why is everyone who's usually cool reblogging that visibly anti-incest post. like. "they think incest is a subversion of the nuclear family not an extension of it (image of pointing and laughing)" is not a progressive statement. this person is not arguing that a desire for incest or incestuous fantasies arise out of the material circumstances of our society's familial structures (which is at least partially true), but that incest and incestuous fantasies are innately perpetuating the same harms as systemic child abuse and are implicitly abusive and predatory (demonstrably false). if you doubt me, search the op of that post's blog for the word "incest" and look at the piles of justifications just an itch away from calling certain kinksters (predominantly transfem kinksters, let's not bury the lede here) child molesters. I would call this a dogwhistle but it feels more like a fog horn to me, frankly.
like. no, incest and incestuous fantasies are subversive actually, that's why you're mad about it. they are a very often a response to the nuclear family, yes, even often very personally arising from unfilfullment or abuse in nuclear family dynamics. however, incest and incestuous fantasies also most often offer a framework that is actually loving, much more so. further, to actually validate these kinds of relationships and fantasies is to dissolve and challenge the reification of the nuclear family; it is not untouchable, it is not sacred, it is not special. to argue otherwise, to say that these feelings are merely an extension of the harms of the nuclear family and leave it there, to say that these attitudes are perpetuating that harm, is all to transparently pedojacket those most hurt by familial abuse, while simultaneously defending the systemic injustices that enable that abuse. yes, children are especially vulnerable, and there are implicit power dynamics at play in familial relationships. however, these are fundamentally concerns rooted in children's marginalization, that find their answers in youthlib, not perpetuating bigotry towards incestuous attitudes. all relationships have some sort of power dynamic to them, and in looking at youthlib, we often find the very answers to navigate them properly, that being that we need to actually support and empower the marginalized to make their own decisions and meaningfully opt out of the things they don't want. in other words, there is no special harm caused by "bad blood" or "inappropriate relationships"; there is harm because we regard children as property. there is no actual material problem with incest. neither your blood nor the law are magic, and taboo does not dictate morality. no, instead the problem is the usual, boring one. the problem is that we do not support children as people.
and you can take all that from a survivor of the very kind of abuse you are performatively handwringing about. my abuse wasn't uniquely awful because it was my blood or legal relative/parent routinely sexually assaulting me, it was uniquely awful because I had no recourse for it. our actual relation was immaterial, and that power imbalance is a thing that can be fixed, addressed, and worked around, both structurally and personally. the scars I wear would be just as deep had they been put there by a teacher I knew from a young enough age, or a close enough family friend, instead of by my mom. the only real difference is that it's all so much fucking harder to talk about because you all treat it like it's uniquely disgusting, and so I get to be all fucking icky as well as scarred. you blame incest and come up with all this nonsense to justify your disgust reaction instead of thinking of anything actually liberational or progressive. you do not like incest because you are disgusted, and you are disgusted because you don't think for yourself. don't kid yourself, and don't condescend to me. if you want to talk about "power imbalances", then actually fucking do so. you don't fucking care about survivors like me, you're just a bigot.
