Taboo and genetics

The authors combine biology, ethnology, and psychology to analyze human sexual behavior, family institutions, and taboos. A first section reviews genetic and endocrine bases of sex, sex differentiation, intersexuality, and the implications of reproductive specialization for group survival and dysgenic trends. The second surveys primitive and historical sex taboos, the ambivalent cultural attitudes toward women from sacredness to demonization, and their persistence in modern institutions with harmful effects on reproduction and family life. The third examines psychological conditioning of sexual impulses, unconscious influences, and the mismatch between individual desires and social norms, arguing for more rational social regulation.