There are some things you won’t just say at a party because these things are not socially accepted or because you are ashamed of them. What are the biggest taboos in Dutch society? Here you can read what exactly a taboo is and what Dutch people are so ashamed of.
Taboo
The word taboo is often used in the Netherlands, especially headlines. Some examples are: piling taboo during exams, Incest taboo and hair loss taboo among women. When you read it like this, everything can be a taboo, but what exactly does it mean?
A taboo is something that is considered inappropriate to use, do, or talk about in a particular culture. What is taboo in that culture is determined by the culture, religion and politics in that culture. Breaking a taboo can lead to social exclusion or reputational damage and in some cultures to legal prosecution. When we talk about a taboo in the Netherlands, it usually concerns topics that are generally avoided because they are embarrassing or painful.
Taboos therefore provide insight into our society, how open-minded we actually are and how anything is possible here in the Netherlands. It is therefore interesting that the KRO investigated the biggest taboos in the Netherlands and even published a book about it.
What are the top 10 taboos in the Netherlands
- Sexual desire for your own child, incestuous desires, give it a name.
- Abusing your partner or children.
- Stealing something valuable from your employer.
- Neglecting or abusing your pet.
- Approaching colleagues in an unwanted intimate manner
- Needing alcohol to function at work
- Having an extramarital sexual relationship
- Going to a prostitute
- Have a venereal disease
- Putting physical/psychological pressure on your partner for sex
Sex taboo in the Netherlands?
It is striking that 6 of the 10 taboos in the top 10 have to do with sex. The rest of the top 100 also contains quite a few taboos related to sex, such as going on a sex holiday, watching others during sex and viewing sex sites on the internet.
Dutch sweethearts?
It is also striking that many things that are prohibited under Dutch law appear as taboo in the top 100. For example, we prefer not to talk about our criminal record or that of family members, the fact that there is discrimination or the dirty money we possess.
Although we do not want to talk to everyone about everything, this does not mean that we are actually a narrow-minded and neat people. The subject can again be discussed broadly in a closed group. The list will therefore say more about the group behavior of Dutch people than about the Dutch themselves.