The term taboo designates a behavior that is seen from a moral point of view as something unacceptable for society, human group or some religion. In some regions of the world, taboos are supposedly strange actions, things and even people that can even be legally prohibited, some of the elements that may have some characteristic seen as taboo, include religious, economic, political, social content or cultural, generally viewed that way for an unjustified reason that is based on prejudice. For his part powerBreaking a taboo is considered a serious offense for those social groups that have imposed it. Some taboos, as mentioned above, are considered crimes punishable by law, in this context, taboos are direct antecedents of the law.
Taboos are generally imposed on what is considered unnatural. On the other hand, the person who breaks a taboo would be committing a fault and therefore is punished, which may be from a legal point of view if the case is the transgression of the law or from a social point of view, in which case reference can be made to discrimination, public condemnation, among others. Most taboos generally arise out of cultural tradition, however there are also those that develop out of dominant political interests.
Taboos can be of various types, among the most popular are those that refer to the prohibition of mentioning certain words or phrases. An important fact is the fact that Chinese culture is considered to be the one that has been responsible for promoting and developing this type of language restrictions to a large extent, such as when naming certain emperors, ancestors or deities.
As with everything related to society and the ethical value systems by which a group or community is governed in general, practices that are considered taboo are normally artificially established as such thanks to various sets of norms, values or behaviors that are considered dangerous, improper and inappropriate from a moral point of view.
