Taboos and Identity: Considering the Unthinkable

Human behavior is not governed only by rational decision making. Societies often have shared values and standards of acceptable behavior that members of the society are encouraged to follow. A culture or a society guides the behavior and the thoughts of their members by agreed upon expectations and rules. The list of behavioral guidelines is typically referred to as social norms and taboos. These norms and taboos have a huge effect on our lives. The way we behave, dress, eat, and drive, as well as our sex life, are all governed by the norms and taboos of the societies we belong to. While there is an extensive literature on social norms, taboos were mainly discussed by anthropologists that have documented and analyzed taboos in different (typically exotic) societies. The term taboo is of Polynesian origin (the words “tabu” or “tapu” in the Tongan language) and was introduced to the English language only in the eighteenth century. The original Polynesian term has a specific religious association—see also the famous book Totem and Taboo (Sigmund Freud 1955). According to Encyclopedia Britannica, taboo is defined as “the prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behaviour is either too sacred and consecrated or too dangerous and accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake.”