What is the meaning of Tabu? Concept, Definition of Tabu

Taboo: Compendium of definitions and concepts

Definition of Tabu

The taboo word refers to conduct, activity or prohibited, morally unacceptable habit imposed by a society, group of people or religion. It is something natural, prohibition of religious, economic, political, social or cultural content for no justified reason based on unfounded prejudices. Breaking a taboo is regarded as an unpardonable by society which imposes it. Some taboos are, in fact, crimes punishable by law, in this sense, the taboos are direct antecedents of the right. There are taboos heavily incorporated into the traditions of certain cultures, while others respond to political interests.
There are different types of taboo.
Taboos can include:
• Dietary restrictions (such as diet halal and kosher, religious vegetarianism and cannibalism)
• Restrictions on activities and sex (masturbation, premarital or extramarital sex, pornography, homosexuality, bisexuality, etc.)
• Restrictions on the use of the language (swearing oaths. A historical taboo such example is the taboo on names that was widespread in Chinese culture.)
To avoid some considered or taboo words, euphemisms are used. In other cases, disfemismos are used.
The taboo word comes from the Hawaiian or Tahitian (tapu in both cases), languages of the same family, and became Western languages via French and/or English. It could also be from the Spanish.
In primitive groupings causative behaviors of a tribal reaction were those who offended the taboo magical, i.e. prohibitions existing in the tribe native of superstition, sorcery and ancestral customs, in which the wise men or priests — always at the service of the powerful - were their watchmen. There is no in these primitive human groupings a prominent concept of what today we estimate as an offence, as violations of the magical taboos had rather the nature of what the positive religions have considered sin. The sanctions that followed the rape taboo also had religious character, that consisted of the deprivation of the protective powers of the gods of the community. However, in those primitive days, observed that what today we call the crime was a fact made individually and which by imply a violation of the Customs violative prohibitive rules of tribal community constituent of the taboo. The punishable behaviour was a native of habits and superstitions, customs and rites; He was regarded as a rupture of the internal or external peace of the clan; (e) prevailed in its conception a defendant of priestly religious character of collective defense physical, objective and blind of the ancestral principles that laid the foundation of the very existence of each tribe or community.
Primitive man believed that committing certain acts should result, inevitably, certain consequences. He accepted them without demanding that the relationship between cause and effect had a logical content, nor an ethical and moral base. Tradition and custom had taught him that if he did this or that (since taboos had validity in relation to actions, not omissions), suffer such and which punishment. Not because they were inevitable, because it would have violated a legal precept, or because it would have caused damage, but simply because he had violated a taboo, i.e., an atavistic ban.
In the most primitive societies taboos were represented by a series of negative rules, each of which envisaged and sanctioned, a form of prohibited conduct, whose realization should inevitably determine the culprit or damage, in some cases, the entire group to which he belonged. They served to get man into obedience, and prepared his mood in subsequent stages of civilization accept punishments resulting from violation of human laws. They helped to maintain the rule of the rules of morality currents within each social group, which could be applied not only to an arbitrary relation of man with the divine, but also everyday and current behaviour.
The weight of taboos was felt effectively in primitive, extinct or current peoples, because the degree of knowledge of its members not allowed to understand nature. The peoples that make up the current 'civilized world' made an intelligent selection within the domain of taboos. They accordingly allowed outlining only those who, based on experience, showed to have a social utility. Them survive under the aspect of rules tag or moral precepts, or took the most solemn form of civil or criminal laws. The passage from the magical taboo to the concept of the prohibition or sanction reasoned and reasonable followed a path parallel and equivalent to the tour of the progress of the human mind. Thus, the fear of the supernatural was replaced by concrete fear of sanctions of human laws.


Concept of taboo

Taboo is a Polynesian word meaning "forbidden". The concept allows to mention behaviors or actions that are forbidden or censored by a group of people because of cultural, social or religious issues.
Taboos are often put in place on what is considered unnatural. One who breaks a taboo commits a fault and is punished, either from the legal aspect (when failure is a crime and is a violation of the law) or social (through discrimination, public condemnation, etc.).
Most of the taboos arise from cultural tradition, although some may also develop from the dominant political interests. A taboo, ultimately, always represents a restriction to the field of action of people.
The notion of taboo changes with history and depends on each community. A subject may even develop a conduct considered taboo by society but which does not cause him any rejection. In these cases, it is usual that such conduct is carried out in private or in secret, to avoid public punishment.
Cannibalism is one of the most widespread taboos. Eating human flesh is considered aberrant by the vast majority of people. Other taboos are more dimensional, as the fact of eating pork (something common but convicted of Judaism) for Catholics, for example.
Sexuality includes many taboos, some very widespread (such as incest or bestiality) and others that are now obsolete (homosexuality, premarital sex).


Definition of Tabu

The taboo term is one that is used in common parlance to hacerreferencia all the attitudes, actions, behaviors, or set of values that can be opposed to what is socially acceptable and therefore understood how dangerous, unpleasant, questioned or not accepted by the majority of the population. At present, many taboo practices are carried out in a manner precisely private for unrest or social unrest that can generate, but that discomfort does not mean that they do not exist.
As everything that has to do with society and systems of ethical values that apply to a group or community, considered taboo practices are usually artificially established as such due to different sets of rules, values or behaviors that indicate them as morally improper, illegal or dangerous. This means that for a society that is taboo may not be so for another because practices considered as such vary not only in terms of space if not of time.
It is common to refer, when speaking of taboo practices that have to do with lasexualidad of individuals, as well as the relationships that are maintained with other individuals, dietary practices, the use of language or the briefest, etc. In this sense, there are sexual practices that tend to be considered taboo for most societies, as happens for example with what is considered incest (sexual intercourse between relatives) or with cannibalism (i.e. consumption of human flesh). However, what a society deeply conservative or religious considered taboo (perhaps the use of the body to make tattoos, gestures or ways of dressing) can be completely normal and common in other more liberal societies.
Today there are societies and communities considered "primitive" by modern Western society that keep many rites and practices that, according to Western morality, are not appropriate. The same happens with the Oriental marital, sexual, or religious practices that tend to be poorly viewed in the West. However, the criticism that the Western world made about other cultures not takes into account that many own practices (such as for example the excessive consumption of beef) can be unpleasant or offensive to other societies.


Concept of taboo

Taboo. It is the condition of individuals, institutions and things to which it is not lawful to censor or mention. The shadow of the taboo oscillates between the sacred and unclean, unclean so that in the first case the transgression will result of censorship, critique or disdain for what is considered taboo.
The taboo word refers to conduct, activity or prohibited, morally unacceptable habit imposed by a society, group of people or religion. It is something natural, prohibition of religious, economic, political, social or cultural content for no justified reason based on unfounded prejudices.
Breaking a taboo is regarded as an unpardonable by society which imposes it. Some taboos are, in fact, crimes punishable by law, in this sense, the taboos are direct antecedents of the right. There are taboos heavily incorporated into the traditions of certain cultures, while others respond to political interests.
The taboo word comes from the Polynesian: "tapu" (Prohibition). He referred to something supernatural and dangerous. So dangerous, that not occurred nor pronounce and to which pronounced it was punished physically. Only the wizards had a sacred power, called mana, to dominate the taboo. The word tabu (taboo) was introdicida in Europe in 1777, by Captain James Cook, which brought the word: Kangaroo.
Taboos are offensive words, which may not speak in public. Hence arise the euphemisms, to say the same thing, but in a nice way. That is the reason why we have so many words to refer to the "penis" and "vulva". Sometimes the euphemisms are used both, that innocent words like "peak" and "bitch", change of semantics and become offensive.
Food taboos
• Cannibalism: Eat human flesh is regarded as something aberrant (which moves away from the natural) by the majority of people.
• Eat meat: although it is a normal thing for Catholics Buddhists consider that it is an insult to their religion.
• Excessive feeding: in Mauritania (colony of French West Africa) women must be gaining an excessive amount of food between 6 and 7 years for that to their 12 or 13 years whether in proceedings for marriage, where they are forced to marry older men. Women are forced to eat in excess by the mother, under harsh punishments and the scars that leave are striking for these men accumulated fat in their hips is much more appealing which makes most obese women it more flattered.
Sexual taboos
• Incest: Is behaviour criticised by society knowing that this leads to that the children have psychological problems that will bring consequences in the relationship more forward, in terms of the genetic can cause diseases and in case of pregnancy, malformations. Many religions also qualify this as something immoral and absurd facing reality, but in Europe is already legal East type of links.
• Homosexuality: It is also regarded as immoral but in modern religions it is approved because it is pure love even if society still criticize this kind of love.
• Zoophilia: Sex is normal in the world but having sex with animals is considered barbarity towards animals and immorality and arbitrary way towards "normal" acts of man.
• Sadomasochism: Among the people it is normal that there is violence but sadomasochism is something not very well regarded by society but as such "It is not a taboo" only is considered as well by those who do not approve but actually not because society is providing no bad example Asia making this type of Act in privatealready that if one of the two parties do not want to have this type of treatment it would be considered rape.
• Pedophilia: It is an act immoral, arbitrary, brutal and in society is an act that punishes sexual abuse towards children and is called rape but "It's not a taboo" that is not a type of rite or anything like that from any culture.