Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I think being close since childhood is the factor here? That’s definitely how the disgust evolved, a fourth cousin you only met as an adult is not going to cause the same response as an adoptive sibling.
Pretty much. We knew she was adopted from a very early age and so did she. My extended family is massive and spread throughout the whole US, with concentrations in certain pockets of the country. So whenever there was some kind of get together, we’d all balkanize and split into camps, and we’d whisper and talk “who the people over there by the lake are,” or “who are the kids on the back patio?,” because we didn’t know who these other family members were.
A lot of times the older cousins and adults introduced us all to each other and we became very friendly and open. Large groups of us would run to my grandfather’s game room down the hall or we’d go down to the basement and we’d all play pool or football outside. One time though, one of my very distant cousins comes up to me and goes “Hey, who’s that girl over there?” (Referring to her.) I tell him who she was and he goes, “She may be family, but if I don’t know her, it don’t count right?”
More options
Context Copy link
I think you got carried away with the example here. I'm pretty sure even explicit anti-cousin-marriage laws/norms don't prohibit relations between fourth cousins.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link