Fandom Discussion: Incest -- Keeping It in the Family

[themostepotente]

Is incest really best?

What spurred this discussion on incest was a reply from my last inquiry about disturbing fics. dphearson mentioned anything James/Harry being certifiably squickable.

So I asked what she had to say about Lucius/Draco. I was not surprised to find out she wasn't quite as bothered by this. And you know what? She's not alone in thinking this way. Many people have issues with light sider incest.

So this just begs the question;

Where do we draw the line in the sand concerning incest in fanfiction?

What makes one pairing more justifiable than the others? When it all comes down to it - it's still incest.

There's Malfoycest, Pottercest, Weasleycest, and Blackcest.

Any why does it seem confined to the males? Lucius abuses Draco but Narcissa abusing Draco is almost inconceivable.

Since purebloods marry within their circle, incest seems inevitable.

Sirius is related to Narcissa Malfoy and Arthur Weasley.

And since Sirius is Harry's godfather, isn't he considered family?

Does incest have to be blood related to be considered taboo?

So many questions regarding this topic. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

--P

Comments

[ausmac.livejournal.com]

Interesting questions.

I first had a taste of incestfic quite a few moons ago when I read Simon&Simon brotherfic. Back then it was considered very squicky by the majority of fans, was quite an underground thing in fact. I enjoyed it because the relationship between the character was so loving, and going from that to a sexual relationship was very 'easy' for me.

See, incest has been taboo for many thousands of years between the different sexes for a very good reason - it prevents interbreeding. Having been involved in the cat breeding world for some years, I know what problems you can get with line breeding (that is, breeding fathers to daughters and mothers to sons). So, aside from any moral aspects, its bad for the breed/race to allow parents to have sex with their children.

We humans, of course, add another layer to the pure biological aspect by - quite rightly - saying that it is wrong for parents to have sex with their children and for siblings to have sex. In real life, it is very wrong, and that tends to colour our opinions of incestfic, the same way that paedophilia colours our opinions of chan/underage fic. Sometimes its difficult to differentiate between fantasy and reality, or at least, to differentiate our opinions of the two.

Take Lord of the Rings for example. That fandom has a substantial brotherfic body of work for Faramir and Boromir. I would hazard a guess that interest in this pairing is very much triggered by the fact that two very attractive males play the characters in the movies, that in the few scenes they are seen together they obviously have a strong bond in the face of their father's dislike to Faramir, and all that triggers a desire to put them together.

For Lucius/Draco, you have two blondes, the eldest of whom is attractive, powerful, manipulative and erotic. That's a receipe for slashdom right there. Since they live in an environment where bad behaviour is considered the norm, it wouldn't be that big a step to imagine them indulging in sexual activity.

I've never felt any interest in Harry/James, because James is pretty a well a non-event for me, and personally I'd rather pair Harry with someone far more interesting, like Snape. It's more that lack of interest in one character than any particular aversion to the notion.

I don't see Sirius/Harry as being incest, because they have no blood relationship (at least, no close relationship). There are certainly issues of control and trust, but that's true in the teacher/student set up, too.

Thanks for the chance to ramble, I should shut up now. (-:

[cloudyjenn.livejournal.com]

Hello! I am writing my senior thesis about HP fanfiction and I was wondering if I could use your quotes here in my paper. I need some input from fellow fandom members and I like what you have said about movie people affecting fanfic.

JenniferLupin

[ausmac.livejournal.com]

No problem, feel free, and I hope your thesis goes well. Its certainly an interesting subject.

[cloudyjenn.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!