[1000 words]
It’s all very simple, really. I’m sure you would all understand it just fine, if you were to permit yourself to think on it calmly.
First off, the biology. The story goes that the point of life is to survive long enough to pass on our genetic code. When you mate with someone who’s relatively unrelated to you, you pass on 50% of your genetic code.
However — when you mate with someone you’re more related to, you pass on more of the same genetic code. The more closely related the relative, the more closely you can pass on your code.
Thus, there’s an obvious incentive to incest.
However, that’s counter-balanced by the possibility of inbreeding. And so we evolved social taboos against incest, as well as the basic psychological one of feeling that it’s icky (the Westermarck effect).
Nevertheless, it stands to reason that the temptation would be there.
Secondly, there’s the fact that we are (apparently) titillated by associating sex with something wrong and naughty. That makes it more exciting, more thrilling. Adds a bit of spice to the vanilla.
And how many things are more taboo than incest?
Therefore, so long as sexual fetishes are a thing, incest is probably going to take pride of place among them.
To this, you add the basic fact that pornography is, on a fundamental level, less interesting than real sex. Even in 5k, the graphics aren’t as good, and it’s going to take quite some time to develop a full-immersion gel tank to reproduce the tactile sensations. Thus, you need it to be more extreme, more titillating, to achieve the same effect of arousal.
(Mind you, real sex is absolutely terrifying, but that’s a question for another day.)
Thirdly, we live in an age of rapid modernization. The idea of absolute right and wrong is becoming increasingly untenable. Everyone is more or less being forced to admit that everything is one big grey zone.
As a result, incest is being downgraded from “MORTAL SIN, YOU’LL GO TO HELL!” to “almost certainly a bad idea. would make things rather awkward, wouldn’t it? let’s just watch a movie, retire to our separate rooms, and wank instead.“
And as the taboo becomes less based on superstition and more based on rational consideration, then the permissibility of simply entertaining the thought while self-stimulating increases accordingly.
Quick interlude: why is it predominantly step-sibling?
Basically, people are cowards. The “step” allows a part of them to pretend it’s actually kosher. And parent-child sex is pretty nervy stuff — it takes some balls to bust a nut to that.
But really, it’s because the pornographic hosting websites don’t want to deal with the shit they’d get if they took the “step” out of the title. It would eat into their bottom line. And so it’s gonna be “step-this”, “step-that” for another little while.
But all of that is relatively unimportant.
The real reason there’s so much incest porn is this.
Our social system has left us all atomised, confused, and alienated from each other.
We are all lacking in basic intimacy, and have been all our lives.
Sex is as much about primate socializing as it is about reproduction. It’s about the hit of oxytocin (intimacy) as much as it is about the dopamine (excitement).
And masturbation is even more clearly so.
We don’t really masturbate because we’re horny.
We mostly masturbate because we’re lonely.
It’s self-comforting behaviour. Like giving yourself a very special hug. Because there’s no one around willing to even pat your head. Because we’ve put ourselves in a position where a dog’s life is lookin’ like a luxury.
And here’s the key thing.
Let’s say you’re going to get two actors to act out being very close and intimate with each other.
If the scenario was that two normal, unrelated people were meeting and having sex for the first time, you would need:
- Skilled actors
- A well-written script which establishes the characters’ personalities well enough for their eventual meshing to be noteworthy
However — people who are skilled actors and people who are willing to have sex with a stranger on camera are rarely the same people. And, again, people who write excellent, character-based drama rarely go into the porn industry. Furthermore, the audience is usually rather impatient in these moments.
And what do you get when you add 1 + 1 + 1?
That’s right.
Incest porn.
If the characters are step-brother and step-sister, then there’s no need for any of that fancy stuff. Heck, there’s not even a need for set-up.
How do these two characters know each other? How come they’re already so close?
That’s already stated in the premise. You know why before you even click the video.
And it’s easy for the actors to act. It’s not like “You find this woman so magnetic because when you were a child, you fell in love with ballet — and even though she stacks shelves in a department store for a living, she does so with a grace reminiscent of Odette’s apotheosis at the climax of Swan Lake.” That’s difficult to pull off. Whereas “You find her annoying but also love her, because she’s your sister” is relatively straightforward.
Plus, you get this extremely neat scenario for the push-and-pull dynamic which is central to all dramatic tension, but perhaps most obvious in archetypal “boy meets girl” romances. The family setting makes “escalation of mutual teasing boiling over into passionate union” as easy as snapping your fingers. The “will they won’t they” has some readymade, built-in stakes.
In other words: it’s easy to make a porn film about people being affectionate and playful with each other if you say they are related.
And humans like affection and playfulness.
Long story short — incest porn has become such a fad these days because it’s the only way a great many people have access to a loving, nurturing, intimate sexual relationship.
Even if it’s only through a screen.
And in case you’re wondering what my stake in all this is…
We’re all brothers and sisters in Christ.
My incest taboo seemingly covers the whole world.
So just keep it simple and die alone.
^__^
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David Leon 