Taboos have
existed in all the cultures in the world for thousands of years and they can be
considered to be as old as man has practiced culture. There exist taboos for a
very wide range of things and all of these depend on the culture within which
it is put in practice. Examples of these are food taboos, taboos on topics to
discuss and which not to, sexual relations among many others. Different
cultures have different taboos which are strictly observed and it is indeed a
very rare thing for a person to break the taboos of the culture within which
one was raised. The taboos of various cultures are mostly linked to the
environment within which they live, the influences from other cultures, and
most of all, from their history. These taboos are learned by the people who
practice these cultures from a very young age and in fact, they are learned at
almost the same time as they learn their language. Taboos therefore become a
part of a person’s state of mind and it is an integral part of their growing up
process and due to this, it remains with them for the rest of their lives. In
some cultures, if a person breaks a taboo, punishment can be very severe and
these tend to be shunned by the rest of their society and at times even
banished or killed. Taboos are an important part of our culture and even if
they are discarded by people who practice them, it is inevitable that other
taboos will come up to replace the discarded ones.
It has been
said that incest and patricide are the most universal taboos and that these are
the basis upon which human societies are founded. Although these and many other
taboos are universal in a majority of cultures and societies, it has been found
that no taboo is completely universal and that there are exceptions in certain
societies. The most common taboos in many societies are restrictions against
killing fellow human beings, sexual relationships such s incest and bestiality,
the killing of unborn children, cannibalism and the most common of all, dietary
laws. Taboos have also come to affect language because every society has
certain words which are deemed inappropriate to talk about and those who use
such words are often looked upon with disapproval. This has resulted in people
using euphemisms and other words to replace taboo words in their speech. Taboos
serve many functions and they have a tendency of remaining in effect in their
respective cultures long after the original reason for their enforcement has
been forgotten by those who practice them. It has been argued that taboos can
be used to reveal the history of those societies which have no existing written
records and many have tried to relate taboos to the ecologic and economic
conditions which prevail in those societies which practice them. These attempts
have rarely achieved any meaningful results because it is very difficult to
determine the origin of a taboo when even those who practice it do not know
anything about it. The result of this is that all conclusions end up to be just
mere speculation because there are no facts to them up.
The rise of
rationalism and the sciences have reduced the power of many taboos in modern
cultures and today, it is a very common thing for people to discuss subjects
such as sexuality which were previously considered to be taboo. The increased
understanding brought about by rationalism has made certain medical disorders
which had been previously considered to be taboo to be treated more
analytically and this has ensured that such conditions are well managed and
that those affected live a normal life. However, this change in the perception
of old taboos is also very ripe ground for the breeding of new taboos. The end
of such things as slavery, the prohibition of alcohol, and the acceptance of
homosexual relationships have forced many to employ euphemisms which are
politically correct. This has been done to ensure that all forms of open
discrimination through language are avoided although this has at times proven
to be unsuccessful. Modern culture has also raised a great debate on the
previously taboo subject of incest with some seeking for the normalization of all
consensual adult relationships despite the degree of blood relationship while
others have made it harder for such things to happen by setting up laws
restricting such relationships. New taboos have come up today due to the fact
that many societies feel the need to remedy the effect that injustice has had
on modern society such as neocolonialism. Taboos have been established when
discussing such matters as race, ethnicity, and even nationalism because these
are perceived to be very sensitive issues which should be carefully handled to
avoid conflict between the concerned parties.
The history of
taboos in the West is quite a long one and as a conclusion, we shall look at
some examples of these. In Ancient Greece, adultery was a very serious taboo
whose punishment if caught, was death either through starvation or by being
dragged to death by horses. In medieval Europe, sex was not considered to be
for pleasure and instead, it was only reserved for procreation; this meant that
premarital sex was a criminal offense which was often punishable by death.
Homosexual activity of any kind in medieval Europe was looked down upon and
those caught were either heavily fined or imprisoned. It was taboo, especially
in the North American colonies until recently, for there to be marriages between
people from different races and laws were put in place to enforce this taboo. In
the modern world, the mainstream society has tended to discriminate against
those who undergo sex change operations and this is still a very controversial
topic to this day. These people have become a new taboo in the society and it
will likely be a very long time before they come to be accepted by the
mainstream.
