Erotica and Porn: What’s The Difference?
There has always been much debate as to the differences—if any—between erotica and pornography. There are those that argue that they are the same thing and figure that if it’s sex-related then it’s all porn while others insist that there is indeed a difference. A little bit of understanding of both erotica and pornography may make it easier for you to decide how you feel about it. Who knows, your opinion may change entirely once you delve a little deeper into the ins and outs…ahem…of erotica and porn.
Erotica is actually considered an art. You have erotic art, erotic writings, and erotic films and then there are pornographic images, porno films and “dirty stories”. The word erotica all on its own sounds more tasteful, doesn’t it? Or that’s the way that we’ve come to perceive it. For many, there is an undeniable difference between a book by Anais Nin or a story written in a publication like Hustler or Juggs or any of those that feature nude or x-rated photos. But does anyone have a right to decide what is erotic to others? You can see why there is a fine line and so much debate!
Here are the ‘proper’ definition’s of each as far as the dictionary goes:
e·rot·i·ca (ĭ-rŏt'ĭ-kə): Literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire.
por·nog·ra·phy (pôr-nŏg'rə-fē):
- Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal.
- The presentation or production of this material.
- Lurid or sensational material
So the dictionary is basically telling us that one is acceptable and the other is not and socially, that does seem the way it goes for the most part seeing as how you can buy books containing erotica in just about any book store, yet pornography is limited to the top shelves of convenience stores or back rooms of video stores; generally with a warning posted somewhere nearby. I guess that explains it then, doesn’t it? Again, even the dictionary’s meanings leave something to be questioned by some people because if erotica is considered literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire, then is that not the ultimate intention of so-called dirty magazines or porno films? People who look at pornographic images do so with the intention of becoming sexually aroused and for those who don’t find blatant sex to be offensive; there really is no difference between the two.
To add fuel to the debate is the fact that erotica has become more over the years and is far from images of demure women in a state of near-undress or stories using a string of poetic adjectives to describe a sex act. Nowadays, erotic literature contains much of the same ‘c’ and ‘f’ words that you’ve always been told are obscene. And erotic art no longer consists of drawings and paintings, but of blazing color graphics as well.
So what do you think? Are erotica and pornography the same thing? In the end, though legislature and bookstores may say otherwise; it really comes down to personal perception.
