Portal:Erotica and pornography

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Welcome to the Erotica and Pornography Portal

Before the Deluge by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1615

Introduction

P:XXX

Pornography (colloquially known as porn or porno) has been defined as sexual subject material "such as a picture, video, or text" that is intended for sexual arousal. Intended for consumption by adults, pornography depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adult content is made classifying it as pornography or erotica.

The oldest artifacts considered pornographic were discovered in Germany in 2008 CE and are dated to be at least 35,000 years old. Throughout the history of erotic depictions various people made attempts to suppress them under obscenity laws, censor, or make them illegal. Such grounds and even the definition of pornography have differed in various historical, cultural, and national contexts. The Indian Sanskrit text Kama Sutra (3rd century CE) contained prose, poetry, and illustrations regarding sexual behavior, and the book was celebrated; while the British English text Fanny Hill (1748), considered "the first original English prose pornography," has been one of the most prosecuted and banned books. In the late 19th century, a film by Thomas Edison that depicted a kiss was denounced as obscene in the United States, whereas Eugène Pirou's 1896 film Bedtime for the Bride was received very favorably in France. Starting from the mid-twentieth century on, societal attitudes towards sexuality became more lenient in the Western world where legal definitions of obscenity were made limited. In 1969, Blue Movie became the first film to depict unsimulated sex that received a wide theatrical release in the United States. This was followed by the "Golden Age of Porn" (1969–1984). The introduction of home video and the World Wide Web in the late 20th century led to global growth in the pornography business. Beginning in the 21st century, greater access to the Internet and affordable smartphones made pornography more mainstream. (Full article...)

Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use any artistic form to depict erotic content, including painting, sculpture, drama, film or music. Erotic literature and erotic photography have become genres in their own right. Erotica also exists in a number of subgenres including gay, lesbian, women's, bondage, monster and tentacle erotica.

The term erotica is derived from the feminine form of the ancient Greek adjective: ἐρωτικός (erōtikós), from ἔρως (érōs)—words used to indicate lust, and sexual love. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

Lee in January 2016

Adam Diksa (born 15 January 1984), better known by his stage name Keiran Lee, is an English pornographic actor, director, and producer who works mainly for Brazzers. He is one of the highest-paid pornographic actors. He has received several awards, including an AVN Award for Favourite Male Performer and a UK Adult Film and Television Award for Best Male Actor. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

One of earliest editions, 1749 (MDCCXLIX)

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure—popularly known as Fanny Hill—is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London, it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel". It is one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history.

The book exemplifies the use of euphemism. The text has no swearing or explicit scientific terms for body parts, but uses many literary devices to describe genitalia. For example, the vagina is sometimes referred to as "the nethermouth", which is also an example of psychological displacement.

A critical edition by Peter Sabor includes a bibliography and explanatory notes. The collection Launching "Fanny Hill" contains several essays on the historical, social and economic themes underlying the novel. (Full article...)

List of selected works
The Autobiography of a Flea Fifty Shades of Grey Story of the Eye Story of O Jin Ping Mei Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle Lady Chatterley's Lover The Songs of Bilitis The 120 Days of Sodom Kama Sutra Lolita Tropic of Cancer (novel) Josephine Mutzenbacher Tijuana bible Emmanuelle (novel) Sex (book)

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Raylene
Image 2Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 3Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 4A Fluffer hands gay porn performers Jake Starr (seated) and Erik Grant (lying) items needed for a scene in the 2008 Lucas Entertainment production Pounding the Pavement.
Image 5Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 6Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 7Rocco Siffredi
Image 8Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 9Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 10Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 11Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 12Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 13Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 14Cindy Margolis
Image 15Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 16Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 17American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 18Bondage pornography, showing classic "wrist to ankle" rope hogtie. Other bondage methods depicted are breast bondage, elbow bondage, head to ankle tie, knees tied, and a crotch rope. Model is also wearing a muzzle gag.
Image 19Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 20Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 21Dana DeArmond
Image 22Karen McDougal
Image 23Jenna Jameson
Image 24Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 25Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 26Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 27Louise Glover
Image 28Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 29World map showing laws of general pornography
Image 30Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 31Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 32Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 33Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 34Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 35Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway

Image 35Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 36Figure 12 in Zillmann, Dolf: "Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography", included in the Report of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography and Public Health, United States Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, August 4, 1986
Image 37Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 38Lisa Ann
Image 39Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 40Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 41Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 42Tila Tequila
Image 43Jessie Andrews
Image 44The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 45Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 46Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 47Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 48Example of Erotic photography
Image 49Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 50Lupe Fuentes
Image 51Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."

Slideshow of selected historical images

Image 1Erotic art, 18th century India
Image 2The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, an erotic woodcut made circa 1820 by Hokusai.
Image 3Shunga, Japan (ca 1750)
Image 4Classical Greek Bas Relief showing "Cowgirl" position
Image 5Erotic scene. Rim of an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 510 BC., ancient Greece
Image 6A Mercury Priapus figure from Pompeii, ancient Rome
Image 7Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 8Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 9Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho
Image 10Illustration from Juliette by the Marquis de Sade.
Image 11Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho, India, taken by User:Ggia
Image 12Katsushika Hokusai, "The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô)" Woodblock, ca. 1815, Japan Shunga
Image 13Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 14Erotic detail from the Vishwanath temple at the Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Image 15Miniature from 15th century Persian book
Image 16Hokusai, Untitled (Plate No. 4) From the series Picture Book Patterns of Couples (Ehon tsui no hinagata), c. 1812
Image 17A rape scene by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca.1797-1861).
Image 18Silenus and maenad. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 480 BC. From Vulci, ancient Greece
Image 19Johann Nepomuk Geiger, watercolor, 1840
Image 20Erotic engraving supposedly after Agostino Carracci (1557–1602)
Image 21Nights of Horror, panel by Joe Shuster (public domain)
Image 22Roman oil lamp portraying intercourse
Image 23Two Lovers, by Reza Abbasi.
Image 24Cunnilingus portrayed at Pompeii - Source: John R. Clarke: Ars Erotica. Darmstadt: Primus 2009
Image 25Hadrian engaging in anal sex with Antinous in Egypt, portrayed by Édouard-Henri Avril.
Image 26Erotic art, India, 18th century
Image 27Traditional pederastic courtship scene on an Athenian black-figure amphora from the 5th century B.C.
Image 28The Venus of Willendorf prehistoric sculpture
Image 29Hokusai, Untamed Lion, From the series Picture Book Patterns of Couples (Ehon tsui no hinagata), c. 1812
Image 30Nineteenth century nude photograph.
Image 31Illustration from La Grande Danse macabre des vifs, Martin van Maële (1905)
Image 32Indian Princess, by Richard Borrmeister [de] (1888?)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that the verse novel Songs of a Mormon Woman by Sidonie Grünwald-Zerkowitz was banned as pornographic in Austria?
... that later pressings of the soundtrack of the soft porn film The Stud replaced Manfred Mann's Earth Band's "Davy's on the Road Again" after a journalist blabbed its presence to the band's keyboardist?
... that a pornographic screenplay about Jesus led to papal and royal condemnations, a firebombing, the writer's ban from the UK, and thousands of letters per week demanding the ban of a non-existent gay Jesus film?
... that Money Shot: The Pornhub Story was described by multiple reviewers as unsalacious?
... that Koh Masaki was one of the first gay pornographic film actors in Japan to openly appear in adult films without obscuring his identity?
... that some viewers of an Arizona TV station saw hardcore pornography instead of the Super Bowl?
... that Claudia Riner was falsely accused of distributing lesbian erotica in the Kentucky House of Representatives?
... that zombie pornography emerged in the 1980s during a rise in the Italian sexploitation film industry?