My niece thinks my nephew is hot.

[trackfan]

No, they're not brother and sister, but first cousins. We were at the wedding of another niece, A (a cousin to both the aforementioned). I noticed that my niece, S seemed to be flirting with my nephew, M. S was riding back in the car with us, and I joked, "You know, in California you can marry M." She let out a shocked, laughing, "What!?". So I repeated what I had said. She thought for a second and said, "Well, he is pretty hot".

[petronius]

1. I think (hope) that's pretty normal

I had a couple of cousins I thought were hot back in my teenage years. (Of course, my teenage definition of 'hot' was 'willing to speak to me.')

[trackfan]

3. Yeah - but they're both 25.

All my girl cousins were much, much older than me, so I never had the occasion to think them hot.

[petronius]

4. 25 is a bit old to be displaying the attraction in a noticeable way

although it is still natural to recognize hotness when you see it, I guess.

[Xithras]

6. LOL! Recognizing hotness doesn't neccesarily imply attraction.

Two of my sisters are hotties, but I'll spend the rest of my life alone with my palm before I'll think about taking them to bed. :blech: There's a difference between recognizing (and appreciating) that someone is attractive, and actually pursuing them.

[petronius]

7. You're right...

That's the point I was trying to make, but you said it better...

[MadHound]

2. Pretty normal puberty stuff

When I was a kid, I had a crush on a couple of my cousins for awhile. It faded over time, partially due to the ick factor, partially because I started finding other cute girls outside my family.

[Xithras]

5. Hmm, that could make family get togethers interesting.

There's nothing inherently wrong with cousins getting together, but our culture frowns on it (there are many parts of the world where it's not considered a big deal at all). The real problem with these kinds of relationships is the damage they can cause to families. Imagine two cousins getting married, having kids, and then divorcing. Now imagine every family Christmas get-together for the rest of their lives.

Sounds fun, huh?

[hfojvt]

8. who gets together with their cousins at Clausmas?

That sounds incestuous already. I guess when my sibs get together, that their kids are cousins, but we never did this as kids with our grandparents being 550 and 1500 miles away. Most of our cousins do not even come to our weddings, much less an annual celebration. My family, on the other hand, has been to many of our cousin's weddings.

My guess is that if you could trace everyone's family history back ten generations, that there would be married cousins in 90% of all family trees. It was quite common in 18 century America and earlier. It was also common enough in Europe. The exception being Catholics. In the Catholic church even 2nd cousins are not allowed to marry. However, given transportation technology of the 18th and earlier times, there still was almost inevitably a close relationship between many spouses. For example two of my ancestors who were born in 1761. They were 3rd cousins once removed through his father and her mother, but they were also 3rd cousins once removed through his father and her father, and they were 4th cousins once removed through another connection. So they were almost 2nd cousins (or as genetically related as 2nd cousins).

[ghostsofgiants]

9. Every xmas my family has a get together at my grandparents house

Aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

[hfojvt]

11. that is just rare, in my experience

are your cousins grown up (with kids of their own)? And what percentage of the family flies in, or drives more than 2 days to get there?

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Most of the family is within the province

And not many of the cousins have kids (most of us are in our 20s). I guess it makes it easier to do, since we're not spread out over the country and all.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. I would if my cousins were in Texas, but alas they are in Kentucky

However, there is always a family party at Christmas with all the cousins who are IN Kentucky.
My sister and two of our cousins all live in the same county, all of THEIR kids went to school together and are great friends. Our cousin parties are wonderful fun.

Whenever the rest of us get to Kentucky, there is a cousin gathering.

[Meldread]

15. My family, actually...

We get together, everyone smiles and pretends to get along, then when we leave with our own family we start talking about the other relatives behind their backs. "Did you see what she was wearing? Gawd, who did she think she was impressing?" "He is still an asshole." "She still thinks she's all that." "Soandso's kids are spoiled and rude."

Ahhh! Families! :P

[MissHoneychurch]

10. I always thought my cousin was hot

still think he is a good looking man. But never more. So I would say it is normal. You can't deny when someone is looking good.

[trackfan]

12. Here is a map showing which states allow cousin marriages:

http://www.cousincouples.com/index.shtml?./pages/states.htm

from CousinCouples.com

[u4ic]

23. The site has a disclaimer

This information is for entertainment purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

:wtf:

Pictures would be entertaining, but advice isn't.

[StopTheMorans]

14. freerepublic is ---------------------->

that way :nuke:

[LynneSin]

16. I am my own 3rd cousin once removed - you (and they) will survive

My grandparents were 1st cousin once removed but back in rural PA in the early 1900s this wasn't an uncommon occurance.

I somehow survive. I almost joke about it because it just proves of what a rural background I came from!

[matcom]

17. I THINK YOUR NIECE IS HOT

now we are all even ;)

[trackfan]

19. And you hadn't even seen her yet, but here she is:

My two nieces S, and A.

[matcom]

21. ok.

she now has a DEFINITE place to stay when she visits Boston :D

[trof]

18. um...Miz t.'s maternal grandparents were first cousins.

They lived in a little bitty town(?)/wide spot in the road(?), waaaayyyy out in the boonies southeast of Lake Charles, LA. Everybody in the area was kin to everybody else.

It's funny to read their marriage certificate with the same last names.
Before the wedding.

When Miz t. does something particularly ditzy, I say "Well...after all...your grandparents WERE 1st cousins."
And then I run.
;-)

[trackfan]

20. I remember reading, in one of Jimmy Carter's books,

that the population was very static in many rural areas, and that Rosalynn was just about the only girl in town his age who was NOT a relative.

[trof]

22. True.

In many of the "deep" rural areas you had to get waaayyy out of town to find people you weren't kin to.

[u4ic]

24. I have a cousin who's hot

All my sisters think so, too. He's a genuinely nice guy as well.

Mind you, I don't know ALL my first cousins...I have 40. Odds are slim that I would be finding romance with any of them, as they range from 15 to 55 years older than me.

[trackfan]

26. Wow. 40 first cousins!

With that many you'd almost have to be lucky not to end up with one without even knowing it. ;-)

[u4ic]

27. And to think not all my aunts and uncles reproduced...

:scared:

The ones that did had large families. (one had 16 kids)

We're pretty spread out across the country; I'd hate to think if we were all in a small town...