272
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 35 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

You're kind of right - I think society gets worked up about it in the wrong way, relying on shame to prevent incest, rather than logic.

spoiler~~The~~ One reason it's not that common is that siblings smell gross and feel gross to have sex with. Most siblings, if they actually tried to initiate sex, would back down very quickly because of those biological inhibitors.

One reason that incest is wrong is because it usually manifests as abuse. One participant will be older or stronger than the other. As another commenter said, you can never rule that out, and anyone who finds out bout an incestuous relationship will assume it's abusive

Then the big no-no is inbreeding. You might not produce a child from one instance of intercourse, but it's unethical because you'd be inflicting a fucked set of genetics onto that hypothetical child.

But as weird as it is to say, nowadays you could theoretically practice safe incestuous sexual activity. But then there's the remaining problem that "you'll get attached," and I do think the threat of permanently changing your relationship with one another, making things awkward, is very real.

Another remaining problem is that I still see it as A) a response to loneliness, where two relatives who haven't managed to encounter many mates will resort to each other, and B) a sort of sex addiction, arising if two similar aged relatives used it as a form of sexual experimentation.

[-] half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world 14 points 11 hours ago

This is the wildest spoiler tag I've ever regretted clicking

[-] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 7 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Just wanted to save space. It's my favourite feature on this site

[-] qyron@sopuli.xyz 25 points 14 hours ago

About that smell comment.

There are several registered cases of genetically related people that, unknowing they are related, develop attraction and engage in sexual activity. Some cases even mention the couple being more attracted to each other due to scent.

There's a small article in Wikipedia here.

Now, for an anecdote: I knew a couple that was genetically related and they only discovered they were siblings because they tried to reconstruct their family tree through official records and things came out off.

They already had two perfectly healthy children when I met them. They kept their blood connection as private as possible but they intended to tell their offspring the whole story when they could understand all of it and its implications.

Now about the incest taboo: I find no issue in consenting adults engaging in sexual activity. Normalizing it, I find deeply troublesome. It would completely inbalance relatioships between family members and wreak havoc in the gene pool.

[-] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 15 points 13 hours ago

Appreciate the anecdote and wikipedia link, I'll check it out now

I find no issue in consenting adults engaging in sexual activity. Normalizing it, I find deeply troublesome

That's a good way of putting it.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 13 hours ago

if we're being dispassionate - inbreeding increases the risks of genetic issues but by no means guarantees it. Not that I'd recommend it.

[-] Zozano@aussie.zone 6 points 15 hours ago

siblings smell gross and feel gross to have sex with

Agreed.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
272 points (94.2% liked)

Greentext

7574 readers
1004 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS