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) is sexual subject material such as a picture, video, text, or audio that is intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to modern 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. 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 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...)

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...)

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Selected article

Porn actors Asa Akira and Toni Ribas in 2016

A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct pornographic subgenres and attempt to present a sexual fantasy; the actors selected for a particular role are primarily selected on their ability to create or fit that fantasy. Pornographic videos are characterized as either softcore, which does not contain depictions of sexual penetration or extreme fetishism, and hardcore, which can contain depictions of penetration or extreme fetishism, or both. The genres and sexual intensity of videos is mainly determined by demand. Depending on the genre of the film, the on-screen appearance, age, and physical features of the actors and their ability to create the sexual mood of the video is of critical importance. Most actors specialize in certain genres, such as straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, bondage, strap-on, anal, double penetration, semen swallowing, teenage, orgy, age roleplay, fauxcest, interracial or MILFs and more.

The pornography industry in the United States was the first to develop its own movie star system, primarily for commercial reasons. In other countries, the "star" system is not common, with most actors being amateurs. Most performers use a pseudonym and strive to maintain off-screen anonymity. A number of pornographic actors and actresses have written autobiographies. It is very rare for pornographic actors and actresses to successfully cross over to the mainstream film industry. Certain pornographic actors have leveraged their success to branch into different entrepreneurial endeavours, such as Jenna Jameson's ClubJenna.

Leaked patient database of Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation in 2011 contained details of over 12,000 pornographic actors that it had tested since 1998, providing estimates of the number of pornographic film actors who have worked in the United States. As of 2011^[update], it was reported that roughly 1,200–1,500 performers were working in California's "Porn Valley".^{[needs update]} (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Title page of Les 120 Journées de Sodome, first edition, 1904

The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinage (French: Les 120 Journées de Sodome ou l'école du libertinage) is an unfinished novel by the French writer and nobleman Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, written in 1785 and published in 1904 after its manuscript was rediscovered. It describes the activities of four wealthy libertine Frenchmen who spend four months seeking the ultimate sexual gratification through orgies, sealing themselves in an inaccessible castle in the heart of the Black Forest with 12 accomplices, 20 designated victims and 10 servants. Four aging prostitutes relate stories of their most memorable clients whose sexual practices involved 600 "passions" including coprophilia, necrophilia, bestiality, incest, rape, and child sexual abuse. The stories inspire the libertines to engage in acts of increasing violence leading to the torture and murder of their victims, most of whom are adolescents and young women.

The novel only survives in draft form. Its introduction and first part were written according to Sade's detailed plan, but the subsequent three parts are mostly in the form of notes. Sade wrote it in secrecy while imprisoned in the Bastille. When the fortress was stormed by revolutionaries on 14 July 1789, Sade believed the manuscript had been lost. However, it had been found and preserved without his knowledge and was eventually published in a restricted edition in 1904 for its scientific interest to sexologists. The novel was banned as pornographic in France and English-speaking countries before becoming more widely available in commercial editions in the 1960s. It was published in the prestigious French Pléiade edition in 1990 and a new English translation was published as a Penguin Classic in 2016.

The novel attracted increasing critical interest after World War II. In 1957, Georges Bataille said it "towers above all other books in that it represents man's fundamental desire for freedom that he is obliged to contain and keep quiet". Critical opinion, however, remains divided. Neil Schaeffer calls it "one of the most radical, one of the most important novels ever written", whereas for Laurence Louis Bongie it is "an unending mire of permuted depravities". (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 Kama Sutra Lolita Tropic of Cancer (novel) Josephine Mutzenbacher Tijuana bible Emmanuelle (novel) Sex (book)

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Bondage 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 2Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 3Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 4Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 5Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 6Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 7Tila Tequila
Image 8Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 9Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 10Rocco Siffredi
Image 11Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 12Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 13Cindy Margolis
Image 14Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 15Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 16Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 17Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 18Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 19Jenna Jameson
Image 20Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 21Jessie Andrews
Image 22Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway

Image 22Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 23Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 24Example of Erotic photography
Image 25Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 26Figure 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 27Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 28Raylene
Image 29Louise Glover
Image 30Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 31Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 32Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 33Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 34Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 35A 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 36Karen McDougal
Image 37Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 38Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 39Dana DeArmond
Image 40Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 41Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 42Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 43Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 44Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 45Lisa Ann
Image 46Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 47Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 48The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 49American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 50Lupe Fuentes
Image 51World map showing laws of general pornography

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... that Claudia Riner was falsely accused of distributing lesbian erotica in the Kentucky House of Representatives?
... 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 Jan Kochanowski's Fraszki is a 16th-century collection of almost 300 poems, ranging from anecdotes and epitaphs to obscenities and erotica?
... that Nickelodeon storyboard artists created a book with hundreds of pornographic drawings of SpongeBob SquarePants characters?
... that in 2001, around 64 percent of all films produced in Malayalam were of the soft-porn variety?
... that the nature documentary The Green Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, has been compared to both horror films and a "plant porno"?
... that the 1980s were the "age of hole-discovery" in yaoi erotica?
... that the 1983 pink film Beautiful Mystery was one of the earliest commercially produced gay pornographic films in Japan?