What’s with South Asia’s Kissing Cousins?
The subcontinent has some of the highest rates of cousin marriage in the world. Popular shows like ‘Humsafar’ only mirror this reality.
Since its debut on Hum TV in 2011, the Pakistani drama Humsafar has remained the network’s most popular series, winning over audiences globally. Starring the beloved on-screen pairing Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, critics dubbed it the start of Pakistan’s “golden age” of television. The series is much like any romance: a poor girl and rich boy fall in love, sparks fly, misunderstandings abound. But one detail is hard to brush past: the girl and boy are cousins. First cousins.
For a country that temporarily banned the acclaimed film Joyland due to its depiction of queer love, it’s surprising that this one phenomenon has made it onto screens. Yet, cousin marriages have a long history in multiple cultures (the British royal family and Game of Thrones anyone?), which also explains why they weren’t always taboo.