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Pornography (Greek pornographia from porne , prostitute + grapho , (v.) to write + suffix ia , state of , property of , place of) , more informally referred to as porn or porno, is the explicit representation of the human body or sexual activity with the goal of sexual arousal. It is similar to, but distinct from erotica, which is the use of sexually arousing imagery used for artistic purposes only. Over the past few decades, the pornographic industry has skyrocketed due to the technological convenience of VHS and DVD, and in particular the rise of the Internet.

In general, "erotica" refers to portrayals of sexually arousing material that hold or aspire to artistic or historical merit, whereas "pornography" often connotes the prurient depiction of sexual acts, with little or no artistic value. The line between "erotica" and the term "pornography" (which is frequently considered a pejorative term) is often highly subjective. In practice, pornography can be defined merely as erotica that certain people perceive as "obscene." The definition of what one considers obscene can differ between persons, cultures and eras. This leaves legal actions by those who oppose pornography open to wide interpretation. It also provides lucrative employment for armies of lawyers, on several "sides."


Cultural historians have suggested that every art medium and publishing medium first was used for pornography: handwriting, painting, sculpture, the printing press, printed sheet music, motion pictures, videotapes, DVD's. The World Wide Web.[How to reference and link to summary or text] This may not be true throughout history, but it does seem to be true for recent history. The videotape and DVD media might have flourished without porn, but they have certainly flourished very well with it: the porn industry produces more titles per year than Hollywood; it even compares to Bollywood. Curiously, porn plays in few theaters, and in many countries it is difficult to rent porn videos, because Blockbuster and other large video-rental firms avoid porn; most distribution is by sale.


Mass-distributed pornography is as old as the printing press. Almost as soon as photography was invented, it was being used to produce pornographic images. Indeed some claim that pornography has been a driving force in the development of technologies from the printing press, through photography (still and motion) to video, satellite TV, DVD, and the Internet.[How to reference and link to summary or text] Calls to regulate or prohibit these technologies have often cited pornography as a concern.[How to reference and link to summary or text]

Photo manipulation and computer-generated imagesEdit





Internet DistributionEdit

Main article: Internet pornography

Some internet entrepreneurs operate pornographic internet sites. As well as conventional photographic or video pornography, some sites offer an "interactive" video game-like entertainment. Due to the international character of the Internet, it provides an easy means whereby consumers residing in countries where pornography is either taboo or entirely illegal can easily acquire such material from sources in another country where it is legal or remains unprosecuted.

The low cost of copying and delivering digital data boosted the formation of private circles of people swapping pornography. With the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing applications such as Kazaa, pornography swapping has reached new heights. Prior to this, the Usenet news service was a popular place for pornography swapping. Free pornography became available en masse from other users and is no longer restricted to private groups. Large amounts of free pornography on the Internet are also distributed for marketing purposes to encourage subscriptions to paid content.





Oil lamp artifact depicting coitus more ferarum

Pornography is as old as civilization but the concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. Previous to that time, though some sex acts were regulated or stipulated in laws, looking at objects or images depicting them was not. In some cases, certain books, engravings or image collections were outlawed, but the trend to compose laws that restricted viewing of sexually explicit things in general was a Victorian construct. When large scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shocking the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire. They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of sexuality, and endeavored to hide them away from everyone but upper class scholars. The movable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy and what couldn't be removed was covered and cordoned off as to not corrupt the sensibilities of women, children and the working class. Soon after, England’s and the world's first law criminalizing pornography was enacted in the Obscene Publications Act of 1857.[2] The Victorian attitude that pornography was for a select few can be seen in the wording of the Hicklin test stemming from a court case in 1868 where it asks, "whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences." Despite their suppression, depictions of erotic imagery are common throughout history, and remain so.[3]

Legal statusEdit

See List of pornography laws by region for detailed list

The legal status of pornography varies widely from country to country. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, softcore pornography is considered tame enough to be sold in general stores or to be shown on TV. Hardcore pornography, on the other hand, is usually regulated. The production and sale, and to a slightly lesser degree the possession, of Child pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and most countries have restrictions on pornography involving violence or animals.






Anti-pornography movementEdit

Main article: Anti-pornography movement


Legal objections Edit

Distribution of obscenity is a Federal crime in the United States, and also under most laws of the 50 states. There is no right to distribute obscene materials. Child pornography is illegal. The determination of what is obscene is up to a jury in a trial, which must apply the Miller test.

In explaining its decision to reject claims that obscenity should be treated as speech protected by the First Amendment, in MILLER v. CALIFORNIA, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)the US Supreme Court found that


and in PARIS ADULT THEATRE I v. SLATON, 413 U.S. 49 (1973) that




Religious objectionsEdit



Feminist objectionsEdit


Effect on sex crimesEdit


Effect on sexual aggressionEdit



Pornography production and violence against womenEdit

  1. REDIRECT Template:POV-section

According to Dr. Diana Russell, "When addressing the question of whether or not pornography causes rape, as well as other forms of sexual assault and violence, many people fail to acknowledge that the actual making of pornography sometimes involves, or even requires, violence and sexual assault

In 1979, Andrea Dworkin published Pornography: Men Possessing Women, which analyzes (and extensively cites examples drawn from) contemporary and historical pornography as an industry of woman-hating dehumanization. Dworkin argues that it is implicated in violence against women, both in its production (through the abuse of the women used to star in it), and in the social consequences of its consumption (by encouraging men to eroticize the domination, humiliation, and abuse of women).

U.S. Government CommissionsEdit

Meese Report cover

The then available evidence as to the influence of pornography was assessed by two major Commissions established in 1970 and 1986, respectively.

In 1970, the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography concluded that "there was insufficient evidence that exposure to explicit sexual materials played a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal behavior."



President Reagan announced his intention to set up a commission to study pornography. The result was the appointment by Attorney General Edwin Meese in the spring of 1985 of a panel comprised of 11 members, the majority of whom had established records as anti-pornography crusaders.[14]


  1. "Children and adolescents who participate in the production of pornography experience adverse, enduring effects,"
  2. "Prolonged use of pornography increases beliefs that less common sexual practices are more common,"


A case study: JapanEdit

Milton Diamond and Ayako Uchiyama write in "Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan" (International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22. 1999):[17]



Pornographic work contains a number of stereotypes. Although pornography targeted at heterosexual males often includes interaction between females, interaction between males is rarely seen, with the exception of double-penetration scenes. In hardcore materials, a male generally ejaculates outside his partner's body, in full view: the so-called "cum shot". Penises are almost always shown fully erect. In heterosexual pornography, the choice of position is naturally geared to giving the viewer the fullest view of the woman, making the reverse cowgirl position and the man holding the woman in a "dog-and-lamp-post" (doggy) position among the most popular. Fellatio scenes usually involve the woman looking into the camera or at the man, for similar reasons. Especially in American and Japanese porn, women tend to be vocal and loud during hardcore scenes. Racial stereotypes are often played up in American pornography involving ethnic minorities. Additionally, male pornographic actors are percieved to have incredable holding power.

None of these seterotypes are true of "softcore" pornography, as usually the male and females genetillia are hidden.

Pornography by and for womenEdit



Production and distribution by regionEdit

Main article: Pornography by region



United States: In 1970, a Federal study estimated that the total retail value of all the hard-core porn in the United States was no more than $10 million[19] Although the revenues of the adult industry are difficult to determine, by 2003, Americans were estimated to spend as much as $8 to $10 billion on pornography.[20] The majority of pornographic video is shot in the San Fernando Valley[How to reference and link to summary or text], which acts as a center for various models, actors/actresses, production companies, and other assorted businesses involved in the production and distribution of porn.



Main article: List of pornographic sub-genres

In general, softcore refers to pornography that does not depict penetration, and hardcore refers to pornography that depicts penetration.

Some popular genres of pornography:

See alsoEdit



  1. Playboy undressed video game women - Aug. 25, 2004. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  3. Beck, Marianna The Roots of Western Pornography: Victorian Obsessions and Fin-de-Siècle Predilections. Libido, The Journal of Sex and Sensibility. URL accessed on 2006-08-22.
  4. “Porn is vital to freedom, says [Salman Rushdie”]
  5. Politics and Pornography. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  6. The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  7. Attorney General Gonzales' priority: porn, not terrorists [Politech. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  8. Pornography, rape and the internet. URL accessed on 2006-10-25.
  9. D'Amato, Anthony Porn Up, Rape Down. URL accessed on 2006-12-19.
  10. The Anti-Pornography Movement - Ashland Free Press. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  11. Malamuth, NM, Addison T, Koss M (2000). Pornography and sexual aggression: are there reliable effects and can we understand them?. Annual Review of Sex Research 2000 (11): 26-91. PMID: 11351835. (Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000, p. 79-81)
  13. Politics and Pornography. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  16. The His and Hers Subway. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  17. Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  18. village voice people Pucker Up by Tristan Taormino. URL accessed on 2006-08-26.
  20. Schlosser, Eric (2003-5-08). Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market., Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618334661.
  21. includeonly>Richard, Emmanuelle. "The Naked Untruth", Alternet, 2002-23-05. Retrieved on 2006-09-08. (in English)

Further readingEdit


  • Betty Dodson. "Feminism and Free speech: Pornography." Feminists for Free Expression 1993. 8 May 2002 [1]
  • Susan Griffin. Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature. New York: Harper, 1981.
  • Matthew Gever. "Pornography Helps Women, Society"[2], UCLA Bruin, 1998-12-03.
  • Jason Russell. "The Canadian Past-Time""Stand Like A Rock"
  • Michael Kimmel. "Men Confront Pornography". New York: Meridian--Random House, 1990. A variety of essays that try to assess ways that pornography may take advantage of men.
  • Wendy McElroy defends the availability of pornography, and condemns feminist anti-pornography campaigns.[4]
    • "A Feminist Overview of Pornography,Ending in a Defense Thereof"[5]
    • "A Feminist Defense of pornography"[6]
  • Nadine Strossen:
    • "Nadine Strossen: Pornography Must Be Tolerated"[8]
  • Scott Tucker. "Gender, Fucking, and Utopia: An Essay in Response to John Stoltenberg's Refusing to Be a Man."[9] in Social Text 27 (1991): 3-34. Critique of Stoltenberg and Dworkin's positions on pornography and power.

External linksEdit


ast:Pornografía ca:Pornografia cs:Pornografie da:Pornografi de:Pornografie el:Πορνογραφία es:Pornografía eo:Pornografio fr:Pornographie id:Pornografi is:Klámhe:פורנוגרפיה la:Pornographia lb:Pornographie lt:Pornografija nl:Pornografieno:Pornografi nn:Pornografipt:Pornografia ro:Pornografie ru:Порнография sq:Pornografia sl:Pornografija sr:Порнографија sh:Pornografija fi:Pornografia sv:Pornografiyi:פארנאגראפיע zh:色情


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