Claire Adrian - Incest, A Way Of Life

When a young girl, such as Harriet, is burned with the incestuous impulse and with voyeurism to begin with, not to mention traces of narcissism and exhibitionism, then there is almost no hope.

But then, the incestuous teenage syndrome never has made for a bright future.

In this work we have shown only a small portion of the general framework of incest, that fraction to which little space is given in generalized works dealing with sex of a consanguineous nature: the part played by the teenage "victim," the sexual academy award winning role of those girls and boys who, driven by the desire for incest, scheme and plot and, all too often, succeed in seducing their fathers or mothers, or their brothers or sisters, or aunts or uncles.

As we have shown, the blame for incest cannot always be placed squarely on the shoulders of the adult participant-not that any adult should be pardoned for such activity. He or she should have more moral strength. However, if we are to understand incest, we must look dispassionately at the problem, seek all the answers, and endeavor to untangle all of the Gordian knots that bind incest to the realm of the sexual unknown.

More than ever we must seek an answer to this problem, for, more than ever, incest is becoming more and more common in our present-day society-a very common sex factor that is linked not only to the so-called "poor," but to all strata, even to the haute monde.

Dr. W. F. Robie, author of Art of Love, has written:

In the upper stratum of society, where money is plentiful, idleness the rule, and precocity inevitable, as also in the submerged tenth, where the necessary sleeping of both sexes, young and old, in one room, where all manner of sex talk and acts are common in the presence of children and where choice of associates for the young, if feasible, is still rarely attempted, sexuality would differ widely from the normal, and incest does result.

We are confronted with other reasons for the rise in incest, the main one of which is the American teenager. Because of better health standards and education, teenagers mature (emotionally and physically) more rapidly than did even their parents at a comparable age. Unfortunately, our culture has not expanded at an equal rate. In spite of new ‘sexual freedoms,' in spite of sex education in our nation's schools (still in the experimental stage), and regardless of all the books and articles and TV programs about "adolescent sexuality,' the average person still finds it difficult to consider a 14-or 15-year-old girl or boy anything other than a "child," one who is pure, innocent and virginal in thought, purpose, and intention.

Were it only so-but it isn't! Teenagers are boiling volcanoes of raw passions, thinly capped, brand-new Sex Machines screaming to be used. Scared to death of being called "square," they want to be "in." And they don't find that this is difficult to do. Speech and discussion are freer in society, as well as parental permissiveness. Society no longer shoves sex under a rug and, consequently, sexual acts are often witnessed by closely related teenagers and this, inevitably, opens new vistas to them, of which incest is only one.

We find that the social climate of our times is suitable for the constantly increasing number of teenaged seductresses among us. Advertising, especially, is sex centered and youth centered-and the hell with anyone past forty! The two-sex and youth-have become a single quality desired by all, a sort of "god" that is worshipped on an ever-expanding altar.

Still another is the acceptance of "part-time" work by the very youthful, all of which has served to open a new avenue toward the enticing goal of sexual fulfillment. Even more enthralling to the young girl is the fact that she is thrown in with adult men, who find her very desirable.

This is not to intimate that most adolescent seduction, particularly by girls, is directed toward a relative. The majority of teenage seduction is not; however, American people in general would not only be astonished but horrified if they knew the full extent of those teenage activities that are of an incestuous nature.

We must not forget to mention modern clothing fashions, which also are lending a helping hand to the production of incest-with young girls dressing in a manner that would have been impossible even ten years ago. Is it any wonder that numerous fathers, in a weak moment, fall into the sexual trap set by their bikini-clad daughters?

As we have said earlier, there are no true statistics concerning incest; yet it is possible for us to obtain some indication of the prevalence of the perversion, acquiring our premise from U.S. Government statistics which deal with sexual offenses. About 45,000 arrests a year are made for major sexual offenses. New Jersey, for example, made this breakdown of such offenders: exhibitionists, 18%; rapists, 45%; child molesters, 14%; those involved in commercial sex, 7%; incest, 6%; and unclassified offenses 10%.

Six percent for incest does not seem like a large figure-and it isn't, not until we add these statistics to the figures of other states. When we do this, we find that thousands of men, women, and children are involved each year with the social and moral crime of incest; and when we stop to consider the opinions of various psychiatric authorities, such as the following-

Doctor Benjamin Karpman, Chief Psychotherapist, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington, D.C.: "More cases occur than are brought to court. Incest between father and daughter is most frequent; even more common are relations between father and stepdaughter. Influences are chiefly cultural and sociological."

Doctor Gerald B. Cox, Chief Psychotherapist of New York Diagnostic Center, Montclair, N.Y.: "Incest offenders do not have the neurotic reflections of other sexual criminals; responses are less clouded by evasion and complete denial. They seem to consider incest as essentially normal, not so reprehensible as perverted sexuality but a mature form of heterosexuality."

– and synchronize their words with the latest U.S. Census Report, we find that there are literally millions of men and women who have had some kind of experience with incest, either as adolescent or as adult participants-or both! It is common knowledge that adolescent incest participants have a tendency to repeat the incestuous practice.

If we are to consider all the pros and cons of the incest question, then is it possible that some benefit might be derived from incestuous sex relations? Yes, but only if one is to believe the theories of certain psychiatrists/sexologists-Dr. Franz Otto Schilling, for example, the famed German sexual authority, who writes, in Toward A Sane Sexuality:

The taboo against incest comes from the past, from a tradition that was derived from the Bible. This august book is riddled with references to incest: "After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwell, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do, neither shall ye walk in their ordinances." (Leviticus 18:3)

These are only a few of the references which extend to relatives; it is certainly implied that incest was most common among the Egyptians and the Canaanites, at the time. Consider, if you will, Abraham and Sarah, half brother and sister (Genesis 20:2-12), Ammon and Tamar, brother and sister (II Samuel 13:14). Nothing is more pointedly incestuous than Lot's daughters* seduction of their father in Genesis 19:33-35; and among the numerous references to incest contained in the Old Testament, one must not overlook the Song of Solomon, passages in 4:9-12.

Thus we see that incest had always been a part of the human sexual condition However, incest has never been a universal taboo, neither in ancient societies, nor in the modern world. Only recently has the interest of the scientists been directed toward this ancient problem, and sexologists are presently attempting to determine the real and measurable effects of incest on the contemporary world, without regard to the biases of ancient societies which obviously attempted to expand their strength and influence through marriage outside the tribe or family.