That incest is tabu is something we know from children, but do you know why or where this restriction arose that we might think universal?
Why is incest a tabu?
Incest, strictly speaking, is the sexual activity carried out among persons related by consanguinity , that is, between siblings, or between parents and children, or between grandparents and grandchildren (there are some who indicate between cousins, and uncles and nieces); although in some cultures it was allowed-but only among the rulers, like the Egyptians-, it is a prohibition that scholars think could be common to the human condition .
Incest It would have become tabu (we talked about thousands of years ago, in very primitive societies), after observing possible physical deformations, understanding that inbreeding was a practice that was not beneficial for the group.
One of the first modern scientists in realizing the probable relationship between offspring defects and inbreeding was Charles Darwin; the practice of marrying as a family is not new, on the contrary, in Europe it was quite widespread among the nobility, and it was common for unions to be arranged to secure land or crowns; those unions, on more than one occasion, were between consanguineous cousins, who needed papal dispensation to perform.
Darwin married his cousin sister and had 10 children with her; a cousin of his, Francis Galton -the founder of eugenics-had pointed out the dangers of marrying very close people, and so Darwin began to observe the health problems of his own children: three died being Children, and three others were sterile.
Concerned, he began experimenting with British and foreign orchids: he forced a group to self-pollinate , and discovered, alarmed, that the following generations they went wrong, because they grew weaker and smaller, and realized that cross fertilization is beneficial for a stronger offspring.In his extensive work he wrote, in relation to the subject: "Nature tells us, of the most emphatic way, which abhors perpetual self-fertilization...Can we not also infer as probable, according to the vast belief of the great majority, that marriage between close relatives is also in some way harmful? ”.
To do this, nature za arranged for us to be attracted to genetically distinct people .There is a group of genes known as Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), which is essential in our immune system and recognition immunological; MHC manifests as a codominant characteristic of both types of genes, and that means that the more diverse the set of MHC genes, the stronger the immune system will be.
The MHC manifests itself, so to speak, to through body fluids-saliva, blood serum or urine-and becomes volatile to produce body odors, which will be more attractive to someone genetically different; nature thus ensures the genetic diversity of the offspring.
Among women, the attraction to different genes is more frequent, which helps to avoid incest and the birth defects associated with it.
A curious fact: the coexistence or upbringing of children who are not family makes them less likely to develop sexual attraction between them ; but almost 50% of the meetings between siblings or parents and children separated from birth result in attraction.It is what is known as “genetic sexual attraction” (GSA).
This is so common, that American adoption agencies always warn prospective parents about it, if the children they are adopting have siblings.
Cases in the history of health problems due to incest we have many.The practice of marriages between brothers or half brothers in ancient Egypt is well known, because at that time they secured access to the throne and "blood purity".
Let's talk, for example, of Tutankhamun: his father, Akenaton, and his mother (known for DNA investigations as "Young Lady" and whose identity has not been established, but if you know the blood relationship with Akenaton) were full brothers; according to the studies carried out, this consanguinity could explain the large number of physical ills that afflicted the young pharaoh; suffered from Kohler's disease , a bone disease that affects the foot and progressively necrotizes.
Poor Tutankhamun must have needed many canes to walk in his short life.
Another notable case is that of Charles II of Spain, king between 1665 and 1700.He was called "the Bewitched" because apparently there was no other explanation for his unfortunate physical state than the evil eye and witchcraft.The truth is that the successive family consanguineous unions caused him to suffer from the Klinefelter syndrome -a chromosomal abnormality consisting of the existence of two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome-whose symptoms included sterility, short stature and hypogonadism.drooling.
The truth is that with the Habsburg in Spain they ended, because he could not procreate offspring despite his two marriages.
In nature, as we have seen, species avoid inbreeding, but did you know that bed bugs, on the contrary, thrive? A 2011 discovery indicates inbreeding among bedbugs as the main reason for their population to have increased by up to 500%.Only a bed bug already paired is needed, and once they are born from eggs, brothers and sisters can mate without any type of problems: “inbreeding depression” does not affect them, since they usually have little opportunity to cross over with other populations-since they cannot fly-and that is why they have developed the ability to withstand extensive inbreeding without harming themselves.similar are cockroaches.
Incest was established as a tabu as a way to protect the human species and ensure strong and resistant individuals, capable of surviving disease and of being born and growing without defects.
If you liked the article, we recommend The Women of Henry VIII and how the mancebia houses worked.
Images: JOHNNY LAI, Enza, MA.MERCEDES RODRIGUEZ LLORENTE, Renaud Camus
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