Incest between twins, also known as "twincest", is a subclass of sibling incest and includes both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. While in modern Western European culture, such behaviour is considered taboo and is quite rare, incest between twins is a common feature in Indo-European, Indonesian and Oceanian mythology, and there are a few societies in which the prohibition on it is limited or it is partially accepted.
Contents |
In traditional Balinese culture, it was common for a set of twins of the opposite sex to marry each other, since it was assumed that they had sex in utero. The standard anthropological explanation of this custom is based in explications of the conflicts between descent and affinity in Balinese society.[1] Twin incest was a common feature of Balinese mythology—several southeast Asian creation myths prominently feature a twin or sibling couple. In one of the more common stories, the brother marries his sister and she bears his child, but on discovering that they are siblings, they are forced to part.[2] As in many other mythologies, the Balinese deities frequently marry their siblings without any of the issues faced by human incestuous couples.
Twin incest is a prominent feature in ancient Germanic mythology, and its modern manifestations, such as the relationship between Siegmund and Sieglinde in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, and a feature in some Greek mythology, such as the story of Byblis and Kaunos. There are strong parallels between the Germanic portrayals of twin incest and those of the Balinese Ramayana, and some scholars have speculated an early Indo-European link.[3] The theme also appears in English literature, such as the incest between the twins Polydore and Urania in Delarivier Manley's The New Atlantis.[4] Sexual conflict and incest between twins is also a prominent feature of the contemporary German author Kerstin Hensel's "Grotesque Literature".[5]
In a review of the scholarly literatures on twin homosexuality and twin incest, Ray Bixler concludes that "most same sex homosexual twins, if reared with their co-twins, do not attempt or even want to seduce them in adulthood".[6] His study draws on Edvard Westermarck's hypothesis that sexual desire is generally absent in relationships between members of a nuclear family.[7]
One case of incest between twins, in which a pair of twins who were adopted by separate families as babies later married without knowing they were brother and sister, was mentioned in a House of Lords debate on the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill in January 2008. According to the charity Adults Affected by Adoption, there had been other cases of this sort that had involved siblings.[8] The story was widely publicised in the British press, although its truthfulness was called into question.[9]
The famous twins John and Edward Grimes, who launched their career from the British television show The X Factor, have been rumoured to be in an incestuous relationship. The pair, more commonly known as Jedward, have many fans who support their possible relationship and would continue to be a loyal fan of the twins. The relationship has been named by fans as Jedcest, and it's supporters are known as cesters.