incest meta
(I'm hoping this doesn't get lost in the Bank Holiday shuffle. Dude, I busted out my Psychology textbook for this shit. Be impressed at my epic nerdiness! :P)
I think, when it comes to discussion of incest in fandom, a lot of the time we get stuck on the, "eww! it's sick! stoppit!" vs. "dude, leave me to my kinks!" merry-go-round. But I think that there's more to discuss. I should note that when I found my first incestuous 'ship (Max/Isabel in Roswell) there really was a huge amount of backlash* and I find it vindicating (and pretty amusing :D) that incest has come into vogue since.
*Funnily enough, I remember that, as Roswell fandom was winding down, a few Max/Liz 'shippers "came out" as also being Max/Isabel 'shippers, but they never felt they could say anything before. Needless to say, I never really had an issue with being labelled the incest girl. *shrugs* Water off a duck's back, really. I don't, however, take kindly to being called sick and delusional just because I have a rich and varied fantasy life.
I think incest has become pop culture's shorthand for "omg! shocking!" I remember when the short film, Starcrossed hit fandom, several people commented wryly that it's no longer shocking enough for the characters to be gay, they have to be incestuous as well. Whereas twenty (or even ten) years ago, the revelation that a character was gay might have elicited that all-important OMGWTF? reaction, now (thankfully) we've taken baby steps towards a less bigoted world. I think incest has replaced homosexuality as the "it" taboo. (Note: I am really not directly comparing incest with being gay. Incest is wrong; being gay is categorically not. But, my point is, they're both taboo.) Lost and Prison Break have both used incest as a "shock reveal"; Cruel Intentions used to it as an easy shorthand for a deliciously subversive plot point. I think fandom has taken to incest for broadly similar reasons. Incest means built-in angst. It's the insurmountable obstacle against a 'ship finding happiness and recognition-but, god, isn't the UST and the dirtywrongbad that we as readers and writers get instead sometimes more interesting than fluffy happilyeverafter?
I picked up a copy of Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo, edited by Arthur P. Wolf and William H. Durham, because I wanted to do a little research on incest for my novel. It actually turned out to be a very interesting and eye-opening book. And, obviously, I couldn't help comparing some of the theory to pop culture and fandom. Upon reflection, I also think that a lot of what people think they know about incest is probably based on misinformation and half-truths. Facts are fun! So is learning!
I am going to attempt to condense some of the arguments in the book in order to give a makeshift "primer" on incest theory. This might involve too much simplification of the theories, (also, I am not a biologist, so a lot of the science talk went *woosh* over my head,) so don't take my summaries as gospel, and if you're really interested, I definitely recommend reading the book. I am also going to discuss the following pairings: Max/Isabel (Roswell), Simon/River (Firefly), Shannon/Boone (Lost), Sam/Dean (Supernatural), Justin/Rebecca (Brothers & Sisters), Peter/Claire and Nathan/Claire (Heroes). I will attempt to break up the main points into their own sections, to lessen the tl;dr-ness of this post.
Basic facts of inbreeding and incest
I always imagine monstrous defects when I think of inbreeding, but the biological reality is actually less shocking (or, perhaps, more shockingly mundane). The main genetic problem of inbreeding is the way that matching recessive genes are allowed to come together. Yet, inbreeding does not, as such, cause degeneration. Inbreeding can only intensify the inheritance of traits, good or bad. (For example, Cleopatra was the offspring of several generations of brother-sister marriages and she was "handsome, vigorous and intellectual". [Leslie White]) Nonetheless, in parts of the world where cousin and uncle-niece unions are legal (Japan, South India, Pakistan), studies have shown an increased death/major disabilities rate of the offspring of incestuous unions (between 22% and 36%). Studies in such societies have also shown that one of the most biological harmful factors of inbreeding is in the significantly lower number of children that incestuous unions produce and a higher divorce rate; this is presumably due to a lack of sexual attraction between the two parties.
(Fun fact: excessive outbreeding can also be harmful! For example, the size and shape of teeth and jaws are strongly inherited characteristics, yet the two traits are not correlated. Therefore, a woman with small jaws and small teeth who had a child by a man with big jaws and big teeth could give her grandchildren small jaws and big teeth. In a world without dentists, ill-fitting teeth were probably a serious cause of mortality. [Patrick Bateson])
Probably the most important piece of incest theory is "the Westermarck hypothesis", which argues for an innate tendency to develop an aversion to sexual relations with childhood associates (Edward Westermarck). Studies have proved that children reared together (before the age of about three) develop this sexual aversion to each other as adults. Note that although this applies broadly to most siblings, it also applies to unrelated children who were raised together. The sexual aversion does not apply to siblings who were not reared together. (The sexual aversion also does not apply to step-siblings reared together after infancy. See: Shannon/Boone in Lost.)
People tend to assume that incest taboo arises from fear of inbreeding, but incest taboo exists/has existed in societies where there is very little biological knowledge, where the people simply wouldn't know enough to prohibit incest for the biological good of the society. II&TIT contained many theories for the historical existence of the incest taboo-none of which I found particularly convincing. There's the idea that we are born with moral emotions that cause us to naturally prohibit incest (o__O). There's also the idea that thinking of having sex with our own family members squicks us (scientific term! ;) to the extent that if we learn of someone else engaging in incestuous relations, this squick urges us to punish them. Like I said, I remain unconvinced. Regardless, incest taboo has existed and continues to exist in most societies. One particular exception (in fact, the only example of a "civilized" society that did not contain an incest taboo) is Roman Egypt.
Incest in Roman Egypt; historical, futuristic, alien and alternate-universe incest
In Roman Egypt (I can't find exact dates for it, but the data I have concerns second and third centuries AD), brother-sister marriage was not only legal, but encouraged. In the district capital of Arsinoe in the Fayum Oasis, according to the census, 37% of known marriages were between full siblings. Owing to the limited availability of suitable sibling-spouses and a strong preference for younger wives, this observed incidence approaches the feasible maximum. (Walter Scheidel)
I remember some discussion in Roswell fandom of how Max and Isabel's brother/sister relationship might have differed in their original incarnations on Antar. Namely, that Isabel could have merely been a cousin (or more distant relative) who was simply referred to as Max's sister. The importance of keeping together powerful/important dynasties, etc. Alternatively, perhaps Antar's society was based on the Roman-Egypt model of brother/sister marriages and Max and Isabel would have been expected to marry. A third theory that I've been thinking about since reading II&TIT is if Isabel was adopted into Max's family as a small child, in order that she marry Max when they grew up (as in the case of Taiwan "minor marriages"), so they would not have been related, but raised together. Again, the strange ways of ruling dynasties! (Note: I never saw s3, so these theories may well have been Jossed.)
Firefly makes an interesting setting for incest, because it combines a futuristic backdrop with settlements that share much in common with various historical societies. As Simon comments, "that's not something brothers and sisters do-well, on some planets, but only pretty bad ones". Yet since the show takes place on the "raggedy edge" of space, it's hard to remove the society within Serenity from these incest-tolerant "pretty bad" worlds. Time and time again, people associated with the show have made comments like, well, it's the future, maybe things are different [for Simon and River]. Despite its futuristic setting, Firefly clearly picks aspects of historical societies in order to build its universe: people live in mud huts and engage in "savage" behaviour-why would this not include incest?
Power relations between younger sisters and older brothers
As I was looking for sociology books on incest, I came across Risa Shaw's Not Child's Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest. I have not read it, but I did find a review by Carol Anne Douglas, which seems to sum up its main argument:
"Brother-sister incest is not about sex. It is not about pleasure. It is about power, pure and simple."
This theory, of older brothers forcing their younger sisters to engage in sexual activity with them in order to assert their power, also seems to be backed up by Mark T. Erickson's article in II&TIT (see: the section on pathological incest).
What I was struck by is how little this resembles the portrayal of brother-sister incest that we see on TV and read in fanfic. In fact, far from portraying forceful older brothers and cowering younger sisters, incestuous relationships on TV seem to reverse this power structure. The younger sister plays the dominant femme fatale, while the older brother is bullied into a sexual relationship.
(Side note: I feel I should note that the purpose of this post is to discuss ambiguous, "positive" incestuous relationships on TV. You can find many abusive, disturbing incestuous relationships on crime shows like Law & Order: SVU. What I find more interesting to study is incestuous relationships on TV that aren't painted as straight-forwardly abusive.)
We can see this most clearly in Lost: Shannon explicitly comes on to Boone, while he seems resistant. Boone's role as the maligned submissive is most evident when he thinks Shannon has died and he expresses relief. Another brother-sister relationship of this type is Kathryn and Sebastian in Cruel Intentions. Although Kathryn and Sebastian are more recent step-siblings, they are explicitly portrayed by Kathryn as a pairing that is incestuous and wrong. Kathryn teases Sebastian, taunting him with the prospect of fucking her, which beats the usually-dominant Sebastian into submission. As with Shannon/Boone, they fit into the femme-fatale-sister/bullied-brother mould.
Firefly's dominant-younger-sister/submissive-older-brother trope is less obvious, but still present. It is River who incites incestuous behaviour between herself and Simon, while he (at least consciously) attempts to keep their relationship "proper". In the deleted scene from 'Our Mrs Reynolds' we can see this power dynamic. (Complicated a little by The Crazy, but I still think it holds as a good example.) It's a sweeping statement, but I think that in most River/Simon fanfic, River is written as the one who incites a sexual relationship between them, while Simon is the submissive, unable to say no.
This essay is lacking in discussion of m/m and f/f incest, because II&TIT doesn't discuss it directly and there seems to be far less documented evidence of its existence, making it more difficult to study. I am, however, for this example, going to argue for Sam/Dean in Supernatural as an example of the dominant younger sister/submissive older brother trope. This involves casting Sam as the younger sister. I know, I KNOW, but seriously, it works: Sam is emotional, he's sensitive, Dean refers to him as "bitch"; he is essentially feminized on the show. Even though Dean is ostensibly the dominant party in their relationship, in fanfic (again, a broad and possibly fallacious statement) it is usually Sam who incites incest between them. Dean is portrayed as the bullied older brother who can't say no to his insistent younger sibling.
This disconnect between the reality of brother-sister incestuous relationships and their pop culture/fanfic portrayals is an interesting one. I'm sure the reasons behind it have a lot to do with patriarchy, masculinity and feminism. Fanfic is overwhelmingly written by women, who are probably less inclined to "weaken" the female characters in their stories by putting them in a submissive (even abused) position. Furthermore, I think we should consider the widely-held opinion that men cannot be "raped" by women: male rape is a concept that's usually considered laughable. Therefore, to put the man in the sexually non-compliant position is to remove the "squick" from the scenario: there is no rape, because men cannot be raped by women!
Incest between siblings/kin who did not grow up together
Proof that I watch too much daytime TV: I can vaguely recall a segment about a woman who ended up in a sexual relationship with her newly-reunited long-lost brother on Richard & Judy. I was glad to find Mark T. Erickson's article in II&TIT in order to back up this vague knowledge that yes, there is a high incidence of incest between siblings who were not reared together. One study estimates that over 50% (!) of reunited kin experience strong sexual feelings. Participants in the study claimed to feeling "magnetically drawn" to their biological relatives. As discussed earlier, the Westermarck hypothesis argues that only siblings reared together from a very young age experience sexual aversion as adults. Erickson adds that, far from aversion, reunited kin express a fascination with one another: an immediate sense of recognition; a sense that they smell alike, their gestures are similar and that they "resemble each other in ways that transcend physical similarities".
I think it's fascinating to apply this to Justin/Rebecca in Brothers & Sisters and Claire and the Petrellis in Heroes. Justin's comment that, "she's hot, but I feel nothing" as proof that Rebecca must be his sister is, in fact, possibly fallacious. The fact that they are half-siblings does not rule out sexual attraction between them; actually, it makes a (sexualized) fascination between them more likely. The studies in Erickson's article do not mention uncle-niece reunions, so it is less clear whether the "magnetic" connection would exist as strongly between Peter and Claire. I still think a decent case could be made for mutual fascination/attraction between them, due to their biological similarity. Even though the fandom (and I include myself in this) finds Nathan/Claire far squickier than Peter/Claire, there's actually a better case to be made for attraction between long-lost father and daughter. See also: Anais Nin's incest memoir about her relationship with her estranged father.
(As a side note, I find Peter/Nathan in Heroes a particularly difficult relationship to reconcile as an instance of incest, because there's little or no canonical evidence to back up the possibility of an incestuous relationship. What the incestuous subtext is built on is Adrian and Milo's overly touchy-feeling acting, possibly combined with an in-joke-y homoeroticism [e.g. the fairly extraneous kiss at the hospital]. From the perspective of incest theory, I think it's a hard relationship to discuss.)
Pathological incest
In the past, it was thought that inbreeding occurred often among animals, but rarely among humans. Now, the reverse is thought to be true. As we have discussed, incest avoidance is not hard-wired at birth; it depends on early association. Incest is more likely to occur if this early association is interfered with. Studies in the last fifty years have estimated incest prevalence as high as 3.2%. As Erickson notes, all biological adaptations are susceptible to pathology; incest avoidance is no exception. Incest occurs overwhelmingly in disturbed families involving neglect, abandonment and physical abuse.
It's a particularly harsh reading of Supernatural and one that, I'm sure, not everyone will agree with, but I think the Winchesters have pathological incest written all over them. Mary's violent death would seem to produce deprivation (when a child has formed an important attachment, but is then separated from the attachment figure) in Sam and Dean, exacerbated by a relationship with John that became cold/emotionally repressive. Neglect and abandonment (and even physical abuse) factor into Sam and Dean's childhood: illustrated expressly in 'Something Wicked'. I don't think it's a wild leap to assume a disruption in biological incest avoidance in Sam and Dean that would lead them to an incestuous relationship.
I think, when it comes to discussion of incest in fandom, a lot of the time we get stuck on the, "eww! it's sick! stoppit!" vs. "dude, leave me to my kinks!" merry-go-round. But I think that there's more to discuss. I should note that when I found my first incestuous 'ship (Max/Isabel in Roswell) there really was a huge amount of backlash* and I find it vindicating (and pretty amusing :D) that incest has come into vogue since.
*Funnily enough, I remember that, as Roswell fandom was winding down, a few Max/Liz 'shippers "came out" as also being Max/Isabel 'shippers, but they never felt they could say anything before. Needless to say, I never really had an issue with being labelled the incest girl. *shrugs* Water off a duck's back, really. I don't, however, take kindly to being called sick and delusional just because I have a rich and varied fantasy life.
I think incest has become pop culture's shorthand for "omg! shocking!" I remember when the short film, Starcrossed hit fandom, several people commented wryly that it's no longer shocking enough for the characters to be gay, they have to be incestuous as well. Whereas twenty (or even ten) years ago, the revelation that a character was gay might have elicited that all-important OMGWTF? reaction, now (thankfully) we've taken baby steps towards a less bigoted world. I think incest has replaced homosexuality as the "it" taboo. (Note: I am really not directly comparing incest with being gay. Incest is wrong; being gay is categorically not. But, my point is, they're both taboo.) Lost and Prison Break have both used incest as a "shock reveal"; Cruel Intentions used to it as an easy shorthand for a deliciously subversive plot point. I think fandom has taken to incest for broadly similar reasons. Incest means built-in angst. It's the insurmountable obstacle against a 'ship finding happiness and recognition-but, god, isn't the UST and the dirtywrongbad that we as readers and writers get instead sometimes more interesting than fluffy happilyeverafter?
I picked up a copy of Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo, edited by Arthur P. Wolf and William H. Durham, because I wanted to do a little research on incest for my novel. It actually turned out to be a very interesting and eye-opening book. And, obviously, I couldn't help comparing some of the theory to pop culture and fandom. Upon reflection, I also think that a lot of what people think they know about incest is probably based on misinformation and half-truths. Facts are fun! So is learning!
I am going to attempt to condense some of the arguments in the book in order to give a makeshift "primer" on incest theory. This might involve too much simplification of the theories, (also, I am not a biologist, so a lot of the science talk went *woosh* over my head,) so don't take my summaries as gospel, and if you're really interested, I definitely recommend reading the book. I am also going to discuss the following pairings: Max/Isabel (Roswell), Simon/River (Firefly), Shannon/Boone (Lost), Sam/Dean (Supernatural), Justin/Rebecca (Brothers & Sisters), Peter/Claire and Nathan/Claire (Heroes). I will attempt to break up the main points into their own sections, to lessen the tl;dr-ness of this post.
Basic facts of inbreeding and incest
I always imagine monstrous defects when I think of inbreeding, but the biological reality is actually less shocking (or, perhaps, more shockingly mundane). The main genetic problem of inbreeding is the way that matching recessive genes are allowed to come together. Yet, inbreeding does not, as such, cause degeneration. Inbreeding can only intensify the inheritance of traits, good or bad. (For example, Cleopatra was the offspring of several generations of brother-sister marriages and she was "handsome, vigorous and intellectual". [Leslie White]) Nonetheless, in parts of the world where cousin and uncle-niece unions are legal (Japan, South India, Pakistan), studies have shown an increased death/major disabilities rate of the offspring of incestuous unions (between 22% and 36%). Studies in such societies have also shown that one of the most biological harmful factors of inbreeding is in the significantly lower number of children that incestuous unions produce and a higher divorce rate; this is presumably due to a lack of sexual attraction between the two parties.
(Fun fact: excessive outbreeding can also be harmful! For example, the size and shape of teeth and jaws are strongly inherited characteristics, yet the two traits are not correlated. Therefore, a woman with small jaws and small teeth who had a child by a man with big jaws and big teeth could give her grandchildren small jaws and big teeth. In a world without dentists, ill-fitting teeth were probably a serious cause of mortality. [Patrick Bateson])
Probably the most important piece of incest theory is "the Westermarck hypothesis", which argues for an innate tendency to develop an aversion to sexual relations with childhood associates (Edward Westermarck). Studies have proved that children reared together (before the age of about three) develop this sexual aversion to each other as adults. Note that although this applies broadly to most siblings, it also applies to unrelated children who were raised together. The sexual aversion does not apply to siblings who were not reared together. (The sexual aversion also does not apply to step-siblings reared together after infancy. See: Shannon/Boone in Lost.)
People tend to assume that incest taboo arises from fear of inbreeding, but incest taboo exists/has existed in societies where there is very little biological knowledge, where the people simply wouldn't know enough to prohibit incest for the biological good of the society. II&TIT contained many theories for the historical existence of the incest taboo-none of which I found particularly convincing. There's the idea that we are born with moral emotions that cause us to naturally prohibit incest (o__O). There's also the idea that thinking of having sex with our own family members squicks us (scientific term! ;) to the extent that if we learn of someone else engaging in incestuous relations, this squick urges us to punish them. Like I said, I remain unconvinced. Regardless, incest taboo has existed and continues to exist in most societies. One particular exception (in fact, the only example of a "civilized" society that did not contain an incest taboo) is Roman Egypt.
Incest in Roman Egypt; historical, futuristic, alien and alternate-universe incest
In Roman Egypt (I can't find exact dates for it, but the data I have concerns second and third centuries AD), brother-sister marriage was not only legal, but encouraged. In the district capital of Arsinoe in the Fayum Oasis, according to the census, 37% of known marriages were between full siblings. Owing to the limited availability of suitable sibling-spouses and a strong preference for younger wives, this observed incidence approaches the feasible maximum. (Walter Scheidel)
I remember some discussion in Roswell fandom of how Max and Isabel's brother/sister relationship might have differed in their original incarnations on Antar. Namely, that Isabel could have merely been a cousin (or more distant relative) who was simply referred to as Max's sister. The importance of keeping together powerful/important dynasties, etc. Alternatively, perhaps Antar's society was based on the Roman-Egypt model of brother/sister marriages and Max and Isabel would have been expected to marry. A third theory that I've been thinking about since reading II&TIT is if Isabel was adopted into Max's family as a small child, in order that she marry Max when they grew up (as in the case of Taiwan "minor marriages"), so they would not have been related, but raised together. Again, the strange ways of ruling dynasties! (Note: I never saw s3, so these theories may well have been Jossed.)
Firefly makes an interesting setting for incest, because it combines a futuristic backdrop with settlements that share much in common with various historical societies. As Simon comments, "that's not something brothers and sisters do-well, on some planets, but only pretty bad ones". Yet since the show takes place on the "raggedy edge" of space, it's hard to remove the society within Serenity from these incest-tolerant "pretty bad" worlds. Time and time again, people associated with the show have made comments like, well, it's the future, maybe things are different [for Simon and River]. Despite its futuristic setting, Firefly clearly picks aspects of historical societies in order to build its universe: people live in mud huts and engage in "savage" behaviour-why would this not include incest?
Power relations between younger sisters and older brothers
As I was looking for sociology books on incest, I came across Risa Shaw's Not Child's Play: An Anthology on Brother-Sister Incest. I have not read it, but I did find a review by Carol Anne Douglas, which seems to sum up its main argument:
"Brother-sister incest is not about sex. It is not about pleasure. It is about power, pure and simple."
This theory, of older brothers forcing their younger sisters to engage in sexual activity with them in order to assert their power, also seems to be backed up by Mark T. Erickson's article in II&TIT (see: the section on pathological incest).
What I was struck by is how little this resembles the portrayal of brother-sister incest that we see on TV and read in fanfic. In fact, far from portraying forceful older brothers and cowering younger sisters, incestuous relationships on TV seem to reverse this power structure. The younger sister plays the dominant femme fatale, while the older brother is bullied into a sexual relationship.
(Side note: I feel I should note that the purpose of this post is to discuss ambiguous, "positive" incestuous relationships on TV. You can find many abusive, disturbing incestuous relationships on crime shows like Law & Order: SVU. What I find more interesting to study is incestuous relationships on TV that aren't painted as straight-forwardly abusive.)
We can see this most clearly in Lost: Shannon explicitly comes on to Boone, while he seems resistant. Boone's role as the maligned submissive is most evident when he thinks Shannon has died and he expresses relief. Another brother-sister relationship of this type is Kathryn and Sebastian in Cruel Intentions. Although Kathryn and Sebastian are more recent step-siblings, they are explicitly portrayed by Kathryn as a pairing that is incestuous and wrong. Kathryn teases Sebastian, taunting him with the prospect of fucking her, which beats the usually-dominant Sebastian into submission. As with Shannon/Boone, they fit into the femme-fatale-sister/bullied-brother mould.
Firefly's dominant-younger-sister/submissive-older-brother trope is less obvious, but still present. It is River who incites incestuous behaviour between herself and Simon, while he (at least consciously) attempts to keep their relationship "proper". In the deleted scene from 'Our Mrs Reynolds' we can see this power dynamic. (Complicated a little by The Crazy, but I still think it holds as a good example.) It's a sweeping statement, but I think that in most River/Simon fanfic, River is written as the one who incites a sexual relationship between them, while Simon is the submissive, unable to say no.
This essay is lacking in discussion of m/m and f/f incest, because II&TIT doesn't discuss it directly and there seems to be far less documented evidence of its existence, making it more difficult to study. I am, however, for this example, going to argue for Sam/Dean in Supernatural as an example of the dominant younger sister/submissive older brother trope. This involves casting Sam as the younger sister. I know, I KNOW, but seriously, it works: Sam is emotional, he's sensitive, Dean refers to him as "bitch"; he is essentially feminized on the show. Even though Dean is ostensibly the dominant party in their relationship, in fanfic (again, a broad and possibly fallacious statement) it is usually Sam who incites incest between them. Dean is portrayed as the bullied older brother who can't say no to his insistent younger sibling.
This disconnect between the reality of brother-sister incestuous relationships and their pop culture/fanfic portrayals is an interesting one. I'm sure the reasons behind it have a lot to do with patriarchy, masculinity and feminism. Fanfic is overwhelmingly written by women, who are probably less inclined to "weaken" the female characters in their stories by putting them in a submissive (even abused) position. Furthermore, I think we should consider the widely-held opinion that men cannot be "raped" by women: male rape is a concept that's usually considered laughable. Therefore, to put the man in the sexually non-compliant position is to remove the "squick" from the scenario: there is no rape, because men cannot be raped by women!
Incest between siblings/kin who did not grow up together
Proof that I watch too much daytime TV: I can vaguely recall a segment about a woman who ended up in a sexual relationship with her newly-reunited long-lost brother on Richard & Judy. I was glad to find Mark T. Erickson's article in II&TIT in order to back up this vague knowledge that yes, there is a high incidence of incest between siblings who were not reared together. One study estimates that over 50% (!) of reunited kin experience strong sexual feelings. Participants in the study claimed to feeling "magnetically drawn" to their biological relatives. As discussed earlier, the Westermarck hypothesis argues that only siblings reared together from a very young age experience sexual aversion as adults. Erickson adds that, far from aversion, reunited kin express a fascination with one another: an immediate sense of recognition; a sense that they smell alike, their gestures are similar and that they "resemble each other in ways that transcend physical similarities".
I think it's fascinating to apply this to Justin/Rebecca in Brothers & Sisters and Claire and the Petrellis in Heroes. Justin's comment that, "she's hot, but I feel nothing" as proof that Rebecca must be his sister is, in fact, possibly fallacious. The fact that they are half-siblings does not rule out sexual attraction between them; actually, it makes a (sexualized) fascination between them more likely. The studies in Erickson's article do not mention uncle-niece reunions, so it is less clear whether the "magnetic" connection would exist as strongly between Peter and Claire. I still think a decent case could be made for mutual fascination/attraction between them, due to their biological similarity. Even though the fandom (and I include myself in this) finds Nathan/Claire far squickier than Peter/Claire, there's actually a better case to be made for attraction between long-lost father and daughter. See also: Anais Nin's incest memoir about her relationship with her estranged father.
(As a side note, I find Peter/Nathan in Heroes a particularly difficult relationship to reconcile as an instance of incest, because there's little or no canonical evidence to back up the possibility of an incestuous relationship. What the incestuous subtext is built on is Adrian and Milo's overly touchy-feeling acting, possibly combined with an in-joke-y homoeroticism [e.g. the fairly extraneous kiss at the hospital]. From the perspective of incest theory, I think it's a hard relationship to discuss.)
Pathological incest
In the past, it was thought that inbreeding occurred often among animals, but rarely among humans. Now, the reverse is thought to be true. As we have discussed, incest avoidance is not hard-wired at birth; it depends on early association. Incest is more likely to occur if this early association is interfered with. Studies in the last fifty years have estimated incest prevalence as high as 3.2%. As Erickson notes, all biological adaptations are susceptible to pathology; incest avoidance is no exception. Incest occurs overwhelmingly in disturbed families involving neglect, abandonment and physical abuse.
It's a particularly harsh reading of Supernatural and one that, I'm sure, not everyone will agree with, but I think the Winchesters have pathological incest written all over them. Mary's violent death would seem to produce deprivation (when a child has formed an important attachment, but is then separated from the attachment figure) in Sam and Dean, exacerbated by a relationship with John that became cold/emotionally repressive. Neglect and abandonment (and even physical abuse) factor into Sam and Dean's childhood: illustrated expressly in 'Something Wicked'. I don't think it's a wild leap to assume a disruption in biological incest avoidance in Sam and Dean that would lead them to an incestuous relationship.