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

Page posing for the camera

Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. She was often referred to as the "Queen of Pinups": her long jet-black hair, blue eyes, and trademark bangs have influenced artists for generations. After her death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her "a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society".

A native of Kingsport, Tennessee, Page lived in California in her early adult years before moving to New York City to pursue work as an actress. There, she found work as a pin-up model, and she posed for several photographers throughout the 1950s. Page was "Miss January 1955", one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine. After years in obscurity, she experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1980s.

In 1959, Page converted to evangelical Christianity and worked for Billy Graham, studying at Bible colleges in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, with the intent of becoming a missionary. The latter part of Page's life was marked by depression, violent mood swings, and several years in a state psychiatric hospital with paranoid schizophrenia. (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 1Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 2Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 3Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 4Cindy Margolis
Image 5Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 6Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 7Example of Erotic photography
Image 8Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 9Tila Tequila
Image 10Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 11Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 12Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 13Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 14Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 15Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 16Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 17Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 18The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 19Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 20World map showing laws of general pornography
Image 21Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway

Image 21Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 22Rocco Siffredi
Image 23Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 24Bondage 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 25American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 26Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 27Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 28Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 29Louise Glover
Image 30Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 31Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 32Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 33Jenna Jameson
Image 34Karen McDougal
Image 35Lisa Ann
Image 36Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 37A 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 38Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 39Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 40Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 41Raylene
Image 42Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 43Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 44Figure 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 45Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 46Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 47Dana DeArmond
Image 48Jessie Andrews
Image 49Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 50Lupe Fuentes
Image 51Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... that the 1980s were the "age of hole-discovery" in yaoi erotica?
... that Christian radio station KIXL near Austin, Texas, pulled an anti-pornography program off-air in mid-transmission because of its graphic descriptions of gay sex?
... that Aroha Bridge changed its name from Hook Ups because fans searching for the show often found pornography instead?
... 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 a pornographic video service once offered NFL quarterback Gardner Minshew a one-million-dollar endorsement deal based on his habit of exercising in nothing but a jockstrap?
... 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 according to one source, The Embroidered Couch is "most likely China's earliest vernacular pornographic novel"?
... that the 1983 pink film Beautiful Mystery was one of the earliest commercially produced gay pornographic films in Japan?