Genetic Sexual Attraction, under this name many may be confused about the nature of this concept, but by its other name of incest, many may have a visceral reaction to its concept. The documentary, Brothers & Sisters in Love, explores the relationships of three genetically related couples and what it means to be in an incestuous relationship. Following the three couples is something that is done very carefully so that they do not offend these people who they are documenting, much care is placed in the questions they ask and how they treat these people who are committing a huge cultural taboo. The siblings and one mother-son relationship, in this documentary, are ones who did not grow up together, but rather met through genetic tests or through adoption records. This later meeting in life is what the specialists in this documentary state as the reason for these taboo relationships, the idea of wanting so desperately to be close to someone you were apart from for so long that you share so many similarities with can drive some people to do something that is unthinkable to most. Although incest is actually illegal in many countries, most of these couples are able to evade legal repercussions by not disclosing their sexual relationship, as incest is only illegal if the nature of the relationship is sexual. One couple in this particular documentary is actually unable to avoid legal consequences because they decided to have children and the male in this relationship was sentenced to jail time because of his sexual relationship with his sister. Towards the end of this documentary one of the subjects, an elderly man who had previously felt a onesided attraction towards his recently discovered biological sister, discusses that the seeming subculture that he belongs to is a group that experiences genetic sexual attraction and not incest because the term of incest has so many negative connotations that don’t necessarily pertain to people who experience genetic sexual attraction.
Obviously, this documentary followed a taboo that makes everyone react in a hugely negative way, but what this doc also does is raise an important question. That question being, if this documentary is following so many people who deal with this condition, and has mentions of several others, what do we call this ‘community’? Would this community of people committing this taboo be considered a subculture or a counterculture? To me, it’s not an easy question to answer because it has elements for both. If you’re arguing for a subculture you can say that they live with a different value in life than people who do not experience ‘genetic sexual attraction’, one of the couples in the doc has created a whole online community of people who experience these feelings and actively try to support others who also experience this. On the other hand, these people are committing a huge taboo that exists in so many countries, they’re going against the general idea that incest is bad, and rejecting the rules of not committing incest. So what is it? Realistically, it’s more of a counterculture because they do openly reject the norms of society in committing incest. There is also the added factor that this is just brothers and sisters, which is awful to think about, but the definition of incest includes parent-child relationships which are much more of a taboo would emit an even more visceral reaction to the idea. So, if it’s possible to do this, the online community created by the two siblings in this documentary is solely comprised of brothers and sisters and potentially cousins could potentially be the ones who are considered more of a subculture while other forms of incest would be considered part of a counterculture. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that any form of incest is arguably awful, but is it fair to lump all forms together into one idea if there are forms of it that are arguably worse?
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Brenna Sociology 107 