin Couples, "U.S. State
Laws." Accessed March 26, 2014. http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states.
[5]
Hal, Herzog. "The Problem with
Incest." Psycology Today, October 11, 2012.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animals-and-us/201210/the-problem-incest
(accessed March 26, 2014).
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