Origins and Evolution of the Forbidden

By Doug on 3rd Dec 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

“Taboo subjects in almost any society tend to involve religion, sex, death, bodily functions… things that frighten us or make us uneasy.”
Stephen Fry, Planet Word

Wanda Taylor discusses the idea of taboo talking: words and topics that are avoided in everyday language. She argues that not talking about taboo topics (such as sexual violence and sex work) prevents society from understanding these subjects.

Taboos are among the most powerful forces shaping human behaviour, yet they often operate silently, woven into the fabric of culture. The word itself comes from the Polynesian term tapu, meaning ‘sacred’ or ‘forbidden,’ reflecting its early roots in spirituality. From these beginnings, taboos spread across societies as mechanisms to protect what was considered holy, pure, or essential for survival. Religious traditions reinforced these boundaries, prescribing what could be eaten, touched, or spoken about. Over time, many taboos also served practical purposes such as guarding health and hygiene long before germ theory existed. Psychology adds another layer to the origin of taboos. Freud famously argued that taboos reveal deep-seated conflicts between instinct and repression, shaping morality and identity. His ideas invite us to consider why certain prohibitions persist even when their original rationale fades.

Today, some taboos remain remarkably resilient: death, illness, and bodily functions still provoke discomfort. Yet others (some religious taboos, for instance) lose their grip as societies secularise or modernise. At the same time, new taboos emerge, reflecting shifting values. There will always be areas of life that carry their own zones of silence and sensitivity. In this section, we’ll explore where taboos came from, how they evolve, and why they matter. You’ll see that taboos have real-world impact: menstrual taboos marginalise women; mental health stigmas prevent some men from seeking help, and more. By tracing taboos from sacred origins to contemporary controversies, we’ll uncover how these forbidden forces continue to shape culture, power, and personal experience. As always, begin your study by choosing one or two pieces from this list to read, reporting back what you’ve discovered:

Reading Challenge

This is a longer and more challenging piece of reading, but spending time on this piece, and discussing it with your teacher, will help you master this topic:

Discussion Points

After you’ve got your head around the material in this section, pair up, pick a question, spend five minutes thinking and noting down your thoughts – then discuss your ideas with a friend and report back to the class:

How can something that is taboo to one person be acceptable to another?
Why do cultural expectations about masculinity or femininity make it harder for men or women to seek help for certain taboos? (For example, men find it harder to open up about mental health issues than women. On the other hand, women might feel undue pressure about body image than men.)

1. Origins of the Forbidden

“Tapu means ‘marked’ or ‘set apart’: anything that was Tapu had to be wrapped and kept separate. The word Tapu has migrated to Europe and has become our word: Taboo.”
Taboo! The Past Feature Article

Find out about taboos from around the world in this interesting video from The Infographic Show.

Where did the concept of taboo originate? In its earliest forms, taboo was not merely a social rule but a spiritual safeguard. Ancient Polynesian societies believed certain objects, places, and actions carried divine power or danger, and violating these prohibitions could invite misfortune or wrath from the gods. These restrictions served to maintain cosmic balance and social order, reinforcing hierarchies and protecting what was considered holy. As human societies evolved, similar prohibitions appeared across cultures. Many early taboos were deeply intertwined with survival: avoiding contaminated food, respecting burial sites, and regulating sexual behaviour helped prevent disease spreading and maintained stability of more primitive societies. What began as spiritual boundaries often had practical consequences, even if the scientific rationale was not fully understood.

Early taboos reveal how fear and necessity combined to shape human behaviour. They were not arbitrary or ridiculous; they reflected a sacred worldview spirituality was deeply embedded in society, and where breaking a rule could threaten the survival of the individual and whole communities. You can learn about early taboos – and think about modern ones – by reviewing the presentation below, then attempting the follow-up activity:

Taboo: Origins of the Forbidden (PPT)

Activity: Contemporary Taboos

After learning about the origin of taboos in societies, in this activity you’ll think about how they shape life today. Because taboos are not just ancient relics or superstitions; while some fade away, others evolve, and new taboos reappear in surprising forms. For instance, incest taboos are long-lived and persistent, at the same time taboos around non-normative sexual identities have emerged, making LGBTQ+ issues a sensitive topic, and even a forbidden one in some places.

Using the following categories, brainstorm examples of taboos that exist in the world today. Many taboos hide in plain sight, such as food taboos which guide what we can and cannot eat. Others are more difficult to recognise, such as taboos surrounding menstruation which persist in impacting women and girls all around the world. You might also like to consider taboos which have faded over time or which are specific to certain cultures; for instance, certain religious taboos (when was the last time you thought about the consequences of skipping church on Sunday?) have shifted and changed in many parts of the world as societies become more or less secular over time.

Death and Mortality
Illness and Disability
Money and Wealth

Sex and Sexuality
Food and Eating
Appearance and Clothing

Bodily Fluids and Functions
Religion and Spirituality

2. Taboos That Hurt Women

“Girls are brought up believing that their biology is a supernatural bane that draws out wickedness.”
Menstrupedia, Menstruation Taboos Are a Worldwide Issue

Taboos are often invisible, yet they shape lives in profound ways. While some taboos protect cultural identity or social order, others reinforce inequality… especially for women. Across history and into the present, women have faced restrictions rooted in ideas of purity, modesty, and control. Menstrual taboos, for example, still force girls in some regions to miss school or isolate themselves, perpetuating stigma and limiting opportunity. Clothing and hair taboos dictate how women present themselves, from modesty codes to workplace or school bias against certain hairstyles. In professional spaces, unwritten rules and persistent stereotypes create a ‘glass ceiling,’ making leadership roles harder to reach.

Even in more private spaces, such as the traditional family home, purity norms and beauty standards impose silent pressures, linking a woman’s worth to virginity or youth. These taboos are not harmless traditions: they shape health, education, careers, and limit opportunities, or may have long-term impacts on a woman’s self esteem. Learn about taboos which harm women in particular in the presentation linked below, which contains real world examples and case studies for you to see:

Taboos That Hurt Women (PPT)

Activity: **Cultural Detective*: Uncovering Everyday Taboos***

“Every day girls are being taught ‘lessons’ they never signed up for. They are told who they should be, what they should look like, how they should act and what they can achieve.” Plan International – The Heavy Gown

In 2021, Plan International UK launched its #PullTheThread campaign as part of the global ‘Day of the Girl’ celebrations. The campaign focused on dismantling harmful stereotypes that limit girls’ opportunities and ambitions. At its heart was a short film called ‘The Heavy Gown’ featuring a dancer wearing a gown made of fabric strips printed with common stereotypes such as “education is wasted on girls” and “girls can’t play football.” As the dancer moves, she tears away these strips, symbolically rejecting the weight of prejudice and reclaiming freedom of movement and choice.

Watch the impactful film embedded above and talk about the range of stereotypes against girls it highlights. Then see how many more you can brainstorm. These ways might be significant – such as pay inequality – or comparatively ‘small’ (for example, in advertising for sanitary products, women’s menstrual fluid is often euphemised using the colour blue). Whether big or small, see if you can envisage the many ways women and girls are the victim of everyday taboos. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can, then share your ideas with other members of your class. As a follow up activity, discuss (or research) potential impacts of the taboos you’ve uncovered.

3. The Stigma of Mental Health

“Social norms around masculinity can be really harmful…”
Beyond Blue

Mental health stigma is a worldwide issue, but its impact on men is particularly severe. Across cultures, men are less likely than women to seek help for depression, anxiety, or stress. For example, in the UK only about 36% of referrals for psychological therapy are men, even though they make up three-quarters of suicides (the leading cause of death for men under 50). In Australia, six men die by suicide every day, and nearly one in four say they would avoid seeking help even when they know they need it. Globally, men account for about 67% of all suicide deaths, dying at more than twice the rate of women.

Why does this happen? Cultural norms play a major role. In many societies, masculinity is tied to toughness and emotional control, phrases like “man up” or “boys don’t cry” reinforce the idea that vulnerability is weakness. This stigma leads to silence, under-diagnosis, and unhealthy coping strategies such as workaholism or substance abuse. Depression in men frequently appears as irritability or anger rather than sadness, making it harder to recognise and treat. The result is a hidden crisis that affects families, workplaces, and communities worldwide.

Activity: Breaking Men’s Mental Health Stigmas

In collaboration with The Samaritans, in 2023 Norwich City Football Club made this moving short film as part of their ‘Check In On Those Around You’ campaign, encouraging men to open up to one another in times of emotional difficulty and stress. Caution: themes of suicide

Breaking the stigma of mental health for many men means challenging gender expectations and creating spaces where men can talk openly about mental health. Encouraging men to embrace vulnerability as a strength is a proven way of reducing stigma around mental health. Fortunately, in many ‘typically male spaces’ the conversation is beginning to open up. One such space is football. Watch the embedded video (above) produced by Norwich City Football Club (based in East Anglia, UK) as a way of directly addressing their own supporters about the importance of opening up to each other about mental health issues.

After watching, analyse how the film uses a small range of methods (such as contrasting body language, speech and silence, editing, and/or a gut-punch ending) to address the Global Issue of ‘breaking mental health stigmas for men’. See if you can organise your ideas into a short talk (of the kind you might craft for your IO) and, for a bonus challenge, deliver your talk to your teacher or class.

Learner Portfolio: Be a Social Change Advocate

Taboos can be powerful forces in society, harming certain groups of people (e.g. women and girls) in many ways. In this activity, put yourself in the position of a social change advocate and create an awareness campaign that challenges a taboo impacting women or, potentially, men. Start by choosing a local or global taboo that you believe needs attention. This could be menstrual stigma, workplace discrimination, shame, mental health, or any taboo you’ve encountered that you think has a harmful impact. Research this: look for facts, figures, and statistics that show how this taboo affects people’s health, education, careers, position in society, or well-being/self-esteem.

Once you’ve gathered your information, design a campaign poster or infographic that speaks directly to the issue. Try to grab attention with strong visuals and messaging, educate the viewer about the taboo and its consequences, and inspire action or change. To help you get started, you might like to look at real-world examples like Menstrual Hygiene Day or the Love Your Period campaign. Notice how these initiatives use bold language, striking imagery, and clear data to break silence and challenge stigma. Your goal is to create something similar that makes people think, starts conversations, and pushes back against harmful taboos, wherever they might be found.

Body of Work: This Is Not Consent

For some important context to the ‘This Is Not Consent’ campaign, watch this short video that impactfully communicates HandsAway’s founding principles and introduces you to their mission through an initiative to light Paris at night using advertising billboards, making streets safer for women at night.

The ‘This Is Not Consent’ campaign, by French non-profit HandsAway, confronts one of the most harmful cultural taboos: the belief that a woman’s clothing signals consent to be touched without permission. This myth perpetuates victim-blaming, where harassment or sexual assault is excused based on a woman’s appearance. HandsAway’s message is clear – consent must always be explicitly given and cannot be inferred from how someone dresses.

Created by TBWA\Paris, the campaign uses striking visuals of women in revealing or sensual poses paired with the bold statement: ‘This Is Not Consent.’ These posters deliberately mimic the aesthetics of fashion advertising but disrupt expectations with their uncompromising message, forcing viewers to question ingrained assumptions about sexuality and autonomy. Stylistic devices such as dismemberment, provocative body language, stark colour contrasts, and bold typography amplify the message.

The campaign sparked widespread discussion online and offline, reaching millions and earning praise for its cultural impact. Critics highlighted its success in reframing consent as non-negotiable and challenging norms that normalise harassment. By using shock value and simplicity, HandsAway transformed a taboo into a public conversation about respect. All seven posters from this hard-hitting campaign are gathered together here for you to study as a Body of Work.

Towards Assessment: Individual Oral

Supported by an extract from one non-literary text and one from a literary work, students will offer a prepared response of 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of questions by the teacher, to the following prompt: Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of two of the texts that you have studied. (40 marks)

HandsAway’s This Is Not Consent campaign would be an ideal Body of Work to use to craft your Individual Oral talk. The issues raised in the campaign, such as cultural norms and assumptions about appearances inviting consent, women’s autonomy, and gender-based violence lend themselves easily to the Field of Inquiry Beliefs, Values, and Education. Here are suggestions as to how you might use this Body of Work to create a Global Issue. You can use one of these ideas, or develop your own. You should always be mindful of your own ideas and class discussions and follow the direction of your own thoughts, discussions and programme of study when devising your assessment tasks:

Field of Inquiry: Beliefs, Values, and Education
Global Issue: The Subtle Denial of Women’s Autonomy
Rationale:

HandsAway’s campaign sheds light on the fact that, in many situations, women’s right to choose is denied. While their campaign centers on the issue of being touched without consent, the denial of women’s autonomy can be seen in other contexts as well. The campaign can be paired with a literary work such as The Vegetarian, in which Yeong-hye’s decision to give up eating meat is forcibly denied by her husband and father. Other scenes in this novel show how Yeong-hye’s bodily autonomy is repeatedly denied in different arenas such as the hospital and the marital bed.

Field of Inquiry: Culture, Community, and Identity
Global Issue: Harm Caused By an Unwarranted Sense of Entitlement
Rationale:

Why do men sometimes touch women without their consent? Because they feel a sense of entitlement that they have the right to treat women like objects or possessions. Many literary works explore the same sense of entitlement that (usually) men display: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter shows how the Marquis, his sense of entitlement fueled by money and aristocratic heritage, treats young women who come into his orbit. The same is true of the Christian characters in The Merchant of Venice; Henry Higgins in Pygmalion; the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross; both Colonel Joll and the Magistrate in Waiting for the Barbarians; Ocean’s father in Night Sky with Exit Wounds; Carter in Play It As It Lays; the list is so depressingly long, you might be hard pressed to find a literary work you can’t pair with This Is Not Consent!

Towards Assessment: Higher Level Essay

Students submit an essay on one non-literary text or a collection of non-literary texts by one same author, or a literary text or work studied during the course. The essay must be 1,200-1,500 words in length. (20 marks).

If you are an HL student, you might consider using HandsAway’s hard-hitting campaign images to write your HL Essay. Here are one or two examples of lines of inquiry suitable for this text – but remember to follow your own interests and the direction of your own class discussion to generate your own line of inquiry. It is not appropriate for students to submit responses to an essay question that has been assigned:

How does HandsAway juxtapose image and text in ways that force viewers to reconsider toxic beliefs about women’s right to choose in the This Is Not Consent campaign?

Paper 1 Text Type Focus: interviews

At the end of your course you will be asked to analyse unseen texts (1 at Standard Level and 2 at Higher Level) in an examination. You will be given a guiding question that will focus your attention on formal or stylistic elements of the text(s), and help you decode the text(s)’ purpose(s). Below are examples of Interviews; study these texts and add them to your Learner Portfolio; you will want to revise text types thoroughly before your Paper 1 exam. You can find more information – including text type features and sample Paper 1 analysis – by visiting 20/20. Read through one or two of the exemplars, then choose a new paper and have a go at writing your own Paper 1 analysis response:

key features of interviews

Question-Answer: a recognisable feature of interviews in this format, which presents the questions asked and responses using quotations (direct speech).
Register: as a record of a spoken conversation, a written interview is likely to contain examples of language that is more like speech. Look out for colloquialisms, idioms, contractions and even jokes.
Quotation: as an alternative to the question-answer format, you might see interviews written up as a magazine article. In this case you will see a mixture of direct quotation and indirect free speech.
Topics: the interview may be focused on one issue or may range across various topics. Look out for the interviewer asking leading questions to take the conversation in a particular direction.
Perspective: the interview presents a one-sided view on a topic or person, so is likely to be highly subjective. The interviewee may use assertive statements which present opinions as if they are facts.
Them-and-us: celebrity interviews tend to put interviewees on a pedestal. Look for ways in which the text creates a divide between celebrities and ‘us’, the reader, or represents the interviewee as special in some way.

IB Language and Literature 2.0

Group 1 English Higher and Standard Level