I guess there must be reasons for taboos to exist. I still wonder because of all the collateral psychologic damage they can cause. As with the law, if something is forbidden, explicitely or not, it means some people did regularly what was prohibited or taboo.
Taboos, at their core, function to form a lower guideline of what is considered normal, which is a shared way of approaching life and the world. People who have these shared guidelines, i. e. culture, form peaceful and cohesive societies.
The taboo, or counter-norm, itself doesn't have to have real importance. For example: in Iraq (at least the places I was) they have 5 prayer calls a day. At every one of these prayer calls the men would flock to the mosques, and the women would go do their thing in the houses. This formed a shared culture to build trust around, because everyone trusted that their neighbors believed and acted as they themselves do.
When norms are changed, or foregone, there is a chance that an important boundary has been crossed. For example, we don't marry our siblings. Upon first glance it doesn't make logical sense, especially if you're similar age and opposite sex, but the norm against doing so is important to prevent complications from inbreeding (disease, mutation, etc.). Homosexuality is another practice that was taboo, likely due to the spread of disease, and the importance of reproduction (if men's sexual energies are directed toward other men, and the population doesn't grow- especially after warfare- the society may be destroyed by a larger enemy).
However, since the Enlightenment era, the founders of Liberalism and those who emphasized the scientific method, we have both questioned and ignored taboos. After all, if we don't know why not to do something (constrained by our current knowledge) there's no reason we can point to in order to NOT do that. There are many other taboos that are likely to go away before society collapses, which will almost assuredly include sexualizing children (the Left is already doing this).
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Taboos typically worked as lines to never cross for a society or for anybody. Typically a lot of these taboos stem from some sort of moral or pragmatic reason. Things like pedophilia and incest are considered as taboo, and for good reason (taking advantage of kids sucks and inbreeding can cause a lot of harm to the kids), while other things like waiting till sex for marriage (there was a lot less control for STDs back in the day so it was good to avoid it altogether by only having sex with one person) or flirting with women in public areas (some sort of societal shame? I forgot what exact reason it was but it was seen as unruly) started to become defunct as technology advanced and societal expectations changed.
Taboos could very well change based on the era and society, but typically they exist for a reason. Whether or not that reason is defunct or not is for those that desire to question them to decide. (Don’t question the first two I mentioned though. It is universally considered a bad move to question it.)
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Taboos are there for a reason. They are things people don't often do, or are considered socially unacceptable. This can stem from old traditions or stereotypes or proven experience. Those taboos that have proven to be dangerous, like pedophilia, are illegal. Not all taboos are equal, but generally they are do to deter people from commuting certain acts.
Taboos are designed based on ethics & morals and furthered by a cultural and societal belief system. They even exist in animals, incest in many species in the wild is very limited because it is far more detrimental to engage in than not.
When it comes to LGBTQ and trans people anything goes including sexualizing children.
That's what's wrong with this world today people worry about other people's business fuck
Only Republicans and neocon "independents" still embrace that idea. We leftists and progressives do not
To keep societies running.
Jealousy.
Safety and precedent
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