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. Made for the 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

Fucking Machines logo

Fucking Machines (also known as fuckingmachines.com and fuckingmachines) is a pornographic website founded in 2000 that features video and photographs of women engaged in autoerotic sexual stimulation with penetrative sex-machines and sex toys. Based in San Francisco, California, the site is operated by Kink.com. Web entrepreneur Peter Acworth launched Fucking Machines on September 25, 2000, as his company's second website after Kink.com. Devices shown on the site were created with the intent to bring women authentic orgasms. Performers were instructed to allow themselves to be recorded experiencing pleasure.

After the site applied in 2005 to trademark the phrase "fuckingmachines", the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied the application and ruled that the mark was obscene. Free speech lawyer Marc Randazza represented the site and appealed the decision. Orlando Weekly called his legal brief "one of the most entertaining legal documents you're likely to come across." The appeal was denied in April 2008 and the case was terminated. Randazza's argument in the case became known as The Fuck Brief.

The website has been the subject of attention from journalists and academics studying sexuality. Writer Regina Lynn highlighted the site's emphasis on communication, and Annalee Newitz of AlterNet classed it as part of Porn 2.0. Violet Blue wrote in The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Sex Toys that it helped popularize the idea of machines aiding in sex acts. The 2008 edition of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History described the aesthetic of the devices as disturbing. Jessica Roy wrote for The New York Observer that Fucking Machines' examples of orgasms were a form of transhumanism. Sarah Schaschek devoted a chapter to the phenomenon in Screening the Dark Side of Love: From Euro-Horror to American Cinema, titled "Fucking Machines: High-Tech Bodies in Pornography". She observed, "Strictly speaking, the women in these videos are both the controllers and the controlled." (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Tropic of Cancer is an autobiographical novel by Henry Miller that is best known as "notorious for its candid sexuality", with the resulting social controversy considered responsible for the "free speech that we now take for granted in literature." It was first published in 1934 by the Obelisk Press in Paris, France, but this edition was banned in the United States. Its publication in 1961 in the United States by Grove Press led to obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography in the early 1960s. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the book non-obscene. It is regarded as an important work of 20th-century literature. (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 Lady Chatterley's Lover The Songs of Bilitis The 120 Days of Sodom Kama Sutra Lolita Josephine Mutzenbacher Tijuana bible Emmanuelle (novel) Sex (book)

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Cindy Margolis
Image 2Figure 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 3Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 4Tila Tequila
Image 5Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 6Jenna Jameson
Image 7The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 8Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 9Lupe Fuentes
Image 10Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 11Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
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 14Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 15Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 16Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway

Image 16Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 17Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 18Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 19Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 20Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 21Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 22American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 23World map showing laws of general pornography
Image 24Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 25Jessie Andrews
Image 26A 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 27Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 28Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 29Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 30Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 31Raylene
Image 32Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 33Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 34Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 35Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 36Karen McDougal
Image 37Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 38Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 39Dana DeArmond
Image 40Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 41Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 42Lisa Ann
Image 43Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 44Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 45Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 46Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 47Example of Erotic photography
Image 48Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 49Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 50Rocco Siffredi
Image 51Pierre Woodman filming in Australia

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... that Jan Kochanowski's Fraszki is a 16th-century collection of almost 300 poems, ranging from anecdotes and epitaphs to obscenities and erotica?
... that John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut was the bestselling pornographic film of 1994 and had the most rentals that year in the United States?
... that Nickelodeon storyboard artists created a book with hundreds of pornographic drawings of SpongeBob SquarePants characters?
... 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 Money Shot: The Pornhub Story was described by multiple reviewers as unsalacious?
... that the 1980s were the "age of hole-discovery" in yaoi erotica?
... that Aroha Bridge changed its name from Hook Ups because fans searching for the show often found pornography instead?