Auckland Deep Thinkers Online - "What is Taboo?"

Is anything considered "Taboo" these days?
A taboo is a powerful social or cultural prohibition—something a community collectively decides must not be spoken about, done, or even thought of. It’s not just a rule; it’s often tied to deep emotional or moral weight. Breaking a taboo can provoke shock, shame, or even punishment, because it challenges the boundaries of what a society considers acceptable.

• The word comes from the Polynesian term tapu, meaning “sacred” or “forbidden.”
• In anthropology, taboos mark off behaviors or topics that are off-limits, often linked to religion, purity, or social order.

Functions of taboo
• Social cohesion: By defining what’s forbidden, taboos help communities maintain identity and order.
• Boundary-setting: They draw lines between the sacred and the profane, the pure and the impure.
• Control: Taboos can regulate power, sexuality, food, death, and speech—areas where societies feel vulnerable.

Examples
• Universal-ish taboos: Incest, cannibalism, desecration of sacred sites.
• Cultural taboos: Eating certain foods (like pork in Islam or beef in Hinduism), discussing death openly, or criticizing authority.
• Modern taboos: Topics like mental illness, menstruation, or political corruption may be treated as “unspeakable” in some contexts.

Dynamic nature
Taboos aren’t fixed. They shift over time:
• What was taboo decades ago (e.g., divorce, homosexuality) may become normalized.
• New taboos emerge (e.g., racist language, climate denial in certain circles).

So, taboo is essentially a social boundary marker—a way communities enforce values by silencing or forbidding certain acts or discussions.

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