My ability to be intimate with my stepsiblings are hampered by how gross I think they are!
What happens between a biological brother and sister that makes intimacy seem distasteful? Social stigma? Mom and Dad's disapproval? More likely than not it is the "gross out factor". Something happens when you live with someone 24/7 and share every moment of your childhood together.
You see your siblings at their best and their worst. You experience every mood change, milestone and bout with the stomach flu. Something about being in almost constant close proximity to one another makes it difficult to see eachother in any other light besides annoying.
For me, it was the same with my stepsiblings. I never lived with them as a child. By the time my stepmother and father married I was 16 years old and living full time with my mother. I didn't develop a more personal relationship with my stepsiblings until after I was married.
My stepbrother and I are now very close and address eachother as "brother" and "sister". He thinks he is gorgeous. Although not ugly, I feel repulsed when he suggests that he is "sexy" or "good looking" much in the way I think biological siblings would respond. You either feel repulsed or you laugh at the hilarity of the observation.
Why do I experience the "gross out" factor when my stepbrother and I did not grow up together? I'm not for certain but I think it has to do with the fact that he is annoying, and smells bad....like every other brother!
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