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

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.

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...)

Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

John Calvin Culver (November 2, 1943 – August 10, 1987), better known under his stage name Casey Donovan, was an American male pornographic film actor from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, appearing primarily in adult films and videos catering to gay male audiences, during the Golden Age of Porn. Following a brief career as a Latin teacher and a stint as a highly-paid male model, Donovan appeared in Boys in the Sand (1971), the film that would cement his status as a gay icon. Attempts to build on his notoriety to achieve mainstream crossover success failed, but Donovan continued to be a bankable star in the adult industry for the next 15 years. He was briefly a mainstream actor, who appeared on stage, as well as a theatre producer and manager, and appeared as himself in TV series The Emerald City. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Lady Chatterley's Lover is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, when it was the subject of a watershed obscenity trial against the publisher Penguin Books, which won the case and quickly sold three million copies. The book was also banned for obscenity in the United States, Canada, Australia, India and Japan. The book soon became notorious for its story of the physical (and emotional) relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman, its explicit descriptions of sex and its use of then-unprintable profane words. It entered the public domain in the United States in 2024. (Full article...)

List of selected works
The Autobiography of a Flea Fifty Shades of Grey Story of the Eye Story of O Fanny Hill Jin Ping Mei Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle 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 1Figure 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 2Tila Tequila
Image 3Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 4Example of Erotic photography
Image 5Cindy Margolis

Image 5Cindy Margolis
Image 6Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 7Rocco Siffredi
Image 8Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 9Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 10Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 11Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 12Bondage 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 13Louise Glover
Image 14Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 15Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 16Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 17Karen McDougal
Image 18Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 19Jenna Jameson
Image 20Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 21Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 22Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 23Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 24American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 25Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 26Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 27Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 28Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 29Dana DeArmond
Image 30Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 31
Image 32Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 33Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 34Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 35The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 36A 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 37Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 38Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 39Lupe Fuentes
Image 40Raylene
Image 41Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 42Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 43Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 44Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 45Jessie Andrews
Image 46Lisa Ann
Image 47Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 48Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 49Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 50Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... that the Japanese male–male romance magazine June was originally pitched to its publisher as a "mildly pornographic magazine for women"?
... that the pastor John Littlejohn went from selling pornographic literature to sailors as a youth to protecting the Declaration of Independence?
... that the nature documentary The Green Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, has been compared to both horror films and a "plant porno"?
... that Money Shot: The Pornhub Story was described by multiple reviewers as unsalacious?
... that Claudia Riner was falsely accused of distributing lesbian erotica in the Kentucky House of Representatives?
... 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 John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut was the bestselling pornographic film of 1994 and had the most rentals that year in the United States?
... that before being restored as a Broadway theater, the Ritz Theatre was used as a television studio, pornographic theater, vaudeville house, children's theater, and poster warehouse?