Portal:Erotica and pornography

Welcome to the Erotica and Pornography Portal

Before the Deluge by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1615

Introduction

Erotica is art, literature or photography 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, monster, tentacle erotica and bondage erotica.

Curiosa are curiosities or rarities, especially unusual or erotic books. In the antiquarian book trade, pornographic works are often listed under "curiosa", "erotica" or "facetiae". (Full article...)

Pornography (colloquially called porn, porno, and XXX, pronounced "triple X") is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to modern-day virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adults-only sexual content is made, classifying it as pornography or erotica.

The oldest artifacts considered pornographic were discovered in Germany in 2008 and are dated to be at least 35,000 years old. Human enchantment with sexual imagery representations has been a constant throughout history. However, the reception of such imagery varied according to the 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 lenient in the Western world where legal definitions of obscenity were made limited. In 1969, Blue Movie by Andy Warhol 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...)

Selected article

Dworkin photographed by Mary Motley Kalergis in 1985

Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen solo works: nine books of non-fiction, two novels, and a collection of short stories. Another three volumes were co-written or co-edited with US constitutional law professor and feminist activist Catharine A. MacKinnon.

The central objective of Dworkin's work is analyzing Western society, culture, and politics through the prism of men's sexual violence against women in a patriarchal context. She wrote on a wide range of topics including the lives of Joan of Arc, Margaret Papandreou, and Nicole Brown Simpson; she analyzed the literature of Charlotte Brontë, Jean Rhys, Leo Tolstoy, Marquis de Sade, Kōbō Abe, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, and Isaac Bashevis Singer; she brought her own radical feminist perspective to her examination of subjects historically written or described from men's point of view, including fairy tales, homosexuality, lesbianism, virginity, antisemitism, the State of Israel, the Holocaust, biological superiority, and racism. She interrogated premises underlying concepts such as freedom of the press and civil liberties. She theorized the sexual politics of intelligence, fear, courage, and integrity. She described a male supremacist political ideology manifesting in and constituted by rape, battery, prostitution, and pornography. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Illustration by Georges Barbier for The Songs of Bilitis

The Songs of Bilitis (/bɪˈliːtɪs/; French: Les Chansons de Bilitis) is a collection of erotic, essentially lesbian, poetry by Pierre Louÿs published in Paris in 1894. Since Louÿs claimed that he had translated the original poetry from Ancient Greek, this work is considered a pseudotranslation. The poems were fabulations, authored by Louÿs himself, and are still considered important literature.

The poems are in the manner of Sappho; the collection's introduction claims they were found on the walls of a tomb in Cyprus, written by a woman of Ancient Greece called Bilitis (Greek: Βιλιτις), a courtesan and contemporary of Sappho's to whose life Louÿs dedicated a small section of the book. On publication, the volume deceived even expert scholars.

Louÿs claimed the 143 prose poems, excluding 3 epitaphs, were entirely the work of this ancient poet—a place where she poured both her most intimate thoughts and most public actions, from childhood innocence in Pamphylia to the loneliness and chagrin of her later years. (Full article...)

List of selected works

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 2Yaoi (/ˈjaʊi/; Japanese: やおい, Japanese: [ja.o.i]), primarily known as boys' love (BL) (ボーイズラブ bōizu rabu) in Japan, is a Japanese genre of fictional media focusing on romantic or sexual relationships between male characters, typically marketed for a female audience and usually created by female authors.
Image 3Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 4British pornographic actor, director and producer Keiran Lee attending the XBIZ Award ceremony in 2016.
Image 5Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 6Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 7Karen McDougal
Image 8Scene from Second Life computer game
Image 9Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 10Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 11Performers at Eros PyramideStrip club, 2009
Image 12A 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 13Randy Spears
Image 14Jessie Andrews
Image 15Lisa Ann
Image 16Sylvia Kristel one of the protagonists of French Softcore porn Emmanuelle.
Image 17Sasha Grey attending the AVN Awards Show at the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 9, 2010
Image 18Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 19Bondage 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 20Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 21Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 22American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 23Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 24Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 25Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 26Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 27Annie Sprinkle as a Sacred prostitute
Image 28Nude photography is the creation of any photograph which contains an image of a nude or semi-nude person, or an image suggestive of nudity. Nude photography is undertaken for a variety of purposes, including educational uses, commercial applications and artistic creations. The exhibition or publication of nude photographs may be controversial, more so in some cultures or countries than in others, and especially if the subject is a minor.
Image 29Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 30Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 31The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 32Typical pixelated Japanese-style hentai image (uncensored version
Image 33Sinnamon Love
Image 34Rocco Siffredi
Image 35Cindy Margolis
Image 36Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 37Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 38Savanna Samson
Image 39Asa Akira
Image 40Stormy Daniels attending the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at the Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 8, 2010.
Image 41Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 42PhotographerSuze Randall
Image 43Sculpture by Kanayi Kunhiraman
Image 44Lord Longford, British politician and Anti-pornography campaigner
Image 45Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 46Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 47James Deen
Image 48Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 49Dana DeArmond
Image 50Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 51Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 52Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 53Gail Dines American Feminist, Anti-pornography activist, author, professor, and lecturer
Image 54Figure 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 55Tila Tequila
Image 56Carol Queen
Image 57Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 58Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 59Bruna Ferraz
Image 60Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 62Lupe Fuentes
Image 63Example of Erotic photography
Image 64Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 65Joey Silvera, Peter North, andJohn Leslie at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 66Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 67Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 68Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 69Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 70Evil Angel performers
Image 71Karenjit Kaur Vohra known by her stage nameSunny Leone, is a Canadian-born Indian-American actress and model, currently active in Indian film industry. She is a former pornstar. In 2016 she was chosen as one of 100 Women (BBC).
Image 72John Stagliano
Image 73SuicideGirls model "Tiffini"
Image 74Raylene
Image 75Louise Glover
Image 76Jenna Jameson
Image 77Avedon Carol, United States Feminist; anti-Censorship and Civil liberties campaigner; and a researcher in the field of Sex crime, residing in England
Image 78"Shiro Post", box for disposing of violent or sexual literature, Japan

Slideshow of selected historical images

Image 1Drawing of a Roman fresco by César Famin
Image 2Marilyn Monroe
Image 3Silenus and maenad. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 480 BC. From Vulci, ancient Greece
Image 4Early daguerrotype, Auguste Belloc, circa 1850-1855
Image 5Shunga, Japan
Image 6Erotic art from China, for The Carnal Prayer Mat
Image 7Egon Schiele - Kneeling Girl, Resting on Both Elbows
Image 8Erotic detail from the Vishwanath temple at the Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Image 9Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 10Two nudes standing. ca.1850. Daguerreotype. 14.6 × 14.11 cm (5.7 × 5.6 in). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Image 11Artwork by Otto Schoff
Image 121860s early photograph
Image 13Hans Sebald Beham: Die Nacht, engraving, 1548
Image 14Erotic art, 18th century India
Image 15Goodbye, Thomas Rowlandson
Image 16Erotic engraving supposedly after Agostino Carracci (1557–1602)
Image 17Leopold von Sacher Masoch
Image 18Ex libris by Franz von Bayros
Image 19'"Halbtakt" by Otto Mueller, ca. 1925
Image 20Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho, India, taken by User:Ggia
Image 21Roman oil lamp portraying intercourse
Image 22Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 23Early daguerrotype, Bruno Braquehais, circa 1850s
Image 24The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, an erotic woodcut made circa 1820 by Hokusai.
Image 25OZ Magazine number 28
Image 26Hokusai, Untamed Lion, From the series Picture Book Patterns of Couples (Ehon tsui no hinagata), c. 1812
Image 27Artwork by William Adolphe Bouguereau
Image 28Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 29Mary Magdalene in the Cave by Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Image 30Classical Greek Bas Relief showing "Cowgirl" position
Image 31Shunga illustration, Japan
Image 32Artwork by Achille Devéria, 1840
Image 33A Mercury Priapus figure from Pompeii, ancient Rome
Image 34Illustration from La Grande Danse macabre des vifs, Martin van Maële (1905)
Image 35Iconic pinup of Betty Grable, during World War II
Image 36Cunnilingus portrayed at Pompeii - Source: John R. Clarke: Ars Erotica. Darmstadt: Primus 2009
Image 37Les Sataniques. Le Sacrifice, Félicien Rops
Image 38Artwork by Gerda Wegener
Image 39Miniature from 15th century Persian book
Image 40Photograph by Alfred Cheney Johnston
Image 41Warren Cup detail
Image 42Vixen! 1968 movie poster
Image 43Sketch by Gustav Klimt
Image 44Female Bathers No. 4, 1886
Image 45Phryne before the Areopagus, Jean-Léon Gérôme. (1861) Phryne, a famous hetaera (courtesan) of Ancient Greece, being disrobed before the Areopagus. Phryne was on trial for profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries, and is said to have been disrobed by Hypereides, who was defending her, when it appeared the verdict would be unfavourable. The sight of her nude body apparently so moved the judges that they acquitted her. Some authorities claim that this story is a later invention.
Image 46Modern Pygmalion, Thomas Rowlandson
Image 47Artwork for Lysistrata by Aubrey Beardsley
Image 48Pool in a Harem, Jean-Léon Gérôme, ca. 1876. Example of Orientalist eroticism
Image 49Erotic scene. Rim of an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 510 BC., ancient Greece
Image 50Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses sœurs, ca 1594
Image 51Danaë and the Shower of Gold, Zeus impregnating her as a shower of gold, Léon Comerre, circa 1908
Image 52Illustration from Balkangreuel by Gottfried Sieben
Image 53Shunga illustration, Japan
Image 54French postcard
Image 55Drawing by Roger de La Fresnaye
Image 56Jupiter and Olympias
Image 57Gustav Klimt, Fishblood, 1898.
Image 58Sainte-Thérèse, Félicien Rops
Image 59Page from the Bizarre Museum comic
Image 60Photograph by Wilhelm von Plüschow
Image 62Satirical cartoon by James Gillray
Image 63Nineteenth century nude photograph.
Image 64Cunnilingus, Orientalist art referencing the Ottoman era
Image 65Nymphs and Satyr, by William Adolphe Bouguereau
Image 66Photograph by Wilhelm von Gloeden
Image 67Photograph by Wilhelm von Plüschow
Image 68Peep show at carnival
Image 69Indian Princess, by Richard Borrmeister (1888?)
Image 70Photograph from Scamp, men's magazine, 1962
Image 71Sculpture, Egypt, ca 300 BCE
Image 72Photograph by Wilhelm von Gloeden
Image 73The Fisherman and the Syren, Frederic Leighton, circa 1856-1858
Image 74Illustration from Juliette by the Marquis de Sade.
Image 75Two Lovers, by Reza Abbasi.
Image 76Nude Study of a Black Female daguerrotype, France, circa 1850s
Image 77artwork by Gerda Wegener
Image 78Photograph by Félix-Jacques Moulin, between 1851 and 1855
Image 79Prehistoric art
Image 80French postcard, 1880s
Image 81Virginia Biddle, 1927, by Alfred Cheney Johnston
Image 82Courtesan and putative spy Mata Hari
Image 83Katsushika Hokusai, "The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô)" Woodblock, ca. 1815, Japan Shunga
Image 8415-year old girl from Vienna. Photo from the book Der Körper des Kindes und seine Pflege by Carl Heinrich Stratz (1909)
Image 85Lasse Braun and Brigitte Maier, 1976
Image 86Striporama 1953 movie poster featuring Lili St. Cyr
Image 87Bettie Page magazine layout
Image 88Sleep, by Gustave Courbet, 1866
Image 89Unidentified nude, 1920s
Image 90The Garden of Aphrodite, Franz von Bayros
Image 91Illustration for Théophile Gautier's poem Musée Secret
Image 92Erotic art from China
Image 93Photograph by Charles Gilhousen
Image 94Traditional pederastic courtship scene on an Athenian black-figure amphora from the 5th century B.C.
Image 95Artwork by Martin van Maële
Image 96Drawing by Anton Peschka, 1925
Image 97The Venus of Willendorf prehistoric sculpture
Image 98The great epidemic of pornography. 19th-century French illustration
Image 101Oz magazine issue 31
Image 102A rape scene by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca.1797-1861).
Image 103Artwork by Egon Schiele
Image 104Teaserama 1955 movie poster, featuring Tempest Storm and Betty Page
Image 105Ziegfeld girl Dorothy Flood, by Alfred Cheney Johnston (1920s)
Image 106Storyville, New Orleans, portrait by E. J. Bellocq, circa 1912
Image 107Artwork by Antonio Vargas
Image 108Deadly Weapons 1974 sexploitation movie poster featuring Chesty Morgan
Image 109Vintage nude erotic picture (c. 1855) from the Uwe Scheid Collection
Image 11019th century photograph
Image 111“Cleo”, Kenneth Mclnnis (1915)
Image 112Vertumnus and Pomona by François Boucher (1740)
Image 113Artwork by Eusebi Planas i Franquesa
Image 114Joseph and Potiphar's wife, Rembrandt
Image 115Artwork by Johann Heinrich Füssli
Image 116Photograph by Wilhelm von Gloeden
Image 117Illustration of a toilet
Image 118Marayat Andriane (1967)
Image 119étude pour Le Manteau légendaire (English: Study For Le Manteau Legendaire), Léon Comerre
Image 120Kama Sutra Position.
Image 121Silver gelatin print by Charles Gilhousen (1915)
Image 122Artwork by Heinrich Lossow
Image 123Two 16 year old mulatto from Cairo, from anthropometry text, 1904
Image 124Shunga, Japan (ca 1750)
Image 125Johann Nepomuk Geiger, watercolor, 1840
Image 126Folke Sundquist (l) and Ulla Jacobsson (r) in Hon dansade en sommar (1951)
Image 127Illustration from Le livre de la Marquise by Konstantin Somov
Image 128Nights of Horror, panel by Joe Shuster (public domain)
Image 129Hokusai, Untitled (Plate No. 4) From the series Picture Book Patterns of Couples (Ehon tsui no hinagata), c. 1812
Image 130Illustration from Le livre de la Marquise by Konstantin Somov
Image 131Promises! Promises! poster, featuring Jayne Mansfield
Image 132Artwork by Peter Fendi
Image 133French postcard
Image 134Artwork by Franz von Bayros
Image 135L'Origine du monde (The Origin of the World), 1866 painting by Gustave Courbet, at museum. Better image at Image:Origin-of-the-World.jpg
Image 136Erotic art, India, 18th century
Image 137Hadrian engaging in anal sex with Antinous in Egypt, portrayed by Édouard-Henri Avril.

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that Nickelodeon storyboard artists created a book with hundreds of pornographic drawings of SpongeBob SquarePants characters?
... that women were 33 percent more likely than men to search for clown pornography on Pornhub in 2016?
... that a Japanese porn actor opened a restaurant that served poo-flavored curry?
... that Jailson Mendes had to gain weight for his first pornographic film?
... that some viewers of an Arizona TV station saw hardcore pornography instead of the Super Bowl?
... that there were no sex acts in Thea Ehre's nude performance at the 2021 Porn Film Festival Vienna?
... that a Florida TV station once aired a pornographic film by accident?
... that the copyright holder of more than 2,000 pornographic films is the most prolific filer of copyright lawsuits in the US?

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