Portal:Erotica and pornography

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...)

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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 1Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 2Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 3Raylene
Image 4Bondage 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 5Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 6Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 7Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 8Lupe Fuentes
Image 9Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.
Image 10Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 11Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 12Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 13Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 14Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 15Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 16Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 17Jenna Jameson
Image 18Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 19Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 20Lisa Ann
Image 21Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 22
Image 23Karen McDougal
Image 24Tila Tequila
Image 25Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 26Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 27Rocco Siffredi
Image 28Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 29Jessie Andrews
Image 30Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 31Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 32Louise Glover
Image 33Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 34Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 35Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 36Figure 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 37Dana DeArmond
Image 38Example of Erotic photography
Image 39Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 40Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 41Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 42Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 43Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 44The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 45Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 46Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 47Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 48American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 49Cindy Margolis

Image 49Cindy Margolis
Image 50A 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.

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... that a long-legged lovebird lived in humanity's cradle?
... that Money Shot: The Pornhub Story was described by multiple reviewers as unsalacious?
... 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 the 1983 pink film Beautiful Mystery was one of the earliest commercially produced gay pornographic films in Japan?
... that Philipp Tanzer has been an army medic, artist, firefighter, hairdresser, massage therapist, festival organiser, political candidate and gay porn star?
... that some viewers of an Arizona TV station saw hardcore pornography instead of the Super Bowl?
... that Lewes Road in Brighton has a gyratory named after a pornographic cinema?
... that Jailson Mendes had to gain weight for his first pornographic film?