In the 19th century, many people married their first cousins.

[raccoon]

Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin, just to name two.

And frequently people married their first cousins in 19th century fiction, and nobody seemed to think it was a big deal. For instance, in WUTHERING HEIGHTS Catherine II married successively two of her first cousins.

And yet, now, we hear of it, and we go, "ICK!"

Wonder why the BIG change in social attitudes about this...

(Disclaimer: I'm not married to a first cousin, nor do I wish to. They're either too young or too right-wing.)