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 adult-only sexual content is made by 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

Penthouse is a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione and published by Los Angeles–based Penthouse World Media, LLC. It combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictures of women that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore pornographic pictures of women.

Although Guccione was American, the magazine was founded in the United Kingdom in 1965, and first published simultaneously in the UK and the US in March 1965. From September 1969, an "American Edition" was made available in the US. Since 2016, Penthouse has been under the ownership of Penthouse World Media (formerly known as Penthouse Global Media Inc.), which filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Its assets were subsequently acquired in June of that same year by WGCZ Ltd., the owners of XVideos, when it won a bankruptcy auction bid. Later on, Penthouse Global Media was spun off from WGCZ and rebranded as Penthouse World Media.

The magazine's centerfold models are known as Penthouse "Pets", and customarily wear a distinctive necklace in the form of a stylized key which incorporates both the Mars and Venus symbols in its design. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected work of erotic literature

Title page from 1906

Josephine Mutzenbacher or The Story of a Viennese Whore, as Told by Herself (German: Josefine Mutzenbacher oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne von ihr selbst erzählt) is an erotic novel first published anonymously in Vienna, Austria, in 1906. The novel is famous in the German-speaking world, having been in print in both German and English for over 100 years and sold over 3 million copies, becoming an erotic bestseller.

Although no author claimed responsibility for the work, it was originally attributed to either Felix Salten or Arthur Schnitzler by the librarians at the University of Vienna. Today, critics, scholars, academics and the Austrian Government designate Salten as the sole author of the "pornographic classic". In 2022, a stylometric analysis showed that Felix Salten is the most probable author of the novel, the final pages excluded.

The original novel uses the specific local dialect of Vienna of that time in dialogues and is therefore used as a rare source of this dialect for linguists. It also describes, to some extent, the social and economic conditions of the lower class of that time. The novel has been translated into English, Swedish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Dutch, and Japanese among others, and been the subject of numerous films, theater productions, parodies, and university courses, as well as two sequels. (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 Tropic of Cancer (novel) Tijuana bible Emmanuelle (novel) Sex (book)

Slideshow of selected contemporary images

Image 1Pornographic DVDs, Japan, "Kawaii" section
Image 2Lisa Ann
Image 3Pierre Woodman filming in Australia
Image 4Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair
Image 5Hentai Manga, Japan
Image 6Dean Flynn and Chi Chi LaRue
Image 7Swedish/Tanzanian Playmate of the Year Ida Ljungqvist
Image 8Audrey Hollander - American porn star
Image 9Playmate of the Year and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Pamela Anderson, signing DVDs at the USS Halsey
Image 10American pornographic actor Ron Jeremy. One of top Porn Stars of All Time.
Image 11Rebeca Linares at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2009
Image 12Silvia Saint, wearing a Bomis tee-shirt (a site previously run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia).
Image 13Lupe Fuentes
Image 14Example of Erotic photography
Image 15Carmen Luvana, Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 16Karen McDougal
Image 17Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway

Image 17Sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Haugesund harbour, Norway
Image 18Valentina Nappi at the AVN Awards Show, Las Vegas, Nevada on 21 January 2017
Image 19Playboy Playmate Alison Waite
Image 20The COLT Studio Group, San Francisco
Image 21Tila Tequila
Image 22Joanna Jet - transsexual pornographic actress and director
Image 23Rocco Siffredi
Image 24Penthouse Pet Dani Daniels, wearing Penthouse key necklace
Image 25Playmate of the_Year Corinna Harney
Image 26Jenna Jameson
Image 27Dana DeArmond
Image 28Francois Sagat, Folsom Street Fair
Image 29Bondage 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 30Pornographic actor and director Miles Long (submitted by self)
Image 31World map showing laws of general pornography
Image 32Hugh Hefner with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon
Image 33Daisy Marie posing with a fan at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008
Image 34Jessie Andrews
Image 35Michael Lucas, Nonie, Rafael Alencar, David Shankbone, and Ernesta Alamirano in Fire Island Pines
Image 36Pornographic actress and cosplayer Tanya Tate as She-Ra
Image 37Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood
Image 38Figure 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 39Transsexual pornographic actress Erica Andrews
Image 40Louise Glover
Image 41Xaviera Hollander, author and former Sex worker
Image 42Michele_Merkin - Glamour photography
Image 43Cindy Margolis
Image 44Katsuni - French pornographic actress.
Image 45Hentai style of art, originally from Japan
Image 46Pornographic film set. Pictured from left to right: Cali Chase, Mikey Butders, and a photographer identified as "Nicole."
Image 47Shy Love at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2012
Image 48Sean Michaels - pornographic actor.
Image 49Raylene
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.
Image 51Erotic actress and public health advocate Sharon Mitchell.

Slideshow of selected historical images

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

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

... 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 Koh Masaki was one of the first gay pornographic film actors in Japan to openly appear in adult films without obscuring his identity?
... that Nickelodeon storyboard artists created a book with hundreds of pornographic drawings of SpongeBob SquarePants characters?
... 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 Jan Kochanowski's Fraszki is a 16th-century collection of almost 300 poems, ranging from anecdotes and epitaphs to obscenities and erotica?
... that the Japanese male–male romance magazine June was originally pitched to its publisher as a "mildly pornographic magazine for women"?
... that the pastor John Littlejohn went from selling pornographic literature to sailors as a youth to protecting the Declaration of Independence?
... that Aroha Bridge changed its name from Hook Ups because fans searching for the show often found pornography instead?