PornographyPornography is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. \n
Anti-pornography movement\nCriticisms of pornography come from two directions: conservative and religious forces, and feminism. Religious conservatives, exemplified by US Rev. Jerry Falwell, decry pornography because they see it as immoral; sex is reserved for married couples, and pornography is thought to lead to an overall increase in what they consider to be immoral behavior in society. In the United States, a 1968 Supreme Court decision which held that people could view whatever they wished in the privacy of their own homes caused Congress to fund and President Lyndon Johnson to appoint a commission to study pornography. The commission's report recommended sex education, funding of research into the effects of pornography, restriction of children's access to pornography, and recommended against any restrictions for adults. The report was widely criticized and rejected by Congress. In 1983, prosecutors in California tried to use pandering and prostitution state statutes against a producer of and actors in a pornographic movie; the California Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that these statutes do not apply to the production of pornography (People v. Freeman (1988) 46 Cal.3d 41). Some speculate that this decision implictly condones pornography and was one of the reasons most modern American porn is produced in California.
Is there a link between pornography and sex crimes?It has long been theorized that there may be a link between pornography, particularly violent pornography, and an increase in sex crime. This theory has relatively little empirical support and indeed Japan, which is noted for violent pornography, has the lowest reported sex crime rate in the industrialized world, which has led some researchers to speculate that an opposite relationship may in fact exist, namely, that wide availability of pornography may reduce crimes by giving potential offenders a socially accepted way of regulating their own sexuality.Study: Japanese pornography and sex crimesMilton Diamond and Ayako Uchiyama write in "Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan" (International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22. 1999)\n[1]:
History\nPornography has possibly a very long history. Specific evidence suggests that depictions of sexuality and human progress go hand in hand and that pornographers today remain on the cutting edge. Sexual artwork is among the oldest known to exist; explict photographs date to the begining of photography and among the earliest films are works depicting nudity and explicit sex. But does depiction imply intent to arouse? Nude human beings and sexual activities are depicted in some paleolithic art (i.e. Venus Figurines), however it is not certain that the purpose was sexual arousal, the images may have had instead a spiritual significance. There are numerous pornographic paintings on the walls of ruined Roman buildings in Pompeii. One notable example is a brothel in which the various sexual services are advertised in murals above each door. In Pompeii you can also see phalluses (an erect penis) and testicles engraved in the sidewalks, pointing the way to the prostitution and entertainment district, to aid visitors in finding their way (see Erotic art in Pompeii). Pornographic comic books known as Tijuana bibles began appearing in the US in the 1920s. In the second half of the 20th century, pornography evolved from the so-called "men's magazines" such as Playboy and Modern Man of the 1950s. These magazines featured nude or semi-nude women, sometimes apparently engaging in the act of masturbation, although their genitals or pubic hair were not actually displayed. By the late 1960s, however, these magazines, which now included Penthouse, began to evolve into more explicit displays, eventually, by the 1990s, featuring sexual penetration, lesbianism and homosexuality, group sex, and fetishes. The movie camera has been used for pornography throughout its history, and with the arrival of the home video cassette recorder the pornographic movie industry grew massively, people being able not only to view pornography in the privacy of their own home without having to go out to a theater, but also to make their own pornography. Pornographic computer games have also existed almost since the start of the industry - some of the earliest were Mystique's Atari 2600 video games, including Custer's Revenge, Beat 'Em And Eat 'Em and Gigolo. The Japanese company Hacker International, which also published games under the name Super PIG, produced several pornographic titles for the Nintendo Famicom - three of these, renamed to Bubble Bath Babes, Hot Slots and Peek-A-Boo Poker, were distributed in the USA by Panesian. However, such games are no longer produced for current consoles, largely due to the increased costs and potential legal problems associated with developing a game without the approval of the console manufacturer - most pornographic titles are now released only for home computers and are most often simple puzzle games or Japanese hentai adventure games. With the arrival of the Internet, the availability of pornography increased greatly. Many of the most successful internet entrepreneurs are those who operate pornographic internet sites. As well as conventional photographic or video pornography, some sites offer "interactive" video-game-like entertainment. Due to the international character of the Internet, it provides an easy means for consumers of pornography that is illegal in their country to simply acquire such material from sources in another country where it is legal or not prosecuted. See internet pornography. The almost-zero cost of copying and shipping of digital data boosted the formation of private circles of people swapping pornography. In leet speak, it is usually referred to as pr0n. This type of exchange is especially popular for material that is illegal, most notably child pornography. With the advent of peer to peer file sharing applications such as Kazaa, pornography swapping has reached new heights. Free pornography is available en masse from other users and is no longer restricted to private groups.Pornographic conventions\nPornographic work contains a number of conventions. Although pornography\ntargeted at heterosexual males often includes interaction between females, interaction between males is taboo. In hardcore materials, a male generally ejaculates outside his partner's body, in full view. Penises are almost always shown fully erect. Women tend to be unrealistically vocal and loud during hardcore scenes. In the cheaper magazines the copy accompanying the text is often derogatory to the female subjects: references to sluts, slags and whores abound.Pornography around the globe\nThe production and distribution of pornography are economic activities of some importance. The exact size of the economy of pornography and the influence that it plays in political circles are matter of controversy.Pornography in the United States\nMain article: Pornography in the United States A few large companies operating out of Southern California's San Fernando Valley are responsible for much of the pornography produced in the United States. The distribution of pornography changed radically\nafter the 1980s, with videotape and cable television largely displacing X-rated theaters. Video distribution in turn is in the process of being replaced by DVD (and Internet distribution for niche markets). \nDistribution of pornography is a large industry which\ninvolves major entertainment companies such as Time Warner (which profits from pornography through its cable channels, and in-room movies provided by hotel chains). Mainstream pornography in the United States tends to feature mostly women in high heels with hair dyed blonde, heavy makeup, large breasts and buttocks, a dark suntan (with visible tan lines, ie a change in skin coloration where underwear or a bathing suit was worn whilst tanning) and often with small tattoos or body piercings. Men in heterosexual pornography tend to be older and heavily muscled, whereas men in gay pornography are on average younger. American pornography movies often attempt to promote pornographic stars, and the boxes for video tapes tend to be extremely gaudy. Plot in pornographic movies is often minimal.Pornography in EuropeEuropean hardcore pornography is dominated by a few pan-European producers and distributors, the most notable of which is the Private organization. Most European countries also have local pornography producers. Both of these compete with imported American pornography.\nHungary is a haven for European pornography producers with an ample supply of beautiful and young female performers and liberal pornography laws.\nWomen in European pornography typically have a so-called "more natural" look than in American pornography, with less emphasis on breast implants. \nThe once very flourishing currents of Euro-chic and stylish pornography represented by directors such as Lasse Braun, Joe d'Amato, Jean Rollin have lost much ground and Pierre Woodman style video shoots attract more audience. Few directors like Luca Damiano and Alain Payet resist to keep on with the cinematographic and dramatic aspects, which distinguish European pornography from others. In the UK, British-made pornography tends to focus on a rough-and-ready semi-amateur look rather than the more stylized look of mainland European pornography. Producers such as Ben Dover concentrate on producing "girl-next-door" or "candid" material. Some British pornography concentrates on sexual fetishism, particularly erotic spanking and rubber fetishism.Pornography in Asia\nThe three main producers of pornography in Asia are Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Japan has a large pornography industry (see Pornography in Japan) which features more natural looking women usually wearing little makeup servicing multiple men who tend to be anonymous. In Japan, fetish pornography has a great variety, ranging from well-known bukkake to tamakeri. Hong Kong and Thailand produces much print pornography but less video. The men in Thai pornography tend to be younger than in Japanese or American pornography.Pornography in Turkey\nIn the Islamic World, production of pornography seems to be limited due to social pressure rather than legal regulations. Turkey, with its deeply-rooted secular attitudes towards Islam, is an exception. After a long period of producing Italian-inspired softcore comedies in 1970s, the first hardcore film Öyle Bir Kadin Ki (She is Such a Woman) was legally distributed in 1979, followed by many more until the 1980 coup d'état, which strictly prohibited graphic sex in cinema. In the late 1990s, Turkish pornography lived a relatively humble revival, producing material of much lower quality. Contemporary producers of Turkish porn (e.g. Trimax) are centred in Germany, although they still recruit their performers from Turkey.Magazines\n*Playboy (originally only in US, nowadays has editions in many countries)\n*Penthouse\n*Hustler Magazine (originally only in US, nowadays has editions in many countries)\n*Blueboy (early California-based magazine with pictures of guys; singer Cyndi Lauper mentions it in her song She-Bop) \n*Private (Established in Stockholm, Sweden in 1965 as the world's first full color hardcore sex magazine)\n*Le Ore (Italy), once an ordinary newspaper, in the 1970s had a notable turn in editorial line and represents now the most important title of a wide network of sex related magazines in central Europe.\n*Playgirl\n*Freshmen (along with Men and Unzipped, a series of 3 gay-themed publications) see also: List of men's magazinesPublishers
Studios\n*Color Climax Corporation (Denmark)\n*Falcon Studios\n*Titan Media\n*Vivid Video\n*VCA PicturesErotic authors
Famous pornographic movies\n*Debbie Does Dallas\n*Deep Throat\n*The Opening of Misty Beethoven\n*The Devil in Miss Jones\n*Behind the Green Door\n*TabooPersonalities\n*Ai Iijima\n*Andrea True\n*Annabel Chong\n*Annie Sprinkle\n*Asia Carrera\n*Ben Dover\n*Bob Guccione\n*Brande Roderick\n*Brigitte Lahaie\n*Chasey Lain\n*Chessie Moore\n*Chi Chi LaRue\n*Chloe Verrier\n*Danni Ashe\n*Devon\n*Dilara\n*Dita von Teese\n*Dolly Buster\n*Dominique Simone\n*Hugh Hefner\n*Georgina Spelvin\n*Gousgounis\n*Ginger Lynn\n*Gloria Leonard\n*Hyapatia Lee\n*Henry Saari\n*Ilona Staller\n*India\n*Jack Napier\n*Jenna Jameson\n*Jewel D'nyle\n*Joey Stefano\n*Johan Paulik\n*John Holmes\n*John Stagliano\n*Karin Schubert\n*Lexington Steele\n*Larry Flynt\n*Linda Lovelace\n*Marilyn Chambers\n*Mei Lue\n*Moana Pozzi\n*Neriah Davis\n*Nicci Sterling\n*Nina Hartley\n*Peter North\n*Rocco Siffredi\n*Ron Jeremy\n*Sahin K\n*Savannah\n*Solange Lecarrio also known as Solange, Solange van Hop\n*Steven St. Croix\n*Sylvia Saint\n*Tera Patrick\n*Tiffany Towers\n*Traci Lords\n*Veronika ZemanovaSpecialized forms of pornography\n* bondage magazines\n* spanking magazines\n* bestiality\n* child pornographySee also\n* sex worker\n* erotic actor\n* list of erotic actors\n* slash fiction\n* glamour photography\n* pictophilia\n* Gary Kremen - first man to register the sex.com domainExternal links and references\n* Benschop, Albert: Pornography in Cyberspace: Internet hornification and cyber sexual obsessions. In: SocioSite.\n* Diamond, M. and Uchiyama, A: Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22 (1999). Reports that a significant increase in the availability of pornography in Japan was accompanied by a decrease in sex crimes, in accordance with similar findings in other countries. Category:Sexology |
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