How should the incest taboo myth be understood

This is an analysis of the so-called incest taboo myth, a mechanism of patriarchal, male and adult domination that not only regulates the sexual reproduction of our species, but also acts by making situations of incestuous sexual violence invisible within us.

Incest is praised in the most consumed pornography. There is language that insults women, they are classified by insult, and so is the way the content is labeled. There are more worrying conclusions, such as the fact that praise of incest is commonplace in the most consumed pornography or that violence and humiliation against women has become normalized. 

In general, there is a lot of data to support concerns about the massive, easily accessible and free consumption of pornography without age or content restrictions. Real filmed and reproduced rapes, explicit depictions of torture, and confirmation that in 97% of scenes women are the object of attack, are some of the data provided in various studies referenced by experts, which also link pornography and gender violence. However, they focus their concerns on the “normalization” by the majority of pornography consumers of the association of violence and pleasure, and the power of pornography to “create collective sexual fantasies” based on gender inequality. 

In the porn industry, almost any fantasy can be realized, from the “slightly weird” to the “highly unusual”. In the context of incest, family porn videos are the ones that aptly depict the incestuous relationship, realizing many viewers’ fantasies about incest that they would never be able to realize in real life. Incest will never be truly acceptable in the real world and it will always exist in porn.

It has also drawn attention to the increase in sexually transmitted diseases and the lack of protection against pornographic images, and has opened a debate about the “consent” of people participating in the filming of pornography, understanding that this is a concept that is flawed by circumstance. 

Across different walks of life, everyone was unanimous in expressing their concern about data showing distortions in relationships and gender balance caused by pornography, an issue that should be reflected not only on its prohibition but also on “digging deeper” to determine “what kind of model society we want to build.” 

There is some regret that pornography serves to produce certain behaviors in society that until recently were unacceptable. In general, what pornography offers today is “reproduction of the prevailing patriarchal system”.

In this cultural scenario, it is very difficult for victims of incestuous sexual violence to politicize this experience, because we feel fear, anger, guilt and shame. It’s not something to be proud of. Because? Because in our culture, girls and women have the honor and morality of our families and communities and, in some ways, victims of incest sexual violence not only bear the pain that results from the abuse itself, but also, we have to bear the stigma of guilt and shame for suffering.

As a society, we must change our ontological perspective and assume that girls are victims of this type of violence and they have no right to prevent it, or even reduce the likelihood of its occurrence, because it happens within their own families, in private spaces and, sometimes, in daily routines that are part of raising a child – such as the bathroom, the room or the bed itself – therefore, they are in a situation of total helplessness. Furthermore, the violence is perpetrated by a person who has authority in the patriarchal institution of the family (the biological father) and abuses this position of power.

Undoubtedly, we must change the paradigm in analyzing incestuous sexual violence against girls, broaden the approach and make it more complex, create a new hermeneutic of abuse, only then will we as victims stop feeling guilty, ashamed, as if we are “dirty” with the stain of abuse, as if it cannot be washed, because it is a constitutive part of the victim’s subjectivity. 

We must see ourselves as victims who can overcome this difficult situation if the necessary conditions are in place (judicial, psychological, labor, educational, cultural, social, etc.), society must be convinced that we are not forever marked or defined by the stigma of abuse, guilt and shame. To achieve this, it is inevitable that we must seriously deconstruct this stigma. Only in this way can we change our perspective, break our prejudices and free ourselves from a heavy burden that is not ours to bear.

We need psychosociolegal intervention theories and methodologies that empower victims, that see us from a comprehensive, complex and multidimensional perspective, not just as responding and symptomatic organisms; we do not deny the serious psychosocial impact that incest sexual violence has, but we should look at the actions, resistance and agency that victims can develop from these painful experiences.