As a child, I liked to torment one of my cousins by chasing her while singing the chorus to the Elvis Presley song “Kissin’ Cousins”: “We’ll kiss all night. I’ll squeeze her tight. But we’re kissin’ cousins ‘n that’s what makes it all right — All right, all right, all right.”

We were first cousins, rather than distant cousins like the boy and girl in the song, so we fit perfectly the stereotype people have of rednecks. But the truth is, I never knew any redneck cousins, in my home state of West Virginia or elsewhere, who married or had children out of wedlock. It was taboo, and besides, we were way too enlightened.

That was then, and this is now. Kissin’ cousins apparently are so not taboo in the 21st century that they merit coverage in The New York Times — and not in a let’s-make-fun-of-rednecks tone:

While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive. The cartoonish image of hillbilly cousins giving birth to cross-eyed, deformed and mentally disabled children has endured in the national psyche. But even in the United States — one of the few countries in the world where such unions are illegal — marriage between first cousins may be slowly emerging from the shadows.

Although it is still a long way from being widely accepted, in recent years cousin marriage has been drawing increased attention, as researchers study the potential health risks to children of cousins. And the couples themselves have begun to connect online, largely through a Web site called Cousincouples.com, which bills itself as “the world’s primary resource for romantic relationships among cousins,” and is trying to build support for overturning laws prohibiting cousin marriage.

For the most part, scientists studying the phenomenon worldwide are finding evidence that the risk of birth defects and mortality is less significant than previously thought.

I was surprised to learn that more than 10 percent of marriages in the world are between people who are second cousins or closer. But it affirms what I wrote in the essay that inspired this blog: “Rednecks rule in this wacky world we occupy, even in an arena as distinguished as the United Nations.”

And we like to kiss our cousins, too.