The Taboo Culture

Written by Anastasya Dwi Tantya (016201200010)

If you are asking what taboo means.. the word 'taboo' itself came from the Tongan language tabu (also spelled tapu). It is a term in Polynesian and is generally defined as a prohibition against a particular activity. 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. People often associate taboo with ancient history, cultural anthropology, norms of religion, or perhaps with aboriginal tribes. Social taboo tells people what is proper behavior and what is not. Why many people associate the word 'taboo' with ancient history? Because people now are living in a modern world and thus it has shaped them as modern society. People nowadays have their mind more open to new things which maybe once were considered as taboo in ancient societies. We don’t, however, often use the term as an aspect of modern society in the developed world.

The fact is that taboo is part of culture. A culture from one society may be different with other societies, one religion different with other religion, and so on and so forth.. that is why people will likely find different taboos in different places. Here are some examples of taboos you may find around the world:

1. Openly discussing divorce. Kristy Campbell explores how divorced women, in particular, struggle with being able to share about their past marriage, and the painful process of divorce.

2. Streaking at sports events. I’m pretty sure you can just chalk this up to public nudity in general, but Steve Rushin at Sports Illustrated claims that it’s the ‘last taboo on television‘.

3. Breastfeeding in public and/or with older children. As the controversy stirred up by this recent cover of Time Magazine demonstrates, breastfeeding can be quite the touchy subject.

4. Re-gifting presents. Christopher Shea of the Wall Street Journal argues that the negative association attached to re-gifting presents is based on a simple misunderstanding.

5. Artistic skin-branding and scarring. Though the practice has been common in many cultures around the world, it’s now illegal in parts of the U.S.

6. Being alone. In what is probably my favorite read on the list, Susan J. Matt argues that loneliness is far more prevalent than we think, and is misrepresented because of our refusal to admit when we’re experiencing it. She also discusses the impact of social media sites like Facebook.

7. Showing childbirth in Hollywood. Steve Knopper points out how the one thing you can’t show on the big screen is a woman giving birth. This, according to Knopper, is Hollywood’s last taboo.

8. Openly discussing mental illness. Similar to divorce and being alone, mental illness remains a topic we don’t like to share with others. Author John McManamy started a blog in hope of offering a solution.

As it has been mentioned before, the people now are not taking taboos seriously. In fact, there have been some taboos-breaking. For example a long time ago people considered that showing sexuality is taboo. There was no particular movies showing sex on screen or perhaps sex issue on a magazine. But recently, a French film "Blue is the Warmest Color" with explicit lesbian sex scene won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and went onto garner rave reviews. This just one example that shows on how our society has developed culturally.