ROCH controversy

[LuNaR]

as we all know, the most controversial theme in roch is yang guo marrying xln b/c they are deciple/sifu relationship. and all the ignorant wuxia ppl rejected them. but we all come to accept it because (i assume) we know they are truely in love and we dont care about sifu/deciple stuff.

but what if yang guo and xln were brother/sister relationship and still want to get marry because they are truely in love. xln would be the older sister but her appearance would still be young because as we all kno, she can maintain her youth appearance. would u be 1 of the ignorant wuxia ppl that will reject them?

and better yet, what if they are mother/son relationship? would u reject them?

[dgfds01]

A mother/son union would be incest. That's a big no-no.

By brother/sister, I'm assuming you mean martial brother/sister (shi jie/shi ti). If that is so, I don't think people would have opposed it. Marriages like that are common enough. I don't think the fact that XLN is older would be a probelm. People opposed the union because of their relationship rather than age difference.

[LuNaR]

A mother/son union would be incest. That's a big no-no.

By brother/sister, I'm assuming you mean martial brother/sister (shi jie/shi ti). If that is so, I don't think people would have opposed it. Marriages like that are common enough. I don't think the fact that XLN is older would be a probelm. People opposed the union because of their relationship rather than age difference.

i meant real brother/sister, by blood

but remember it is true love beetween them

[Thai guy]

In that case, I will of course be one of those ignorant people. Though, it is better if I can explain to them about the disadvantage of their marriage, i.e. how will their children be? (Of course, they are unlikely to be normal).

[Ren Wo Xing]

Inbreeding causes genetic defects.

[Ken Cheng]

as we all know, the most controversial theme in roch is yang guo marrying xln b/c they are deciple/sifu relationship. and all the ignorant wuxia ppl rejected them.

Actually, you don't even have to be an "ignorant wuxia" person to find a problem with this particular kind of social setup. Even in the comparatively enlightened West today, teacher/student relationships are still frowned upon. In all schools today, teachers and students are forbidden from having romantic relationships, and both can be dismissed from the school if such a relationship is discovered. It's a conflict of interest thing as well as a social taboo.

[LuNaR]

but they are truely in love tho like 1 is willing to die for another, so u'll actually break them apart?

[Battosai]

Actually, you don't even have to be an "ignorant wuxia" person to find a problem with this particular kind of social setup. Even in the comparatively enlightened west today, teacher/student relationships are still frowned upon. In all schools today, teachers and students are forbidden from having romantic relationships, and both can be dismissed from the school if such a relationship is discovered. It's a conflict of interest thing as well as a social taboo.

Well, in the West, a lot of it had to with pedophilia, i.e., teacher the adult with the student the minor. It's not so bad once people hit college; grad students marrying their profession is not unheard of.

In YG/XLN's case, I think both are of similar age so it's a matter of particular social prejudice, in addition to the conflict of interest, which is a fair objection.

P.S. How was your XMas?

[kidd]

but they are truely in love tho like 1 is willing to die for another, so u'll actually break them apart?

Yes, I will break them apart. Unless, they don't plan to have children. Inbreeding is bad for the next generation.

[Wu Xing]

but they are truely in love tho like 1 is willing to die for another, so u'll actually break them apart?

Why can't they "love" each other like normal brother and sister? I means like brother love his sister as a sister - no romantic relationship. Why?

[SkineePanda]

I think even Huang Yaoshi would be disgusted

[Ken Cheng]

but they are truely in love tho like 1 is willing to die for another, so u'll actually break them apart?

Any couple in love is free to do what they want. Society can't really stop them. HOWEVER, that couple must be prepared to face the social consequences. They can defy society's rules if they want, but they can't expect society to say, "OK. That's fine. Go ahead."

Henry Thoreau once wrote on the subject of civil disobedience: if you choose to go against society's laws, then you must be prepared to accept the consequences.

[Ken Cheng]

P.S. How was your XMas?

It was decent, but unfortunately, I had the flu during the holiday.

[Yang Guo]

er... brother/sister by blood is... no... same with mother/son/daughter

now if it were the case of step siblings.... I wonder

[LuNaR]

i think brother/sister is somewhat ok if they are TRUELY in love, but mother/son is no

[kidd]

i think brother/sister is somewhat ok if they are TRUELY in love, but mother/son is no

You would love Virginia Andrews (aka VC Andrews)'s novels then . Her novels are full of incestious relationships. For brother/sister incest story u can read the Dollanganger series which consist of

Flowers in The Attic
Petals On The Wind
If There Be Thorns
Seeds of Yesterday
Garden of Shadows (prequel)

[LuNaR]

lol well i think its only ok for YG and XLN and no1 else

[Siven]

Interestingly enough incest of the closely-related variety had not always been so taboo in the course of human history. The Bible for example is full of it, father/daughter, brother/sister, you name it. Incest practiced on a large scale would be bad, for pratical reasons, but if two people want to have a consensual physical relationship with each other I don't really find it repulsive...well actually I would sort of in that "eww I'd never do it" way, but nothing more. Then again I'm a moral-relativist. I mean, if it's a private thing between two free-willed individuals that doesn't directly concern anyone else, who cares? Note that if they end up having a defective child then that would be "concerning someone else." Love between cousins is a common occurrence in wuxia and period novels.

There has been interesting researchs done in this area. It's theorized that there're biological defenses against being sexually attracted to a closely-related family member. On the other hand, it's also a well-documented condition that siblings separated during childhood and later reunited in adulthood sometimes exhibit strong sexual attraction for each other, even if they're aware of their relationship.

[Xiao Long Nu]

I read in Popular Science that inbreeding can create genius children as well as "retards"

[Ken Cheng]

I read in Popular Science that inbreeding can create genius children as well as "retards"

Maybe. But it's a dice throw I don't think sensible people would chance.