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Taboo
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{{short description|Societal or cultural prohibition}} {{other uses|Taboo (disambiguation)}} {{Sociology}} A '''taboo''' is a [[social group]]'s ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, [[sacred]] or allowed only for certain people.<ref name="EB">''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/579821/taboo Taboo]". Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2012</ref><ref>"[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taboo taboo]". ''Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary'', 11th Edition.</ref> Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies.<ref name="EB" /> Taboos may be prohibited explicitly, for example within a [[legal system]] or [[religion]], or implicitly, for example by [[social norms]] or [[Convention (norm)|conventions]] followed by a particular culture or organization. Taboos are often meant to protect the individual, but there are other reasons for their development. An ecological or medical background is apparent in many, including some that are seen as religious or spiritual in origin. Taboos can help use a resource more efficiently, but when applied to only a subsection of the [[community]] they can also serve to suppress said subsection of the community. A taboo acknowledged by a particular group or [[tribe]] as part of their ways aids in the cohesion of the group, helps that particular group to stand out and maintain its identity in the face of others and therefore creates a feeling of "belonging".<ref name="Meyer-Rochow 2009" /> The meaning of the word ''taboo'' has been somewhat expanded in the [[social science]]s to strong prohibitions relating to any area of human activity or custom that is sacred or forbidden based on [[Morality|moral judgment]], religious beliefs, or cultural [[norm (sociology)|norms]].<ref name="Meyer-Rochow 2009">{{cite journal | last=Meyer-Rochow| first= Victor Benno | title= Food taboos: their origins and purposes|journal= [[Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine]] | date=2009| volume=5–18| pages=18| doi= 10.1186/1746-4269-5-18| pmid= 19563636 | pmc= 2711054 | doi-access= free }} This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC by 2.0)] license.</ref>
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