Poll: Would you have sex with your cousin?

[Helmholtz Watson]

Why the hell not? In most places outside of the USA, sex, romance and even marriage between 2nd cousins or more distant is considered quite acceptable and there's really nothing weird or wrong about it. American culture is full of the weirdest hangups.

Really? Cuz i live outside the US (in UK) and it is very much frowned upon here

it's good to know that the UK has some sense on the subject.

 

[PhantomEcho]

To be honest, it's not really a question of Would I... because really, I see nothing wrong with it aside from weakening the strength of my family's genetic diversity. On a purely ethical level, I have absolutely no reason to say that I wouldn't.

Assuming that said cousin was attractive (to me), attracted to me, willing, of legal age, and someone I felt that I could get along with or harbor a strong relationship with, then I have no such concerns with societal taboo. I find most of society to be largely a waste of time, with redundant and often-shifting beliefs which seldom reflect anything remotely approaching realism.

I am, at my core, a realist.


That being said, the sheer ANNOYANCE of having to deal with the questions and arguments and frustration within my family that would be raised by such an event are... to say the least, unappealing.

Furthermore, my lack of a romantically appealing cousin renders this decision on my part entirely hypothetical.

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

I was weirded out once when a girl who shared the last name as me asked me out. I assumed we were cousins, and it turned out we weren't related. Still, it'd surely have felt odd going out with someone sharing the last name as me. So I declined.

In your situation, I wouldn't go for it. Your family will frown upon this, and God help you if your children are born with deformities.

The chances for genetic issues caused from the offspring of even first cousins is typically less than the genetic issues for having children once you at 40 years old, and that is pretty widely acceptable. It makes sense to form family units outside of your established kinship group, and my enculturation makes it so cousin marriage seems pretty horrific, but its pretty common throughout the world, and there is no reason to freak out over the chance for deformities, we have much bigger variables mixed with that than cousins procreating.

 

[PhantomEcho]

The chances for genetic issues caused from the offspring of even first cousins is typically less than the genetic issues for having children once you at 40 years old, and that is pretty widely acceptable. It makes sense to form family units outside of your established kinship group, and my enculturation makes it so cousin marriage seems pretty horrific, but its pretty common throughout the world, and there is no reason to freak out over the chance for deformities, we have much bigger variables mixed with that than cousins procreating.

This is a large part of why I say I have no problem with it.


The original source of the taboo lies strongly in the concept of 'strong blood'.

After generations upon generations of close-knit family breeding, there IS the chance for aberrations and genetic defects to become common within the genetic line. But this is a GENERATIONAL thing, that usually takes many cycles of 'inbreeding' to occur. And it really is just a shot in the dark.

The chances of a family line having so many flaws in their genetics that it would become non-viable has always (from everything I've ever read on the matter) been relatively low.

It was, for many centuries, not even uncommon for half-siblings to marry and procreate... usually with an equally minimal amount of genetic damage.

The exceptions, of course, are always for those whose family carries strong, dominant genes. Back in the day, there was no way of detecting these genes however. And so they were spread within families, until severe results occurred.


Since then, we have gotten quite skilled in the art of genetic screening.

Still, it is the social awkwardness of the family unit that predominantly prevents breeding within the structure. Add onto that the great deal of hostility to which most families would respond, and you have the creation of a new norm.

It matters little anymore about genetics, though.

Now it is all about the socially awkward stigma which has been attached.

 

[bobfish92]

If you both get neutered to make sure no kids, then sure. Hell, even brothers and sisters etc would be fine then IMO. As long as there is no risk of a 3rd party being harmed, what happens behind closed doors between 2 adults who concent is fine by me. Then again I'm more of a science guy so my only moral standpoint is on the genetics. I'm not attracted to any of my relations, but if I was and they to me, and I was sure i'd want to spend my life with them, I'd get the snip and then just adopt. I mean seriously - If theres no children being birthed who does it hurt?

 

[Buizel91]

I was at a party not to long ago, and we were playing a game of 'chicken' (basically kiss eachother and who ever backs down first loses) and i ended up kissing my cousin (we are both male btw)

But would i have sex? HELL NO! hell i only kissed cause it was a party...

 

[Wingmna]

I was weirded out once when a girl who shared the last name as me asked me out. I assumed we were cousins, and it turned out we weren't related. Still, it'd surely have felt odd going out with someone sharing the last name as me. So I declined.

In your situation, I wouldn't go for it. Your family will frown upon this, and God help you if your children are born with deformities.

The chances for genetic issues caused from the offspring of even first cousins is typically less than the genetic issues for having children once you at 40 years old, and that is pretty widely acceptable. It makes sense to form family units outside of your established kinship group, and my enculturation makes it so cousin marriage seems pretty horrific, but its pretty common throughout the world, and there is no reason to freak out over the chance for deformities, we have much bigger variables mixed with that than cousins procreating.

Pretty much, I would be far more worried if the other person smoked or drunk too much. Why isn't that considered 'gross' when those things could be far more dangerous?

 

[SpireOfFire]

if my cousins were as hot as they are and we were not related, oh hell yeah. but since they are my cousins (no matter how close or distant), hell no.

 

[NastoK]

I'd possibly find it a bit kinky, but yeah, I would.

 

[everythingbeeps]

Edit: I dont think I have ever met anymore than 2-3 of my 2nd cousins, nevermind 3rd, 4th, 5th

This. My immediate family is big enough. I went to a sort of family reunion once, and there were a ton of people I'd never met or seen before and never spoke to again. Probably there were some 2nd cousins there, but none of them were ever introduced as such. I was like 10 and wasn't in the mood to meet anyone anyway.

That said, I had a huge crush on one of my older first cousins when I was a kid, and to this day she's still almost freakishly beautiful. But I've accepted I can feel that way without having improper thoughts.

 

[rayen020]

Yeah i totally would. I would wrap it first mind you and would probably be a one time thing. but heck i have have a couple of first cousins i'd do it with. we have alot of swedish in my family and well...

so yeah...

2nd or 3rd kinda becomes okay but i would wrap it first. and probably not best to talk about it outside drunk truth or dare games.

 

[theevilgenius60]

No, and I had a similar experience to the OP. I was actually at an event(can't for the life of me remember what it was, something involving new students at my university I think) and met this beautiful girl that I just connected with. We got talking and she told me where she was from. It's this small town where I have a LOT of family. Then she told me her last name. It devastated me to find out this girl who clicked with me so well was my cousin. I tried to break it to her softly once I'd figured it out, but she went pale as chalk. That day ranks up there with my worst ever.

 

[Quellist]

Legal in the UK, and imo its not much of a big deal either (never understood why people in the USA get so heated up over it).

So yeah, I'd go for it

 

[Yechezkel]

I was weirded out once when a girl who shared the last name as me asked me out. I assumed we were cousins, and it turned out we weren't related. Still, it'd surely have felt odd going out with someone sharing the last name as me. So I declined.

In your situation, I wouldn't go for it. Your family will frown upon this, and God help you if your children are born with deformities.

The chances for genetic issues caused from the offspring of even first cousins is typically less than the genetic issues for having children once you at 40 years old, and that is pretty widely acceptable. It makes sense to form family units outside of your established kinship group, and my enculturation makes it so cousin marriage seems pretty horrific, but its pretty common throughout the world, and there is no reason to freak out over the chance for deformities, we have much bigger variables mixed with that than cousins procreating.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure this thread could be nominated for the "Worst Understanding of Genetics" award for the year. For some reason people think of incest as this magical birth defect generator instead of a simple recombination of somewhat similar genes. Honestly if your family doesn't have any lurking genetic risk factors that you know of--haemophilia, sickle-cell, cystic fibrosis, etc--incest babies probably aren't going to be at a significantly greater health risk than their peers. Not that I would marry or have sex with someone related to me, but I acknowledge this as a cultural disposition rather than a scientific imperative.

 

[faspxina]

The results say 6 for yes. So either people are deliberately fucking with the poll, or people are freaks. My money is on the first.

Or maybe you're just judgemental as hell. I hope you're trolling or something.

I did say that I thought it was likely that people were just messing with the poll to throw the numbers off. But you're right, I'm being judgmental. There's no way that people on the internet will do anything like skew the results of a forum poll for the lulz.

I didn't say you were being judgemental for thinking that people were trying to mess with the poll, but for calling other people freaks. I've met couples who were cousins and they were as normal as everybody else.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I didn't say you were being judgemental for thinking that people were trying to mess with the poll, but for calling other people freaks. I've met couples who were cousins and they were as normal as everybody else.

You're taking this far too seriously and personally. Unfortunately sarcasm is hard to detect in text and I haven't been serious at all in this thread, so I apologize.

I would like to mention how stupid the mods are sometimes. They'll give someone a warning for the use of the word "freak" but do nothing to people who calls the community elitists. If everyone who used the word elitist got a warning, a lot of people would be banned.

Edit: Grammar fail

 

[Sporky111]

I probably would. But I'm gay, so I'm not bound under the same kind of "think of the children" fear.

 

[CptCamoPants]

There's really no reason for any kind of cousin to be off-limits other than tradition.
You're so genetically different from your first cousin that it doesn't matter.
However I wouldn't want to do it because I've been around them for so long

 

[Blow_Pop]

no and only because those of my cousins that aren't trouble makers aren't attractive...at least not to me. And theyd have to meet my standards for me to even consider.

 

[Slaanesh]

Well no, but I'm not interested in sex/dating/etc, so that's just my general answer. By 3rd/4th/5th cousin, do you mean your cousin's cousin's cousin (etc)? So there is literally no actually relation? Or do you mean that the closest relative is your great (great great) grandparents?

The latter. If they were my cousin's cousin that doesn't make them related to me.

Lets say you have a distant cousin(3rd, 4th, or 5th)

Why do you number your cousins?

...what? If 2 cousins share the same grandparents, they are 1st cousins. If they have the same great grandparents, 2nd cousins, great great grandparents, 3rd cousins, and so on.

If condoms are used, then yes, otherwise you're looking at potential genetic problems with offspring.
In conclusion, if it's just for sex, not procreation, and precautions are taken, what's the problem?

I always wrap it up. I don't plan on having kids, ever.
And there really is no problem, I was just wondering what some Escapists thoughts were on cousin on cousin bangin'.