The Big [Censored] Theory

Talking about sex is taboo because having sex is taboo. Having sex is taboo because if women have sex with more than one man, none of men can be sure whose child she is carrying.

Men, in general, really like having their genes carried on. Men, in general, really hate wondering if a child is theirs or not.

That women having sex with multiple men is taboo has a rationale behind it, sure (even if it's not a very good one). But not talking about sex would surely make the issue of uncertain fatherhood even worse...

> Talking about sex is taboo because having sex is taboo.

I don't see one being necessarily linked to the other. Murder and violence are "taboos" yet adults talk about them all the time. Especially in TV shows.

> Having sex is taboo because if women have sex with more than one man

I don't see the link. If having sex with multiple men was taboo, then discussing or having sex with a single man would not necessarily be taboo.

Your argument also seems to be about unprotected sex, the kind which can lead to kids. So is protected sex not taboo, then?

Universal, cross-cultural taboos haven't generally adjusted to the last 60 or so years of innovation in birth control. The realities that gave rise to them are ever present in an agrarian, low-tech economy.

(not just human) Males need to be sure of paternity. Males who don't mind whose children they are raising aren't well selected for. This should be apparent to anyone who has ever watched a nature documentary. Humans are simply not that different.

I am no psychologist and as such have no idea what I am saying, but we're on a discussion forum so yeah. Something tells me sex is taboo because of some very fundamental psychological dissonance.

Sex by its nature completely shatters any notion we have of being civilized, rational actors made of pure white spiritual light. Alas, it shows us as sweaty, ape-like animals needing, nay, wanting to exchange fluids to produce our offspring. Nothing about it is pure and orderly and it is completely at odds with common mental strategies handling our issues with mortality. Being made of divine spiritual energy is quite at odds with the actual reality of it all.

Oh yeah, that and it being a means of production: it makes workers. Which is to be controlled at all times. But that alone does not explain why this taboo is also common in other type of societies.

I tend to disregard this "common sense" pop culture knowledge, because it's one of those things people say without evidence, and which often tend to be wrong.

I would love to see someone explain the link between taboos about sex and male paternity claims, but so far I see not a single (even dubious) reference from subject matter experts, so I will continue being skeptical about this claim.

"It's obvious!" doesn't convince me.

If I were a man in power and i wanted to protect myself from investing effort into raising children that don't carry my genes, I'd definitely try to establish a taboo around women having sex with multiple partners. And maybe it's possible that if you don't also have taboos around even talking about sex, then the former taboos wouldn't be sustainable. But it seems just as likely that a society that talks freely and openly about sex would be one in which paternity would be easier to establish, because it would be common knowledge which sexual partners a woman claiming to carry your child had.

It seems like it should be a topic covered by Diamond's "Why is sex fun" but I can't remember an exact section devoted to taboos (nothing in the index etc.).