# Consensual incest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 15, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709 "2008-09-15T15:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/101 "2008-09-18T22:00:40Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Yet presumably if said infant appears “seductive”, you’d see no problems with going for it. If an infant could demonstrate the ability to give informed consent to sex, then I’d say he or she should be allowed to have sex. Similarly, if my aunt sprouted a penis, she’d become my uncle. My knowledge of human biology tells me that neither of those things are going to happen, though, so the question is moot. > [@](#): > > That is nonsense. Maturity is tied to age, within ranges. Where does it come from? How do you know whether someone has it or not? Until you can answer those questions, you’re in no position to make any claims about whether maturity is tied to age or anything else. > [@](#): > > This standard is absurdly low. Many a five or six-year old fits the first two criteria; I certainly knew how babies came when I was five. I doubt you knew about orgasms, or arousal, or the mechanics of sex beyond “this goes in there and then nine months later a baby appears”. But perhaps you did. In that case, perhaps you’d like to explain what it is that you _didn’t_ know, but you do know today, that makes the difference between being able or unable to give informed consent. In other words: if someone can know what sex is, what it can lead to, and express a desire to have sex, what could he still be lacking? And don’t throw out some vague, meaningless term like “social maturity” - be specific. > [@](#): > > Because you know that they are probably not really capable of appreciating in any meaningful sense the consequences of what they are doing. Specifics, please. Which consequences are they incapable of appreciating? And how does the passage of time magically render them able to appreciate those consequences? > [@](#): > > In short, as long as someone is able to point to an agreement, that’s good enough - you will not look behind that, where the person is obviously vulnerable (mentally unstable, or a child). No. What’s good enough is an _informed_ agreement, made in sound mind and without coercion. Being “vulnerable”, in the sense that something bad happened to you in the past and made you more likely to make certain decisions in the future, does not prevent you from giving informed consent. Everyone is shaped by their past. Maybe you hate brussels sprouts because you were force-fed them as a kid, but you can still make an informed decision as to what to have for dinner today, even though that decision will be affected by the trauma you suffered in the past. > [@](#): > > In the case of a child, there is no such excuse. One can see that it is a child. If a child approaches a grown man for sex, that highly unusual occurrance creates to my mind a duty on the reasonable person to look beyond the “consent” being offered, and show something in the way of empathy for the child. I agree completely. What I disagree with is the claim that this consent is automatically invalid, just because it’s rare or because you can trace it back to a past event. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/102 "2008-09-18T22:09:35Z")
[Whiny Junior Mod earrings on] Guys - can you take the NAMBLA thread somewhere else? Underage sex and consensual incest of the sort mentioned in the article cited in the OP are only tangentially related, at best. The girl and her brother were a year apart, close enough in age that most states would not find that illegal, even if they were under 18 when it began. Of course, I am not a Moderator, and I have no authority to demand this of you at all. Just a polite request that maybe we can return to the subject at hand? [Whiny Junior Mod earrings off] **jtsPimp** , I don’t think you responded to the query about people with known genetic weaknesses or bad genetic combos having sex, and it that is morally acceptable? Do you think we should all undergo genetic testing with each potential sexual partner before we knock boots? Should people who have one genetically damaged child be legally prohibited from having sex again? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/103 "2008-09-19T08:50:11Z")
I can’t find myself getting worked up over it. There’s two separate issues here though - incest and underage sex. Incest probably increases the chance of psychological issues that can go along with underage sex, but for adults I don’t see any problem with it as long as there is genetic counseling before procreation. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/104 "2024-03-20T19:49:38Z")
2 posts were split to a new topic: [Incest with minors troll](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incest-with-minors-troll/999097) ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/105 "2024-03-20T19:41:57Z")
> This is the first time Mitch33456 has posted — let’s welcome them to our community! Let’s…not. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consensual-incest/463709/107 "2024-03-20T19:48:36Z")
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