The Taboo and Varieties of Cannibalism
TLDR Cannibalism takes various forms, from the taboo act of eating another person to the survival cannibalism practiced in extreme situations. While some cultures have socially sanctioned cannibalism for specific reasons, the act of eating oneself, known as auto cannibalism, is considered a rare and extreme form of cannibalism.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
A grisly murder on a Greyhound bus in Canada involved a man stabbing another passenger unprovoked, cutting off his head, and eating pieces of his body.
03:00
A man named Armin Mivis placed an ad looking for someone to be eaten by him, and he eventually found a willing participant named Burt Jurgen Brandis, whom he cut off his penis and cooked it for both of them to eat before murdering him and consuming his body over a period of a few months.
06:41
The act of cannibalism is not explicitly illegal in some countries, including Germany and the UK, but it is considered taboo and falls into the realm of anthropology.
10:24
Auto cannibalism, or the act of eating oneself, can be forced or voluntary, and while there are few documented cases of voluntary auto cannibalism, it is considered a form of cannibalism.
13:30
Survival cannibalism, such as the cases of the Donner party and the soccer team that crashed in the Andes, is considered more forgivable because it is done out of necessity for survival.
16:24
Survival cannibalism, such as the cases of the Donner party and the soccer team that crashed in the Andes, is considered more forgivable because it is done out of necessity for survival, and in the custom of the sea, the person who drew the shortest straw was tapped to die and whoever drew the next shortest straw had to kill them and then everybody ate the person that was killed, making it a codified form of survival cannibalism.
19:19
Cultures around the world have codified socially sanctioned cannibalism for different reasons, with some practicing endo cannibalism to gain specific attributes and others engaging in survival cannibalism out of necessity.
Categories:
Society & Culture