"In 1979 the as yet unknown 20 year old Madonna posed nude for just $30 for New York photographer Martin Schreiber. Later when she had become a global icon the shots appeared in Playboy, catapulting Schreiber to fame. The Madonna Nudes are featured as part the Brighton (England) Festival Fringe and runs until June 28."
Listen up my peoples.... nudity does not equal pornography.
Nudity doesn't even equal erotic.
It is easy enough to roll our eyes at the extreme prudes, who brandish a labeling gun to slap "porn" on anything that shows a bit of flesh. Some of them advocate banning nude paintings by the Masters as inappropriate and lavacious. On the opposite side of the spectrum are the people that believe anything and everything is acceptable including beastiality, pedophiles, scat, etc. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle - a little to the left of the sexual tolerance line (also known as the missionary position line) or to the right of it, in varying degrees. In that middle ground there continues to be some confusion as to what constitutes porn and what constitutes erotica. Even the Webster dictionary makes almost no distinction between the two:
Pornography:
1 : the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement
2 : material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement
3 : the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction
Erotica:
1 : literary or artistic works having an erotic ( tending to arouse sexual love or desire ) theme or quality
2 : depictions of things erotic
Wikipedia (stop your groaning) has a more clearly and more accurate distinction between the two.
Porn - the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexually exciting the viewer. Pornography makes no claim to artistic merit, unlike erotica which does.
Erotica - works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions. Erotica is a modern word used to describe the portrayal of the human anatomy and sexuality with high-art aspirations.
Why is the distinction necessary? Because alot of people will summarily dismiss out of hand any erotic books and art, believing it is nothing more than "porn", not realizing that there is alot to learn (and enjoy) from erotic works. In a repressed society (and i'm sorry y'all, but Americans can be surprisingly repressed regarding their own sexuality) one of the "safest" avenues of exploration to awareness of things outside of one's own experience is through reading and arts.
As women, in particular, move more and more towards embracing their own sexual empowerment, erotic novels are an entertaining and safe way to walk a mile in someone else's stilettos. Erotic photos are another way of learning how to be comfortable in your own skin. Seeing and accepting the beauty of the human form without embarrassment.
Until we change how we view ourselves and feel comfortable in our own skin, we will never feel truly comfortable with others.
Think of it this way... Porn equals an anonymous quick fuck in the alley while erotica equals seductive foreplay with someone you like and are attracted to. Not that there isn't a time and a place for that quick fuck in the alley, mind you... i would just prefer it with someone i know and like. ~wink~
__________
BOOK PIMP: Lauren Dane's Relentless (ran out of time to pimp it last week)
AWESOME book btw. But then all Lauren's books always are.
