Taboo

Taboo is a game developed in 1989File:Wikipedia's W.svg a restriction of behavior that is deemed extremely socially unacceptable and profane in a society. Taboos exist in every society and when broken, cause people to lose their fucking minds.[1]

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Word origin

The word entered the English language (and many other languages) from the Tongan language. In Tongan, it means "sacred".[2] The word tabu (and its variants) is common in Austronesian languagesFile:Wikipedia's W.svg which mostly stretch from parts of southeast Asia across the Pacific Ocean. In some Austronesian languages, tabu can have somewhat different meanings, for example referring to particular family relations with whom one has restrictive behavioral relations,[3] or referring to a highly-valued unit of traditional currency.[4]

The purpose

Taboos exist to give people an excuse to get outraged about something maintain order in a society, as well as logical reasons. But overall, taboos are established because individuals are products of their environment and therefore feel pressures from others to conform.[5] In addition, "[s]ociety exists to maintain order, and taboos threaten that order".[5]

Science and logic are used to back up taboos:

  • Murder — Taboos maintain a society, killing gets rid of a society.
  • Incest — Biologically, incest is an evolutionary dead-end[5]

While taboos are taken extremely seriously, past taboos seem outrageous in hindsight. This reflects how societal values have changed, and demonstrates just how arbitrary they can be.

Taboos around the world

Universal and near-universal taboos
  • Paedophilia — The left movement a notorious rag in the UK says otherwise. No, seriously…
  • Cannibalism — Liking Campbell® chicken soup [citation NOT needed]
  • Homosexuality — Get with the times, grandpa.
  • Murder — Despite what Bible God tells us.
  • Baby loss — Because mothers needs a stigma to top off their depression from their loss.[6]
  • Necrophilia
  • Bestiality - If you can manipulate the authorities strong enough, you can make them believe that it is a genuine love affair... at least in Cambodia. [7]
  • Rape — In some jurisdictions the rapist is free of charge if he decides to marry the victim.[8]
  • Incest[9] — Despite what pornhub has taught us,[citation NOT needed] it is historically a firmly established taboo, however, in Europe this is changing.[10] However, what exactly constitutes incest varies, for example first-cousin sex is illegal in some jurisdictions and completely normal in others.

USA
This is how you give someone in the Victorian Era a heart attack — her shoulders are clearly showing!
  • Being Donald Trump
  • Being a racist — Removed because of redundancy, see above.
  • Girls wearing pants — And no, they weren't just wearing undies, they wore skirts.[11]
  • The N-word — Unless said by a black person.
  • Being Japanese
  • Child outside of marriage [11]
  • Visible bra straps [11]
  • Polygamy[9]
  • Being a non-heterosexual [11]
  • Pedophilia — According to Americans, all men are pedophiles.
  • Being Donald Trump — Repeated again for stress.
  • Owning a gun
  • Being Russian
  • Being a Mormon — Because Americans don't understand the religion.
  • Being a Communist
  • Being a Muslim — Despite other false-threats to our nation, this time it's not just a moral panic, we promise!

China
  • Naming tabooFile:Wikipedia's W.svg — A Chinese taboo of writing the name of exalted members such as emperors. This seems more of a way to establish superiority to plebs than anything.
  • "Flipping a cooked fish" — we can't make this shit up[12]

India
See the main article on this topic: India
  • Not following the caste system (if Hindu).[13]

Japan
See the main article on this topic: Japan
  • Not following dumb business customs[13]
  • Saying a private part by its actual name; it can even result in an obscenity charge[14]
  • Not eating in specified locations[14]
  • Blowing your nose[14]
gollark: You don't know my views. NOBODY knows my views. Except those who know my views, and I think they're quite knowable.
gollark: Fascinating. However, I own testbot, and testbot owns an infinite amount of ethics bees.
gollark: No, it just equivocates a bit with "tolerate".
gollark: This paradox is a LIE.
gollark: Or maybe the `sizeof` bit does.

References
  1. See the Wikipedia article on Taboo.
  2. See the Wikipedia article on Taboo.
  3. The Melanesians of British New Guinea by C. G. Seligman, Cambridge University Press 1910, page 707.
  4. Thirty years in the South Seas: Land and people, customs and traditions in the Bismarck Archipelago and on the German Solomon Islands by Richard Parkinson (2010). Sydney University Press. ISBN 1920899634.
  5. http://hubpages.com/politics/Why-do-Taboos-Exist
  6. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37618243
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20050203183132/http://www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/Crime_Court/0,,2-1343-1345_1655555,00.html
  8. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/12/world/justice-in-peru-victim-gets-rapist-for-a-husband.html
  9. http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/american-taboos-9754.html
  10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6424337.stm
  11. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/social-taboos-_n_5564560.html
  12. http://mentalfloss.com/article/55357/13-dining-related-taboos-around-world
  13. http://khoaanh.net/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=808
  14. http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/8-taboos-break-japan/
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