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Top 10 Taboos in World
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The word taboo has come from the Polynesian word ‘tabu’ which generally means unacceptable or prohibited. The definition of taboo varies according to region, religion and society. Hence, some practices could be considered taboo in one society, while could be considered merely immoral acts in another: still in some other society it might be considered normal. Also, many taboos are illegal though not all. Let us look at the top 10 most common taboos prevalent in human societies.
Cannibalism, no doubt, is the number one taboo for human beings and this would be the last thing on earth that most human beings will do in order to survive. Cannibalism though exists in biological world, is not a common phenomenon as it threatens the existence of species. Most human societies have strong taboos against dealing with human corpses, let alone eating flesh from them. Nevertheless, cannibalism has been observed among humans in various situations like famine, war, insanity and religious ceremonies. Currently the only groups practicing cannibalism are Korowai tribe of south-east Papua and Aghoris of India.
Incest is one of the most common taboos across cultures. Among incestuous relationships, parent-child and sibling-sibling unions are the most abhorred ones. Though incest occurred among many cultures sporadically throughout history, modern age has seen the steep decline of formally practiced incest. Many countries also legally prohibit incest, though some countries like Israel, China, Russia, France and Turkey do not have any legal prohibition against consensual incest. Incest, however, amounts to inbreeding and the resulting offspring are likely to suffer from congenital birth defects. In nature, animals tend to avoid inbreeding if alternatives are available.
Human beings consider heterosexual relationships excluding incest as normal. All other sexual preferences and practices are considered abnormal and have strong taboos attached to them. Examples include homosexuality, bestiality, pedophilia, necrophilia and masturbation. Many of the abnormal sexual acts are both socially and legally prohibited.
Murdering another human being is considered an extreme act unless it is in war or in self-defense. The resulting anarchy from tolerating individual cases of murders has forced society to consider murder as a prohibited act. However, despite social and legal prohibitions against murder, they do occur rather regularly due to various reasons.
The will to live is the strongest desire in any living being. Hence, suicide frequently counts as a taboo as it surpasses even the strongest desire to take its place. It is also considered a religious taboo as almost all the religions have prohibited it. It is often believed in many religions that the soul of a suicide victim will not find peace and is denied the gates of heaven. Some religions also prohibit suicide as they consider human life to be sacred and a gift from God, not to be tempered with. Suicide is also a legal crime in many jurisdictions.
Human beings have never been comfortable with dead bodies. Dead bodies are generally disposed of in distant places after religious ceremonies. Touching or being in contact with human corpse is often considered unclean and plain unacceptable. Tempering with graves or handling decomposing corpses is also frowned upon. Even medical pathologists conducting autopsies on dead bodies are not seen as normal and the job is often considered socially unacceptable. Some religious groups or ethnic groups even oppose autopsy on the ground that the procedure will violate the body.
Though meat-eating is a fairly common practice amongst human beings, the meat is usually sourced from vegetarian animals. Flesh of carnivorous animals is often not consumed in many parts of the world. There is a strong social taboo against eating meat of carnivorous animals. Exceptions include bear, fox, dog, crocodile, shark, most fish and duck.
Many types of foods and drinks are considered taboo and not eaten based on geography, region, religion, ethnicity, weather and culture. Religious laws often control the criteria which qualifies a food as taboo. Examples are Jewish dietary law (Kashrut), Islamic dietary law (Halal), Hindu dietary law and Jain dietary law. While beef is prohibited for Hindus, pork is prohibited for Jews and Muslims. On the other hand, Jains are prohibited from eating any meat and even some plants. Most religions prohibit from eating carrion and blood. Muslims are prohibited from consuming alcohol, in any form, while Sikhs are prohibited from smoking.
Inter-racial Sex and Inter-religion Marriages
For many years, inter-racial or inter-ethnic marriages have been considered taboo. While absence of contact originated the taboo in the first place, fear of loss of culture and identity still holds the taboo. Such marriages are often considered to bring in adjustment problems due to different social values and cultural practices. Inter-religion marriage also is opposed on the same grounds. However, the biggest opposition to inter-religion marriage comes from the fear of inter-mingling of faith and loss of identity.
Ordinary bodily functions like menstruation, defecation, urination and flatulence are considered social taboos. People generally do not discuss about these bodily functions. Most people find the sight, smell and even mention of these disgusting. Body functions such as these are considered to be private and are not to be performed in front of other people. Accidental flatulence, though found to be socially unacceptable, is usually accepted and laughed off in informal gatherings.
By
Chris Drew (PhD)
/ July 5, 2022
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Drew, C. (May 25, 2021). 65 Examples of Taboos (Cultural, Religious & Food) . Helpful Professor. https://helpfulprofessor.com/taboo-examples-cultural-religious-food/
A taboo is an action that is frowned upon and considered inappropriate to practice or even talk about within a cultural group. A synonym of taboo is prohibition.
The word taboo stems from the Tongan word tabu or tapu , which roughly translates to ‘forbidden’. Captain James Cook learned about taboos on his 18th Century exploratory trips through the pacific and brought the term back to England.
While some taboos are legally enforceable, others are simply considered to be poor taste. In fact, most taboos are enforced not by governments but by subtle social signals that demonstrate disapproval of taboo behaviors.
This makes taboo very difficult for new immigrants to a society. They have to learn taboos that are often not explicitly taught or discussed, making it difficult to know what is and is not considered appropriate within their new society.
There are 3 Types of Taboos: cultural, religious, and food.
Cultural, religious and food taboos are not mutually exclusive. Some cultural taboos get their cues from religions that are dominant within a cultural group. Similarly, food taboos are enforced in many religious texts.
Below, I’ll provide examples of each type of taboo.
A cultural taboo is something that is considered inappropriate within a cultural group. While this overlaps with religious taboos, some cultures are governed more by social norms than religious norms. For example, western culture has a diversity of religions, but a unified set of cultural taboos.
In sociology, you’ll learn that taboos are just one of four types of norm (you might come across these if you’re studying AP Sociology). The other three are mores , laws, and folkways .
A religious taboo is something that is banned by a religion. They usually stem from the religion’s founding documents (such as the Bible, Torah, or Quran) and include rules designed to protect civil behavior and hygiene.
In Islam, things that are banned are called ‘Haram’. Similarly, in Judaism, ‘Kosher’ guidelines dictate how food should be prepared.
A food taboo is something forbidden or considered inappropriate in relation to food, drink and eating. They are often dictated by religious or cultural beliefs about what is okay and what is not okay.
Unfortunately, cultural, religious and food taboos are different around the world. While some are almost universal (like moral taboos like cheating and stealing), others are very specific to countries or regional cultural groups.
Regularly, taboos rely on appeal to tradition for them to carry on. In other words, there’s no reason that the taboos still exist except that it’s traditional in those societies.
The best thing to do is to research in advance before you go somewhere so you know what the cultural etiquette rules will be before you arrive.
Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.
Cite this Article in your Essay (APA Style)
Chris Drew (aka the Helpful Professor) is a university educator and former school teacher. Twitter: @helpfulprof
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All the advice on this site is general in nature. Seek professional input on your specific circumstances. Students should always cross-check any information on this site with their course teacher.
Jun 7, 2021
strange cultural taboos , strange cultural taboos around the world , strange customs around the world , weird traditions
May 21, 2022
Ammu Mohandas
Mar 6, 2022
Ammu Mohandas
Dec 2, 2021
Ammu Mohandas
There are many things in this world that we find weird or strange, but these so called weird things are a part of someone’s culture or customs that they follow religiously. While you may laugh at certain customs or rituals, please do not forget that you are hurting somebody else’s feelings or emotions.
Let us go on this exploratory journey on cultural taboos around the world and the reason why they are made or followed:
Thai people consider the head as a sacred or the purest part of the body, so it is considered offensive or insulting to touch a Thai persons head or hair. Hence please do apologize immediately if you by chance touch a Thai person’s head or hair. Don’t worry as the Thais will quickly forgive you for it.
In South Korea tipping a waiter or a public servant is considered rude or unacceptable. So it is best to avoid such situations unless you find a signboard that states it is fine to do so.
Avoid wearing shoes to a Japanese home as Japanese traditionally use tatami mats to sit instead of chairs. They also prefer having their tea or their meals sitting on the floor. As the Japanese has a floor based dining and seating arrangement, it is better not to wear shoes to Japanese homes as it may dirty the floor.
It is compulsory to thank your host for the lunch or dinner they have served in Norwegian homes. When you finish eating, make sure to say the phrase “Takk for maten” which means “Thanks for the food”. This is the perfect way to express gratitude to the cook for the effort she or he has taken to cook the meal. In Scandinavian countries, it is mandatory for children to say this.
It is considered inappropriate to stand and eat in Indonesia. Even if you purchase food from street vendors make sure that you find a place to sit and finish your food. Scientifically speaking, eating while standing will lead to overeating, you feel more hungry, bloated and gassy. As the Indonesian culture is all about honour and respect, it is mandatory to sit and eat as a mark of respect for the food.
Avoid wearing a red color dress to a Chinese funeral as red is considered as the color of happiness and merriment. White or yellow color dresses are appreciated as they signify grief or lamentation.
In Korea it is considered a death threat if you write a person’s name in Red colour. Writing someone’s name in red is when they had either passed away or if you are wishing harm or death upon them.
In many European countries like Austria, Italy and Germany it is considered impolite and disrespectful to chew gum in public whereas in countries like Belgium and France it is considered vulgar to chew gum.
According to the Japanese chopstick etiquette pointing with your chopsticks is considered rude and impolite, more like pointing finger at someone else.
According to the French wine etiquettes, do not bring wine as a gift as the host would have chosen the wine to accompany the evening meal. At the same time if you wish to get a gift, you can always opt for a special French dessert wine or high quality liquor.
According to the Sunday Rules in Switzerland, one has to keep themselves from doing noisy jobs on Sundays like mowing the lawn, Vacuuming, Laundry or Car Washing. Sundays in Switzerland are meant to be spending quietly, which is why one has to adhere to these rules. Sunday is a day for rest and relaxation whether you like it or not.
In Russia, an odd number represents a happy occasion and the even numbers signify funeral and sad occasions. So when you are gifting roses to someone in Russia, make sure it is in odd number.
In Spain when you yawn or stretch in public, it actually means that you are bored with the person talking to you. So even if you feel like yawning, please make sure to cover your mouth or hide your teeth so that you do not offend anyone.
In Europe it is considered disrespectful or rude to wear a hat at the dining table. It makes others uncomfortable and implies that you are preparing to leave.
As Hats are the most important part in Mongolian’s culture, make sure you never touch another person’s hat even if you are sliding it out of the way. Since the head is considered as the most sacred part of the body by the Mongolians, it is not appropriate to touch their head as well.
In Mongolia, horses are considered to have spiritual powers and many believe that their horse would transport them to the afterlife. This is the reason why one should not touch a Mongolian’s horse.
Do not click a photo comprising of 3 people in Cambodia as they believe that this will bring ill luck to the person standing in the middle.
In China the number 4 is considered unlucky and signifies death which is why the chinese avoid having 4 th floor in their buildings. Similarly buildings in the United States avoid having the 13 th floor as a part of a phobia of the number 13 which is known as triskaidekaphobia .
In Nepal it is considered rude and disgusting to eat from the same plate. A food, once it is touched by someone else would not be eaten by another person. A food touched by someone else is considered impure and is termed as “ Jutho ” in the Nepalese culture.
In India and Nepal, do not place your footwear or sandals in the upside down position as it is considered bad luck.
Few places in India follow this cultural taboo where you are not supposed to give or take sharp objects like knife, blade, saw etc from another person. Instead you can ask that person to place the object somewhere from where you can take it. As per this tradition, transferring of sharp objects develops enmity or hostility among the two people.
In China, do not wipe your meal plate clean as this is will offend the host, because it implies that you did not get enough food. Also in places like Afghanistan and India, you should leave a little food on your plate as empty plates will be refilled again.
In Kazakstan you will only be served half a cup of tea, as a full cup denotes that the hosts want you to leave. Also after you finish your tea or broth make sure to turn your cup to show that you are done with your meal.
In China do not let your date borrow your umbrella as this signifies that you will break up with your love. Instead walk your girlfriend or date to the door with you holding the umbrella throughout.
In Malaysia, Pineapples are planted under the house to ward off evil spirits that hover in the country’s jungle, air and water which disturbs the pregnant woman of the house. The Malaysian household believes that the pineapple spikes would keep the evil spirits away from the pregnant lady of the house.
Avoid gifting a clock in Latin American countries as clock refers to “to go for a funeral”, however you can balance the effect of this taboo by including a coin with the gift.
According to the people in Taiwan, the moon is referred to as a goddess and is name as Chang’e. Hence pointing fingers at the moon means you are offending the goddess.
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