So, what's taboo?

[rabid_fox]

Just a ponderous pondering that I did ponder earlier in the evening (as I am wont to do when making coffee).

What exactly is taboo these days? Surely all sorts of sexuality have been removed from taboo and have become a source of morbid interest (2 girls, 1 cup/Goatse/Tubgirl/Pain Olympics and so forth) - sexuality isn't the taboo it once was. If anything, we're openly intrigued these days.

Religion - there's still an element of taboo here, but no so much as there used to be (for example, 'Taking the lord's name in vain' isn't something that causes consternation anymore). Multiculturalism and the rise in spiritual apathy (with no disrespect to either theists or atheists) have killed off the great religious taboo.

Now, traditionally speaking, sex and religion were the two major taboos in, at least, Western society.

I propose that these days, it's the body and physical contact. Here's a little game for you to play. Try to use the word "touch" in conversation. Instead of saying "I was petting my dog," say, "I touched my dog." Instead of saying, "I bumped into that guy," say, "I touched that guy."

Observe the reaction.

If anything, 'touch' is one of the most taboo words in English these days, followed closely by the genital words that we've all seen written over toilet cubicles and that don't need listing.

Double question:

1. Do you agree? If you don't, then what do you see as taboo?
2. If your answer to #1 is 'yes' - why do you think that the body and physical contact is so taboo in modern Western society and what does it say about us? (Anyone who reference Clause 28 here gets bonus points).

[Bocaj Claw]

Taboo: a game where you try to make people guess a word without using any taboo'd words or phrases.

[rabid_fox]

That just got existential, man.

[Cosmic^Chicory]

Well, just about everywhere else on earth regards the US as incredibly pruddish and stuck up about anything regarding sexuality or body image. That's still just about the biggest taboo going on there - eg, Janet Jackson's Superbowl thing.

[Holley]

Well, just about everywhere else on earth regards the US as incredibly pruddish and stuck up about anything regarding sexuality or body image.

Its been my experience that a larger proportion of Americans apply to this that elsewhere in the first world ...

I think Rabid is right about the word 'touch' though ... don't want to put it to the test though

[osprey]

That's one sexual machine.

Though I definitely agree, touch is one of many words that has been made taboo by the prudishness of North American culture. Though I do believe that this taboo on not just touch, but sexuality as a whole arises from those who regard it as more of a taboo subject responding to the growing portion of the population that regard sexuality in an increasingly open manner, especially compared to even as few as a couple decades ago.

It's gotten to the point where, at least in my neck of the woods, it's better to jam oneself against a standee pole in a bus rather than brush against someone.

[Burning Sheep Productions]

The physical act of touching is much more taboo than it once was. There's probably a link there.

[nickspoon]

Although I see your point, this doesn't occur everywhere. In Italy, for example, it is common for one to hug any friend (of either gender) as greeting. They are very easygoing about physical contact.

In the English-speaking world, however, I would agree that the verb 'touch' when referring to another living thing has developed connotations which most would consider unacceptable.

[Tom Flapwell]

I feel you, man.

[Ibun]

I've touched children before.

[Extreme-Speed]

I've touched my parents and my brother before.

[Gecko]

...you've, left it open! Too... too easy!


I touch myself.

[Cosmic^Chicory]

*touches cute fluffy kitties on a regular basis*

[Kazapsky]

We all touch our keyboards in order to type these posts.

[Liz]

...you've, left it open! Too... too easy!


I touch myself.

Aw. You got to it before I did. D: