Let's Define Pornography!

TerribleT · Nov 30, 2011

Nah. Written would be literal and i would call that erotica. To me, porn would need to exploit at least one actual being. Literature is erotica, as would be a drawing or sculpture....from my POV of course. Clearly there is still discussion on the subject. I consider pornography to be more then a depiction. It has to be actual visual documentation of a staged erotic scene.

Smallest · Nov 30, 2011

Oh, so you're in the 'porn is exploitative' camp? Interesting.

I highly disagree, and many other people who write it are constantly drawing lines between porn, erotica, smut, etc

JettOnly · Nov 30, 2011

What if someone has a fettish that is statues? and the statue was created for the sole porpose of turning people on?
What about a photograph of a shoe? A shoe and foot? a lady with the same shoe on - are they all porn or none or just some?

What if the written work was a true story of someone exploiting someone else? Or how about a thread on a forum created for the OP to get off on (he would be then exploiting the other forum members)
As a female I can say a well written story is MUCH better than some image for me

Personaly I would say erotica CAN be porn to some people, just as some porn is going to be distasteful to other people

It is interesting how different everyones views are tho

Kor · Nov 30, 2011

The concept of "pornography" is fairly recent and localized - the British Commonwealth and USA from a century and a half ago, more or less. Within those areas there are wide legal interpretations of what constitutes pornography.

Pornography laws seldom make logical sense. For example, an image of a naked woman is "art" if it's displayed in a public gallery; the same image in a slick magazine may be "pornography."

Boiling things down to essentials, the concept of "pornography" appears to be some people seeing other people doing something enjoyable, therefore they must be prevented from doing so.

Nuka · Nov 30, 2011

Boring.

Nuka · Nov 30, 2011

Haha sorry that was such an arrupt post. But that's my definition.

I dunno, because what is erotic art and what is pornography?
Does hentai/youi/yuri count?
What about in person vouyerism?

Smallest · Nov 30, 2011

I think hentai does, but anything in person does not. I think it has to be in some physical media, visual or written or whatever.

And I am not of the persuasion that it must include exploitation, and I do include homegrown in my definition.

TerribleT · Nov 30, 2011

Smallest said:
Oh, so you're in the 'porn is exploitative' camp? Interesting.

I highly disagree, and many other people who write it are constantly drawing lines between porn, erotica, smut, etc

I don't mean to imply that exploitation is necessarily bad.
I consider myself neutral in the porn debate. As a pseudo visual artist I am, however, hopelessly biased. Porn must be a visual representation of real people. Otherwise, it's erotica.

Smallest · Dec 1, 2011

The writer's argument is usually:
Porn- Gratuitous sex written for fulfillment of the reader. There's just sex and fun
Erotica- A sexual journey, where sex is a way of highlighting the rest of the story and developing characters, but sex is still written explicitly and for fulfillment (so, porn + plot). Doesn't need to be romance or have a happy ending
Romantica- Romance with erotic elements, usually less explicit in depiction. Chick books, basically
And the rest of the spectrum doesn't really matter. And when I called erotica porn+plot, I of course meant the definition of porn given there, not any of the others I or anyone else in this thread has stated.

I don't understand why being a visual artist makes you more inclined to disagree. I mean, I write, but I don't think that's why I classify some writing as porn.

Also, how do you define exploitative, then? Not meant argumentatively, but it'll help me get where you're coming from.

TerribleT · Dec 1, 2011

Smallest said:
I don't understand why being a visual artist makes you more inclined to disagree. I mean, I write, but I don't think that's why I classify some writing as porn.

Also, how do you define exploitative, then? Not meant argumentatively, but it'll help me get where you're coming from.

I'm not disagreeing, per se, but i have my own definition based on what comes to my mind at the suggestion of pornography. The word, to me, means to record an actual erotic event.
To exploit, in this context, means simply to use for ones self.

Let's Define Pornography!

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