Portal:Erotica and pornography

Welcome to the Erotica and Pornography Portal

Before the Deluge by Cornelis van Haarlem, 1615

Introduction

Erotic *Kama* statues at the Khajuraho Temple, India

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 them to be separate. 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 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, or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as pictures, videos, text, or audio intended for sexual arousal. Over the course of human history, pornographic depictions have taken many forms, from stone carvings in the Upper Paleolithic, to virtual reality experiences in the present day. It is almost always made for consumption by adults. A distinction is often made between pornography and erotica, although some viewers may not distinguish between them.

Human fascination with sexual imagery has been a constant throughout history. The oldest artifacts considered pornographic were discovered in Germany in 2008 and are dated to be at least 35,000 years old. However, the reception of such imagery has varied hugely by cultural context. 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 1896, a film by Thomas Edison that depicted a kiss was denounced as obscene in the United States, whereas Eugène Pirou's film Bedtime for the Bride from the same year was received very favorably in France. Starting from the mid-20th century, 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...)

Selected article

Lili St. Cyr in Montreal, circa 1946

Marie Frances Van Schaack (June 3, 1917 – January 29, 1999), known professionally as Lili St. Cyr, was an American burlesque dancer and stripper. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in 1969 by McGraw Hill Book Company and is currently published by Penguin Random House.

Ada, or Ardor began to materialize in 1959, when Nabokov was flirting with two projects, "The Texture of Time" and "Letters from Terra." In 1965, he began to see a link between the two ideas, finally composing a unified novel from February 1966 to October 1968. The published cumulation would become his longest work. Ada was initially given a mixed reception. However, writing in The New York Times Book Review, noted scholar Alfred Appel called it "a great work of art, a necessary book, radiant and rapturous," and said that it "provides further evidence that he is a peer of Kafka, Proust and Joyce." (Full article...)

List of selected works

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 2Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 3Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 4Example of Erotic photography
Image 5Lord Longford, British politician and Anti-pornography campaigner
Image 6Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 7Bondage 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 8John Stagliano
Image 9Lisa Ann
Image 10Scene from Second Life computer game
Image 11Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 12Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 13Figure 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 14Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 15Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 16Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 17Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 18Stormy Daniels attending the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at the Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 8, 2010.
Image 19Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 20Lupe Fuentes
Image 21Carol Queen
Image 22Savanna Samson
Image 23Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 24Avedon Carol, United States Feminist; anti-Censorship and Civil liberties campaigner; and a researcher in the field of Sex crime, residing in England
Image 25Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 26Annie Sprinkle as a Sacred prostitute
Image 27Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 28Karen McDougal
Image 29Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 30Karenjit 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 31The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 32Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 33Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 34PhotographerSuze Randall
Image 35Rocco Siffredi
Image 36Joey Silvera, Peter North, andJohn Leslie at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 37Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 38Sasha Grey attending the AVN Awards Show at the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada on January 9, 2010
Image 39Gail Dines American Feminist, Anti-pornography activist, author, professor, and lecturer
Image 40Randy Spears
Image 41Nude 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 42Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 43Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 44Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 45Bruna Ferraz
Image 46Raylene
Image 47Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 48Sinnamon Love
Image 49James Deen
Image 50Louise Glover

Slideshow of selected historical images

Image 1Sainte-Thérèse, Félicien Rops
Image 2Courtesan and putative spy Mata Hari
Image 3Drawing of a Roman fresco by César Famin
Image 5Modern Pygmalion, Thomas Rowlandson
Image 61860s early photograph
Image 7Vintage nude erotic picture (c. 1855) from the Uwe Scheid Collection
Image 8Artwork by Antonio Vargas
Image 9Storyville, New Orleans, portrait by E. J. Bellocq, circa 1912
Image 10Goodbye, Thomas Rowlandson
Image 11The great epidemic of pornography. 19th-century French illustration
Image 12Jupiter and Olympias
Image 13Nights of Horror, panel by Joe Shuster (public domain)
Image 14Erotic scene. Rim of an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 510 BC., ancient Greece
Image 15Photograph by Wilhelm von Plüschow
Image 16Illustration from Balkangreuel by Gottfried Sieben
Image 17Photograph by Charles Gilhousen
Image 18Egon Schiele - Kneeling Girl, Resting on Both Elbows
Image 19Erotic art from China, for The Carnal Prayer Mat
Image 21Marayat Andriane (1967)
Image 22Katsushika Hokusai, "The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô)" Woodblock, ca. 1815, Japan Shunga
Image 23Two nudes standing. ca.1850. Daguerreotype. 14.6 × 14.11 cm (5.7 × 5.6 in). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Image 24Marilyn Monroe
Image 25Drawing by Roger de La Fresnaye
Image 26Satirical cartoon by James Gillray
Image 27Indian Princess, by Richard Borrmeister (1888?)
Image 28Phryne 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 29Warren Cup detail
Image 30French postcard
Image 31Artwork by Peter Fendi
Image 32Sleep, by Gustave Courbet, 1866
Image 33Kama Sutra illustration (19th century?)
Image 34Kama Sutra Position.
Image 35Iconic pinup of Betty Grable, during World War II
Image 36A Mercury Priapus figure from Pompeii, ancient Rome
Image 37Illustration for Théophile Gautier's poem Musée Secret
Image 38'"Halbtakt" by Otto Mueller, ca. 1925
Image 39L'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 40Cunnilingus portrayed at Pompeii - Source: John R. Clarke: Ars Erotica. Darmstadt: Primus 2009
Image 41Cunnilingus, Orientalist art referencing the Ottoman era
Image 42Les Sataniques. Le Sacrifice, Félicien Rops
Image 43Illustration from Juliette by the Marquis de Sade.
Image 44The Garden of Aphrodite, Franz von Bayros
Image 45Artwork by Gerda Wegener
Image 46Ex libris by Franz von Bayros
Image 47Erotic art, 18th century India
Image 49Photograph from Scamp, men's magazine, 1962
Image 50Illustration of a toilet

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that Philipp Tanzer has been an army medic, artist, firefighter, hairdresser, massage therapist, festival organiser, political candidate and gay porn star?
... that while filming a music video for her debut album at a motel, Underscores had the police called on her by the motel staff because they thought she was shooting a pornographic film?
... 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 Cybersocket, Inc., started by repackaging public domain information into a niche paperback guide to gay pornographic sites?
... that trans porn star Angelina Please was credited with saving a life shortly before losing hers at the age of 24?
... that the cisgender actress Siri Dahl once won a Trans Erotica Award?
... 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 Colton Ford shot his first porn film as a result of 9/11?