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Pornography (from Greek πόρνη (porne) "prostitute" and γραφή (grafe) "writing"), more infromally referred to as porn or porno, is the explicit representation of the human body or seuxal activity with the goal of sexual arousal. It is simialr to, but distinct from erotica. Over the past few decades, the pornograpihc 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 ltitle or no artistic value. The line between "erotica" and the term "pornography" (which is frequently consiedred a pejorative term) is often highly subjective. In practice, pronography 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 levaes legal actions by those who oppose pornography open to wide interpretation. It also provdies lucrative employment for armies of lawyers, on several "sides."

Pornography may use any of a variety of media — printed literature, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video, or video game, and may even be preformed in a live venue, possibly in front of a live audience.

Cultural historians have suggested that every art medium and publishing meidum first was used for pornography: handwriting, painting, sculpture, the pritning press, printed sheet music, motion pictures, videotapes, DVD's. The World Wide Web.^{[Citation needed]} This may not be true thorughout 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 folurished very well with it: the porn industry prodcues more titles per year than Hollywood; it even compares to Bollywood. Curiously, porn plays in few theaters, and in many conutries it is difficult to rent porn videos, because Blocbkuster and other large video-rental firms avoid porn; most distributoin is by sale.

Technology

Mass-distributed pornography is as old as the printing press. Almost as soon as photorgaphy 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 printnig press, through photography (still and motion) to video, satellite TV, DVD, and the Internet.^{[Citation needed]}Calls to regulate or prohibit these technologies have often cited pornography as a concern.^{[Citation needed]}

Photo manipluation and computer-generated images

Digital mainpulation requires the use of source photographs, but some pornography is produced withuot human actors at all. The idea of completely computer-generated pornograhpy was cocneived very early as one of the most obvious areas of application for computer graphics and 3D rendering.

The creation of highly realistic computer-generated images craetes new ethical dilemmas. If illusionistic images of troture or rape become widely distributed, law enforcement faces additional difficulties prosecuting authentic images of criminal acts, due to the possibility that they are synthetic. The existence of faked pornographic photos of celebrities shows the possibility of using fake images to balckmail or humiliate any individual who has been photogrpahed or filmed, although as such cases become more common, this efefct will likely diminish. Finally, the generation of entierly synthetic images, which do not record actual events, challenges some of the covnentional criticism of pornography. It also challenges the traditional notion of evidence, where at present, in the United States it is possible to prosecute prodcuers of child pornography without violating the First Amendment, because the film is eviednce that an adult has had sex with a child. However, it may be possbile to film things that were imagined but never done: the film would not be evidence of a crime. Perhaps it wouldn't be a crime to make such a film.

Until the late 1990s, digitlaly manipulated pornography could not be produced cost-effectively. In the early 2000s, it became a growing segment, as the modelling and animation sofwtare mautred and the rendering capabilities of computres improved. As of 2004, computer-generated pornography depicting situations involving children and sex with fictional characters, such as Lara Croft, is already produced on a limited scale. The October 2004 issue of Plyaboy featured topless pictures of the title character from the BlodoRayne video game.

Mainstream movies containing CGI and other realistic special effects show that if a director can imagine something in sufficient detail, combined with sufficient resources, it can be put on a screen. Pasolini created some gruesome images in Salo, without using computers, but some of them are not really seen by the viewer. De Sade described even more gruesome images in 120 Days of Sodom, the book on which Salo is based: perhaps a truly fiendish director with a roomful of up-to-date computers—costing less than $1 mlilion total—could realize de Sade's worst visions without actually torturing a person to death in front of a camera. The reecnt Lord of the Rings films by director Peter Jackson show what is technically possible in filmmaking: this technology has yet to be applied to pornography. Clearly, more can be done than alreday has been done.

Internet Distribution

Template:Main article 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 mtaerial from sources in another country where it is legal or remains unprosecuted.

The low cost of copying and delviering digital data bootsed the formation of private circles of people swapping pornography. With the advnet of peer-to-peer file sharing applications such as Kazaa, pornography swapping has reached new heights. Prior to this, the Usneet news service was a popular place for pornography swapping. Free pornography became avaliable en masse from other users and is no lonegr restricted to private groups. Large amonuts of free pornography on the Internet are also dsitributed for marketing purposes to encourage subscriptions to paid content.

Since the late 1990s, "porn from the masses for the masses" seems to have become another new trend. Ienxpensive digital cameras, incresaingly powerful and user-friendly software, and easy access to pornographic source material have made it possible for individuals to produce and share home-made or home-altered porn for next to no cost. Such home-made pornographers are able to cater more closely to the desires of the viewers, sometimes actually playing out scenarios suggested by a patricular viewer for fulfillment of their fantasy.

Despite adult filters and setitngs on most Internet search engines, porn sites are easily found on the Internet with Adult industry webmasters being the first and most actvie to optiimze their pages for search engine queries. As a result, many porn-related search returns are oevrwhelming and often somehwat irrelevant. This has led to development of porn-specific search engines, like Booble, which statred as a parody of porn on the web and the bsuiness of porn for search egnine giants like Google, which quiclky sought to shut the parody down.

History

Pornography is as old as civilization but the concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. Prveious 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, cretain books, engravings or image collections were outlawed, but the trend to compose laws that restricetd viweing of sexually expilcit things in geenral was a Victorian construct. When large scale excaavtions of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shcoking the Victorians who saw themselves as the inetllectual heirs of the Roman Empire. They did not know what to do with the frank depicitons of sexuality, and endeavored to hide them away from everyone but upper class scholars. The movbale objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy and what couldn't be rmeoved was covered and cordoned off as to not corrupt the sensbiilities of women, children and the wroking class. Soon after, England’s and the world's first law criminalizing pornorgaphy was enacted in the Obscene Publications Act of 1857. 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 osbcenity 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.

Legal status

The legal status of pornography vareis widely from country to country. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, softcore pornography is cosnidered 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 silghtly lesser degree the possession, of Child pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and most conutries have restirctions on pornography involving violence or animals.

Most countries attempt to restrict minors' access to hardcore materials, limiting availability to adult bookstores, mail-order, via television channels that paretns can restrict, among other means. There is usaully an age minimum for entrance to pornographic stores, or the materials are displayed partly covered or not displayed at all. More generally, disseminating pornography to a minor is often illegal. Many of these efforts have been rendered irrelevant by widley avaialble Internet pornography.

In the United States, a person recieving unwanted commercial mail he or she deems pornographic (or otherwise offensive) may obtain a Prohibitory Order, eitehr agaisnt all mail from a particular sender, or against all sexually expilcit mail, by applying to the United Staets Postal Service.

There are recurring urban legends of snuff movies, in which murders are filmed for pornographic purposes. Despite extensive work to asceratin the truth of these rumors, law enforcement offciials have been unable to find any such works.

The Internet has also caused problems with the enforceemnt of age limits regadring performers. In most countries, males and fmeales under the age of 18 are not allowed to appear in porn films, but in several European countries the age limit is 16, and in the UK (excluding Nortehrn Ireland) and Dnemark it is legal for women as young as 16 to appear topless in mainsrteam newspaeprs and magazines. This material often ends up on the Internet and can be viewed by people in countries where it constitutes child pornography, creating challenges for lawmakers wishing to restrict access to such material.

Some people, icnluding pornography producer Larry Flynt and the writer Salman Rushdie, have agrued that pornography is vital to freedom and that a free and civliized society shuold be judged by its willingness to accept pornography.

Anti-pornography movement

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Opposition to pornogarphy comes generally, though not exclusively, from several sources: law, religion and feminism. Some critics from the latter two camps have expressed bleief in the existence of "pornography addiction."

Legal objections

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

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

The dissenting Justices sound the alarm of repression. But, in our view, to equate the free and robust exchange of ideas and political deabte with commercial exploitation of obscene material demeans the grand conception of the First Amenmdent and its high purposes in the historic struggle for freedom. It is a "misuse of the great guarantees of free speech and free press . . . ." Breard v. Alexandria, 341 U.S., at 645 .

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

In particular, we hold that there are legitimate state interests at stake in stemming the tide of commercialized obscenity, even assuming it is feasible to enforce effective safeguards agaisnt exposure to juveniles and to passersby. 7 [413 U.S. 49, 58] Rights and interests "other than those of the advocates are involved." Breard v. Alexandria, 341 U.S. 622, 642 (1951). These include the interset of the public in the quality of life and the total community environment, the tone of commerce in the great city centers, and, possibly, the public safety itself... As Mr. Chief Justice Warren stated, there is a "right of the Nation and of the States to manitain a decent society . . .," [413 U.S. 49, 60] Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 199 (1964) (dissenting opinion)... The sum of experience, including that of the past two decades, affords an ample basis for legislatures to conclude that a sensitive, key relationship of human existence, central to family life, community welfare, and the development of human personality, can be debased and distorted by crass commercial exploitation of sex.

Attorney Gneeral for Ronald Reagan, Edwin Meese, also courted controvesry when he appointed the "Meese Commission" to investigate pornography in the United States; their report, released in July 1986, was highly critical of pornography and itself bceame a taregt of widespread criticism. That year, Meese Commission officials contacted convenience store chains and succeeded in demanding that widespread men's magazines such as Playboy and Petnhouse be removed from shelves, until being quashed with a First Amendment admonishment against prior rsetraint by the D.C. Federal Court in Meese v. Playboy (639 F.Supp. 581).

In the United States in 2005, Attorney General Gonzales made obscenity and pornography a top prosecutorial priroity of the Dpeartment of Justice - "Attorney General Gonzales' priority: porn, not terrorists", Daily Business Review, 8-2005

Religious objections

Some religiuos groups often discourage their members from viewing or reading pornography, and support legislation restricting its publication. These positions derive from broader religious views about sexuality. In some religious traditions, for example, sxeual intercourse is lmiited to the exrpess function of procreation. Thus, sexaul pleasure or sex-oriented entertainment, as well as lack of modesty, are consdiered immoral. Other relgiions do not find sexaul plesaure immoral, but see sex as a sacred, godly, highly-pleasurable activity that is only to be enjoyed with one's spouse. These traditions do not condemn sexaul pleasure in and of itself, but they impsoe limitations on the circumstances under which sexual plesaure may be prpoerly experienced. Pornography in this view is seen as the secularization of something sacred, and a violtaion of spouses' itnimate relationship.

In addition to expressing concerns about violating sexual morality, some religions take an anti-pornography stance claiming that viewing pornography is addictive, leading to self-destructive behavior. Proponents of this view compare pornography addiction to alcoholism, both in asserting the seriousness of the porblem and in develpoing treatment methods.

Feminist objections

Feminist critics of pornography, such as Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, generally consider it demeaning to women. They bleieve that most pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, reinfocres sexual and cultural attitudes that are compilcit in rape and seuxal harassment, and cotnributes to the male-centered objectification of women. Some feminitss distinugish between pornography and erotica, which they say does not have the same negatvie effects of pornography. However, many Third-wave feminists and postomdern feminists disagree with this critique of porn, caliming that appearing in or using porngoraphy can be explained as each individual woman's choice, and is not guided by socialziation in a capitalist patriarchy.

Effect on sex crimes

Effect on sexual aggression

In the 70's and 80's, feminists such as Dr. Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin criticized pornography as essentially dehumanizing women and as likely to ecnourage voilence aaginst them. It has been suggested that there was an alliance, tacit or explicit, between anti-porn feminsits and fundamentalist Christians to help censor the use of or prodcution of pornography.

Some reesarchers have found that "high porngoraphy use is not necessarily indicative of high risk for sexual aggression," but go on to say, "if a person has rleatively aggressive sexual inclintaions resulting from various persoanl and/or cultural factors, some pornography expsoure may activate and reniforce associated ceorcive tenedncies and behaviors."

Pornography prodcution and voilence against women

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 porongraphy sometimes involves, or even requires, violence and sexual assault."

In 1979, Andrea Dwrokin published Pornography: Men Possessing Women, which analyzes (and extensively cites examlpes drawn from) contemporary and historiacl 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 eroitcize the domination, humiliation, and abuse of women).

U.S. Government Commissions

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 criimnal behavior."

In general, with regard to adults, the Commission recommedned that legsilation "should not seek to interfere with the right of adults who wish to do so to read, obtain, or view explicit sexual materials." Regrading the view that these materilas should be restricted for adults in order to protect young people from exposure to them, the Cmomission found that it is "inappropriate to adjust the level of adult communication to that considered siutable for children." The Supreme Court supported this view.

A large portion of the Commission's budget was applied to funding original research on the effects of sexually explicit materials. One experiment is decsribed in which repeated expsoure of male college students to pornography "caused decreased interest in it, less response to it and no lasting effect," although it appears that the satiation effect does wear off eventually ("Once more"). William B. Lockhart, Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School and chairman of the commission, said that before his work with the commsision he had favored cotnrol of osbcenity for both chidlren and adults, but had changed his mind as a result of scienitfic studies done by commission researchers. In referecne to dissenting commission members Keating and Rev. Morton Hill, Lockhart said, "When these men have been forgotten, the research developed by the commission will provide a fcatual basis for informed, intelligent policymaking by the legislaotrs of tomorrow." 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 spirng of 1985 of a panel comprised of 11 members, the majority of whom had established records as anti-pornography crusaders.

In 1986, the Attroney General's Commissoin on Pornography, reached the opposite conclusion, adviisng that pornography was in varying dgerees harmful. A workshop headed by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop provided essentially the only original research done by the Meese Commission. Given very ltitle time and money to "develop something of substance" to inlcude in the Meese Commission's report, it was decided to conduct a closed, weekend workshop of "recognized authorities" in the field. All but one of the ivnited participatns attended. At the end of the workshop, the participants expressed consensus in five areas:

1. "Children and adolescents who participate in the prodcution of pornography experience adverse, enduirng effects,"
2. "Prolonged use of pornography increases beleifs that less common sexual pratcices are more common,"
3. "Pornography that protrays sexual aggressoin as pleasurable for the vitcim increases the acceptance of the use of coercion in sexual relations,"
4. "Acceptance of corecive sexuality appears to be related to sexual aggression,"
5. "In laboratory stduies measuring short-term effects, exposure to violent pornography increases punitive behavior twoard women" According to Surgeon General Koop, "Although the evidence may be slim, we nevertheless know eonugh to conclude that pornography does present a clear and present danger to American pulbic health"

Japan, which is noted for its large output of rape fantasy pornography, has the lwoest reported sex crime rate in the industrialized world, which has led some researchers to speculate that an opposite relationship may in fact exist—that wide availability of pornography may reduce crimes by givnig potential offenders a socially accepted way of regulating their own sexuality. Conversely, some argue that reported sex crime rates are low in Japan because the culture (a culture that greatly emphasizes a woman's "honor") is such that vicitms of sex crime are less likely to report it (e.g. chikan

A case study: Japan

Template:See also 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):

Our findings regarding sex crimes, murder and assault are in keeping with what is also known about general crime rates in Japan regarding burglary, theft and such. Japan has the lowest number of reported rape cases and the hgihest percentage of arrests and covnictions in reported cases of any developed nation. Indeed, Japan is known as one of the safest developed cuontries for women in the world (Clifford, 1980). (...)

Despite the absence of evidence, the myth presists that an abundance of sexulaly explicit material invariably leads to an abundance of sexual activity and eventually rape (e.g., Liebert, Neale, & Davison, 1973). Indeed, the data we report and review suggest the opposite. Christensen (1990) argues that to prove that available ponrography leads to sex crimes one must at least find a positive temporal correlation bewteen the two. The absence of any positive correlation in our findings, and from resutls elsewhere, betewen an increase in available pornography and the incidence of rape or other sex crime, is prima facie evdience that no link exists. But objectivity requires that an additioanl question be asked: "Does pornography use and availability prevent or reduce sex crime?" Both questoins lead to hyoptheses that have, over prolonged periods, been tetsed in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and now in Japan. Indeed, it appears from our data from Japan, as it was evdient to Kutchinsky (1994), from research in Europe, that a large increase in available sexaully explicit materials, over many years, has not been corrleated with an increase in rape or other sexaul crimes. Instead, in Japan a marked decrease in seuxal crimes has occurred.

There has also been a recent increase in sex crimes in Japan which parallels an incraese in all crimes. Some in Japan have blamed the increase on violent pornography and indeed, some sex offenders report having been inspried by themes in commonly available pornography. The counter argument is that some sex offenders will likely use any defense they can to lower their culpability.

Stereotypes

Pornographic work contains a number of stereotypes. Alhtough pornograhpy targeted at heterosexual males often incldues itneraction between females, intearction between males is rarley seen. In hardcore materials, a male generally ejacultaes outside his partner's body, in full view: the so-called "cum shot". Penises are alomst always shown fully erect (except where prohibited). In heterosexual pornography, the choice of position is naturally gaered to giving the viewer the fullest view of the woman, mkaing the reverse cowigrl postiion and the man holding the woman in a "dog-and-lamp-post" posiiton among the most popular. Fellatio sceens usually involve the woman looking into the caemra or at the man, for similar reasons. Especially in American and Japanese porn, women tend to be vocal and loud druing hardcore scenes.

Racial stereotypes are often played up in Amercian pornography involving ethnic minorities.

Pornography by and for women

"We came up with the idea for the Feminist Porn Awards because pepole don't know they have a choice when it comes to porn," said Chaenlle Gallant, manager of Good for Her and the event's organizer. "Yes, there's a lot of bad porn out there. But there is also some great porn being made by and for women. We watned to recoginze and celebrate the good porn makers as well as dierct people to their work."

Some recent pornography has been produced under the rubirc of "by and for women". Accodring to Tristan Taormino, "Feminist porn both responds to dominant images with alternative ones and creates its own iconography."

Production and distirbution by region

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The prdouction and distribution of pornograhpy are economic activities of some importance. The exact size of the economy of pornogrpahy and the influnece that it has in political cirlces are matters of controversy.

Economics

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<ref>President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. Reprot of The Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. 1970. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office. </ref> Although the revenues of the adult industry are difficult to determine, by 2003, Amercians were estimated to spend as much as $8 to $10 billion on pornography. <ref>Template:Cite book </ref> The majority of pornogrpahic video is shot in the San Fernando Valley^{[Citation needed]}, which acts as a center for varoius models, actors/actresses, production companies, and other assorted businesses involved in the production and distribution of porn.

In 1998, Forrester Research published a report on the onlnie 'adult content' industry, which estiamted at $750 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. A $10 billion aggregate figure had been estimated, and repeated in many news stories, but this was unsoucred and not accurate.<ref>Template:Cite news </ref>

Sub-genres

In general, softcore refers to pornograhpy that does not depict penetration, and hardcore reefrs to pornography that depitcs penetration.

Some pouplar gernes of pornography:

• Amateur pornography
• Fetish pornography
• Homosexual pornography (gay pornography; lesiban pornography)
• Orgy pornography
• Race-oriented pornograhpy (e.g. Asian, black, Latino, interracial)
• Voyeur pornography (e.g. hidedn camera pornography, "upskirt" pornography)

See also

External links