132-458: RedTube is a pornographic video-sharing site, which in September 2009 held an Alexa ranking within the world's top 100 sites. It is one of several pornographic websites owned by Aylo . In June 2010 it had fallen out of the top 100, but it made a return in mid-2012. As of mid September 2020 its Alexa ranking was 520. Its popularity has been ascribed to its non-sexual name, which is a reference to
264-510: A striptease . Pirou's film inspired a genre of risqué French films that showed women disrobing, and other filmmakers realized profits could be made from such films. Sexually explicit films opened producers and distributors to be liable for prosecution. Such films were produced illicitly by amateurs, starting in the 1920s, primarily in France and the United States. Processing the film was risky as
396-645: A child. In New York v. Ferber , 458 U.S. 747 (1982), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that child pornography need not be legally obscene in order to be outlawed. The Court ruled that in contrast to the types of images considered in Miller , images that depicted underlying harm to children need not appeal to "the prurient interest of the average person", portray sexual conduct in "a patently offensive manner", nor be considered holistically, in order to be proscribed. Another difference between U.S. constitutional law concerning obscenity and that governing child pornography
528-464: A contest that eventually got labeled as the " Pubic Wars ". "We were the first to show full frontal nudity. The first to expose the clitoris completely. I think we made a very serious contribution to the liberalization of laws and attitudes. HBO would not have gone as far as it does if it was not for us breaking the barriers. Much that has happened now in the Western world with respect to sexual advances
660-474: A conviction for mailing and delivery of a newspaper called the Chicago Dispatch , containing "obscene, lewd, lascivious, and indecent materials", which was later upheld in several cases. One of these was "A Book Named John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure " v. Attorney General of Com. of Massachusetts, " 383 U.S. 413 (1966) " wherein the book " Fanny Hill ", written by John Cleland c. 1760 ,
792-471: A defense witness in a court hearing. Although Cohen removed the jacket before entering the courtroom, he had been observed wearing it in the courthouse corridor by a court officer. When Cohen left the courtroom, the officer arrested him for disturbing the peace. Cohen defended his attire as being an expression of disapproval of the war in Vietnam. Nonetheless, he was convicted of "maliciously and willfully disturbing
924-518: A fine of 250 EUR to the law firm of which 15.50 EUR would be distributed as compensation to the company claiming ownership of copyright for the videos, the Switzerland-based "The Archive AG". By December 13 more than 20,000 people had already received such letters. It is not clear how exactly the law firm was able to collect the IP addresses of RedTube's users. In documents filed in court in order to obtain
1056-564: A fine. Criticism to the legislation have included: It is often used against people who expose their nude bodies in public environments that were not warranted a license to cater to the demographic interested in such practice (the first such place was the Praia do Abricó in Rio de Janeiro, in 1994), even if no sexual action took place, and it may include, for example, a double standard for the chest area of women and men in which only women are penalized. Such
1188-560: A god and a goddess), but they are more likely to be associated with Inanna , the Mesopotamian goddess of sex and sacred prostitution . Many sexually explicit images, including models of male and female sexual organs were found in the temple of Inanna at Assur . Depictions of sexual intercourse were not part of the general repertory of ancient Egyptian formal art, but rudimentary sketches of heterosexual intercourse have been found on pottery fragments and in graffiti. The final two thirds of
1320-485: A higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs); performers working for pornographic studios undergo regular testing for STIs unlike much of the general public. Comparative studies indicate higher tolerance and consumption of pornography among adults tends to be associated with their greater support for gender equality . Among feminist groups , some seek to abolish pornography believing it to be harmful, while others oppose censorship efforts insisting it
1452-563: A legal term, it usually refers to descriptions and depictions of people engaged in sexual and excretory activity. In the United States , issues of obscenity raise issues of limitations on the freedom of speech and of the press , which are otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . Federal obscenity law in the U.S. is unusual in that there is no uniform national standard. Former Justice Potter Stewart of
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#17328982268291584-569: A medium abound with porn became popular enough that in 1995 Time published a cover story titled "CYBERPORN" with the face of a shocked child as the cover photo. In the Reno v. ACLU (1997) ruling, the US Supreme Court upheld the legality of pornography distribution and consumption by adults over the Internet. The Court noted that government may not reduce the communication between adults to "only what
1716-404: A million and Penthouse about a hundred thousand, many magazines became online publications. As of 2005, the best-selling US adult magazines maintained greater reach compared to most other non-pornographic magazines, and often ranked among top-sellers. Modern-day pornography began to take shape from the mid-1980s when the first desktop computers and public computer networks were released. Since
1848-528: A partner. It has been equated with journalism, as both offer a view into the unknown or the hidden aspects. Pornography use is considered a widespread recreational activity in-line with other digitally mediated activities such as use of social media or video games. Motivations for pornography use may include fantasy , habitual use, mood management , or as part of a relationship. People who regard porn as sex education material were identified as more likely not to use condoms in their own sex life , thereby assuming
1980-443: A picture, video, text, or audio that is primarily intended to assist sexual arousal in the consumer, and is created and commercialized with "the consent of all persons involved". Arousal is considered the primary objective, the raison d'etre a material must fulfill for it to be treated as pornographic. As some people can feel aroused by an image that is not meant for sexual arousal and conversely cannot feel aroused by material that
2112-532: A pornographic photo is dated back to about 1846, described as to depict "a rather solemn man gingerly inserting his penis into the vagina of an equally solemn and middle-aged woman". At one point of time, it was more expensive to purchase an erotic photograph than to hire a prostitute. The Parisian demimonde included Napoleon III 's minister, Charles de Morny , an early patron who delighted in acquiring and displaying erotic photos at large gatherings. Pornographic film production commenced almost immediately after
2244-453: A push to prosecute obscenity cases. Red Rose Stories, a site dedicated to text-only fantasy stories, became one of many sites targeted by the FBI for shutdown. The government alleged that Red Rose Stories contained depictions of child rape. The publisher pleaded guilty. Extreme pornographer Max Hardcore served 30 months of a 46-month prison sentence for obscenity. Many U.S. states have had bans on
2376-638: A second-century CE treatise on the art of seduction and sensuality by the Roman poet Ovid ; the artifacts of the Moche people in Peru (100 CE to 800 CE); The Decameron , a collection of short stories, some of which are sexual in nature by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio ; and the fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual The Perfumed Garden . A highly developed culture of visual erotica flourished in Japan during
2508-583: A separate publishing and bookselling business. Historians have identified the 18th century as an age of pornographic opulence. Written by anonymous authors, the titles: The Progress of Nature (1744); The History of the Human Heart: or, the Adventures of a Young Gentleman (1749), which had descriptions of female ejaculation ; and The Child of Nature (1774) have been noted as prominent pornographic fictional works from this period. The book Fanny Hill (1748),
2640-403: A spiritual outlook as sexual arousal is believed to indicate the embodying of the divine. "pornography is sometimes characterised as the symptom of a degenerate society, but anyone even noddingly familiar with Greek vases or statues on ancient Hindu temples will know that so-called unnatural sex acts, orgies and all manner of complex liaisons have for millennia past been represented in art for
2772-531: A subsequent decline in the sale of DVDs and adult magazines. Starting in the 21st century, greater access to the Internet and affordable smartphones made pornography more accessible and culturally mainstream. The total number of pornographic websites in 2012 was estimated to be around 25 million comprising 12% of all the websites. About 75 percent of households in the US gained Internet access by 2012. Data from 2015 suggests an increase in pornography consumption over
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#17328982268292904-486: A thing took place in the 2012 FEMEN protests in São Paulo. Various countries have different standings on the types of materials that they as legal bodies permit their citizens to have access to and disseminate among their local populations. The set of these countries' permissible content vary widely accordingly with some having extreme punishment up to and including execution for members who violate their restrictions, as in
3036-600: A time period now called the Golden Age of Porn . In 1979, the British Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship better known as the Williams Committee, formed to review the laws concerning obscenity reported that pornography could not be harmful and to think anything else is to see pornography "out of proportion". The committee declared that existing variety of laws in the field should be scrapped and so long as it
3168-543: A trade association, the Free Speech Coalition ; a labor union, Adult Performer Advocacy Committee ; and award shows, XBIZ Awards and AVN Awards . From the mid-2010s, unscrupulous pornography such as deepfake pornography and revenge porn have become issues of concern. The word pornography is a conglomerate of two ancient Greek words: πόρνος ( pórnos ) "fornicators", and γράφειν ( gráphein ) "writing, recording, or description". In Greek language,
3300-618: A variety of content involving pornography and violence. Section 163 of the Canadian Criminal Code provides the country's legal definition of "obscenity". Officially termed as "Offences Tending to Corrupt Morals", the Canadian prohibited class of articles that are to be legally included as "obscene things" is very broad, including text-only written material, pictures, models (including statues) records or "any other obscene thing". According to Section 163(8), if "a dominant characteristic of
3432-521: A website. Manwin filed merger notification to acquire RedTube.com from Bright Imperial Ltd on July 31, 2013. Pornography Pornography (colloquially known as porn or porno ) is sexual subject material such as a picture, video, text, or audio that is intended for sexual arousal . Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings , some forty millennia ago, to modern virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adults-only sexual content
3564-527: A year; while in the next ten months fifteen people were arrested under this law. This was partly due to the efforts of Anthony Comstock , who became a major figure in 1872 and held great power to control sexual related activities of people including the choice of abortion. The Comstock Act of 1873 is the American equivalent of the English Obscene Act. The anti-obscenity bill, drafted by Anthony Comstock,
3696-410: Is a record of child sexual abuse . Abuse of the child occurs during the sexual acts that are recorded in the production of child pornography, and several professors of psychology state that memories of the abuse are maintained as long as visual records exist, are accessed, and are "exploited perversely". Some countries also bans writings —that depict sexually explicit activities involving
3828-438: Is benign. A longitudinal study had ascertained that pornography use is not a predictive factor in intimate partner violence . Porn Studies , which began in 2014, is the first international peer-reviewed , academic journal dedicated to critical study of "products and services" deemed pornographic. Pornography is a major influencer of people's perception of sex in the digital age ; numerous pornographic websites rank among
3960-581: Is clearly intended for arousal, the material that can be considered as pornography becomes subjective. Pornography is viewed by historians as a complex cultural formation. Depictions of a sexual nature existed since prehistoric times as seen in Venus figurines and rock art . People across various civilizations created works that depicted explicit sex; these include artifacts, music, poetry, and murals among other things that are often intertwined with religious and supernatural themes. The oldest artifacts, including
4092-457: Is composed of two articles, Art. 233 "Obscene Act", "to practice an obscene act in a public place, or open or exposed to the public", punished with arrest of 3 months to 1 year or a fine; and Art. 234 "Obscene Written Piece or Object", to do, import, export, purchase or have in one's property, to ends of trade, distribution or public display, any written, drew, painted, stamped or object piece of obscenity, punished with arrest of 6 months to 1 year or
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4224-509: Is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel." An erotic literary work by John Cleland , Fanny Hill was first published in England as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure . The novel has been one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history. The author John Cleland was charged for "corrupting the King's subjects." At around
4356-581: Is credited to Nathaniel Butter in a history of the Fleet newspaper industry. The modern word pornography entered the English language as the more familiar word in 1842 via French " pornographie ," from Greek " pornographos ". The term porn is an abbreviation of pornography. The related term πόρνη ( pórnē ) "prostitute" in Greek , originally meant "bought, purchased" similar to pernanai "to sell", from
4488-447: Is directly due to steps that we took." — Bob Guccione , Penthouse founder in 2004. The tussle between Playboy and Penthouse paled into obscurity when Larry Flynt started Hustler , which became the first magazine to publish labial "pink shots" in 1974. Hustler projected itself as the magazine for the working classes as opposed to the urban centered Playboy and Penthouse. During the same time in 1972, Helen Gurley Brown , editor of
4620-408: Is fit for children". With the introduction of broadband connections , much of the distribution networks of pornography moved online giving consumers anonymous access to a wide range of pornographic material. To have better control over their content on the Internet some professional pornographers maintain their own websites. Danni's Hard Drive started in 1995 by Danni Ashe is considered one of
4752-572: Is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt", stated in 1868 by Lord Justice Cockburn , in Regina v. Hicklin , now known as the Hicklin test . Stanley Kauffmann 's novel The Philanderer was published by Penguin Books in 1957 and was unsuccessfully prosecuted for obscenity. The Obscene Publications Act is famously vague, defining obscenity with reference to material that is likely to "deprave and corrupt". The 1959 act
4884-635: Is made-classifying it as pornography or erotica . The oldest artifacts considered pornographic were discovered in Germany in 2008 and are dated to be at least 35,000 years old. Throughout the history of erotic depictions , various people made attempts to suppress them under obscenity laws, censor , or make them illegal. Such grounds and even the definition of pornography have differed in various historical, cultural, and national contexts. The Indian Sanskrit text Kama Sutra (3rd century CE) contained prose, poetry, and illustrations regarding sexual behavior, and
5016-540: Is more regulated than softcore porn. Softcore porn was popular between the 1970s and 1990s. Obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin obscēnus , obscaenus , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral repugnance and outrage in expressions such as "obscene profits " and "the obscenity of war". As
5148-479: Is part of the machine. It keeps you happy. It keeps you running." — Andy Warhol Film scholar Linda Williams remarked that prurience "is a key term in any discussion of moving-image sex since the sixties. Often it is the "interest" to which no one wants to own up". In 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America created a new film ratings system in which any film that was not approved by
5280-565: Is prohibited from children, adults should be free to consume pornography as they see fit. The Meese Report in 1986 argued against loosening restrictions on pornography in the US. The report was criticized as biased, inaccurate, and not credible. In 1988, the Supreme Court of California ruled in the People v. Freeman case that "filming sexual activity for sale" does not amount to procuring or prostitution and shall be given protection under
5412-561: Is that the Supreme Court ruled in Stanley v. Georgia , 394 U.S. 557 (1969), that possession of obscene material could not be criminalized, while in Osborne v. Ohio , 495 U.S. 103 (1990), the high court ruled that possession of child pornography could be criminalized. The reason was that the motive for criminalizing child pornography possession was "to destroy a market for
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5544-602: Is the first international peer-reviewed , academic journal that is exclusively dedicated to the critical study of the "products and services" identified to constitute pornography. Adult content is generally classified as either pornography or erotica . Considerations of distinctness between pornography and erotica is mostly subjective. Pornographic content is categorized as softcore or hardcore. Softcore pornography contains depictions of nudity but without explicit depiction of sexual activity. Hardcore pornography includes explicit depiction of sexual activity. Hardcore porn
5676-512: The Cosmopolitan magazine, published a centerfold that featured actor Burt Reynolds in nude. His popular pose has been later emulated by many other famous people. The success of Cosmo led to the launch of Playgirl in 1973. At their peak, Playboy sold close to six million copies a month in the US, while Penthouse nearly five million. In the 2010s, as the market for printed versions of pornographic magazines declined, with Playboy selling about
5808-563: The French Revolution (1789–99). Apart from the sexual component, pornography became a popular medium for protest against the social and political norms of the time. Pornography during this period was used to explore the ideas of sexual freedom for women and men, the various methods of contraception, and to expose the offenses of powerful royals and elites. The working and lower classes in France produced pornographic material en masse with themes of impotency, incest, and orgies that ridiculed
5940-447: The Golden globes and Oscars , are the two prominent award shows of the adult entertainment industry. Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is a trade association and Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) is a labor union for the adult entertainment industry based in the US. The scholarly study of pornography notably in cultural studies is limited. Porn Studies , which began in 2014,
6072-675: The Marquis de Sade . Obscenity law has been criticized in the following areas: Obscenity laws remain enforceable under Miller despite these criticisms. Some states have passed laws mandating censorship in schools, universities, and libraries even if they are not receiving government aid that would require censorship in these institutions . These include Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Twenty more states were considering such legislation in 2001–2002. Child pornography refers to images or films (also known as child abuse images ); as such, visual child pornography
6204-457: The Supreme Court of the United States , in attempting to classify what material constituted exactly "what is obscene", famously wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced ... [b]ut I know it when I see it ...." In the U.S., the 1973 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California established a three-tiered test to determine what
6336-576: The Turin Erotic Papyrus (Papyrus 55001), an Egyptian papyrus scroll discovered at Deir el-Medina , consists of a series of twelve vignettes showing men and women in various sexual positions . The scroll was probably painted in the Ramesside period (1292–1075 BCE) and its high artistic quality indicates that it was produced for a wealthy audience. No other similar scrolls have yet been discovered. Archaeologist Nikolaos Stampolidis had noted that
6468-435: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of an adult to possess obscene material in private. Subsequently, however, the Supreme Court rejected the claim that under Stanley there is a constitutional right to provide obscene material for private use or to acquire it for private use. The right to possess obscene material does not imply the right to provide or acquire it, because the right to possess it "reflects no more than ...
6600-580: The Venus of Hohle Fels , which is considered to be borderline pornographic, were discovered in 2008 CE at a cave near Stuttgart in Germany, radiocarbon dating suggests they are at least 35,000 years old, from the Aurignacian period. Vast number of artifacts discovered in ancient Mesopotamia region had explicit depictions of heterosexual sex. Glyptic art from the Sumerian Early Dynastic Period frequently showed scenes of frontal sex in
6732-473: The World Wide Web became popular with the introduction of Netscape navigator in 1994. This development led to newer methods of pornography distribution and consumption. The Internet turned out to be a popular source for pornography and was called the "Triple A-Engine" for offering consumers "anonymity, affordability, and accessibility", while driving the business of pornography. The notion of Internet being
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#17328982268296864-465: The World Wide Web in the late 20th century led to global growth in the pornography business. Beginning in the 21st century, greater access to the Internet and affordable smartphones made pornography more mainstream. Pornography has been vouched to provision a safe outlet for sexual desires that may not be satisfied within relationships and be a facilitator of sexual fulfillment in people who do not have
6996-608: The first amendment . This ruling effectively legalized the production of X-rated adult content in the Los Angeles county , which by 2005 had emerged as the largest center in the world for the production of pornographic films. Pornographic films appeared throughout the twentieth century. First as stag films (1900–1940s), then as porn loops or short films for peep shows (1960s), followed by as feature films for theatrical release in adult movie theaters (1970s), and as home videos (1980s). Pornographic magazines published during
7128-424: The proto-Indo-European root per- , "to hand over" — alluding to act of selling. The word pornography was originally used by classical scholars as "a bookish, and therefore inoffensive term for writing about prostitutes", but its meaning was quickly expanded to include all forms of "objectionable or obscene material in art and literature". In 1864, Webster's Dictionary published "a licentious painting" as
7260-443: The top 50 most visited websites worldwide. Called an "erotic engine", pornography has been noted for its key role in the development of various communication and media processing technologies. For being an early adopter of innovations and as a provider of financial capital , the pornography industry has been cited to be a contributing factor in the adoption and popularization of media related technologies. The accurate economic size of
7392-516: The 18th century that the Japanese government began to issue official edicts against them. Even so, Japanese erotica flourished with the works of artists such as Suzuki Harunobu achieving worldwide fame. Japanese censorship laws enacted in 1870 made the production of erotic works difficult. The laws remained in effect until the end of the Pacific War in 1945; nevertheless, pornography flourished through
7524-486: The 19-year-old writer of a fictional sex story "The Forestwood Kids"; however, the case was dismissed in 1995. In February 2009, citing its Policy On The Classification Of Obscene Material , the CBSA banned two Lucas Entertainment films because they show the "ingestion of someone else's urine... with a sexual purpose". In 2016 Mark Marek, owner of bestgore.com , pleaded guilty to breaching obscenity legislation for posting
7656-407: The 1990s, the Internet has made pornography more accessible and culturally visible. Before the 90s, Usenet newsgroups served as the base for what has been called the "amateur revolution" where non-professionals from the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the help of digital cameras and the Internet, created and distributed their own pornographic content independent of mainstream networks. The use of
7788-714: The BBFC. If the BBFC refuses a certificate, a video is effectively banned for home viewing, but not necessarily in the cinema . Four films that were originally refused a certificate— The Exorcist , Straw Dogs , The Evil Dead , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre —were granted a certificate in the late 1990s and have subsequently been screened on mainstream television . According to the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, "publication may be age-restricted if it contains highly offensive language likely to cause serious harm". In New Zealand, screening of Deep Throat (1972)
7920-512: The Comstock act. The laws regarding pornography have differed in various historical, cultural, and national contexts. The English Act did not apply to Scotland where the common law continued to apply. Before the English Act, publication of obscene material was treated as a common law misdemeanor, this made effectively prosecuting authors and publishers difficult even in cases where the material
8052-522: The Internet led to a decline in the production of AVs. Other forms of adult entertainment such as hentai , which refers to pornographic manga and anime , and erotic video games have become popular in recent decades. In Europe, the Italian Renaissance work from the 16th century - I Modi ( The Ways ) also known as The Sixteen Pleasures became famous for its engravings that explicitly depicted sex positions . The publication of this book
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#17328982268298184-649: The Sri Lankan court because access to the site, which housed images of Sri Lankan women and children, "corrupted society". In September 2013, one of the videos was blocked in Russia due to the Federal Law On Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development . In 2018, the Government of India banned RedTube, among other porn websites, after a Uttarakhand High Court court order demanding
8316-622: The Suppression of Vice . The act passed by the British Parliament in 1857 applied to the United Kingdom and Ireland . The act made the sale of obscene material a statutory offense, and gave the authorities the power to seize and destroy any material which they considered as obscene. For centuries before, sexually explicit material was considered a domain that is exclusive to aristocratic classes. When pornographic material flourished in
8448-660: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the word "fuck", although almost universally considered obscene when used to describe sexual intercourse, is speech-protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution when used to express a political belief. On 26 April 1968, Paul Robert Cohen, then 19 years old, donned a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" while visiting the Los Angeles Courthouse to testify as
8580-493: The UK prosecuted a man for writing a fictional sex story ( R v Walker ). In 2009, the crown prosecution service (CPS) dropped the case. During the 1960s and 1970s most Western countries legalised hardcore pornography . By the 1980s the UK was almost the only liberal democracy where the sale of hardcore pornography was still completely illegal, although ownership was not a criminal offence (except child pornography ). Home videotape
8712-471: The UK started his publication Penthouse , and published its first American issue in 1969 as a direct competitor to Playboy. In its early days, the images of naked women published in Playboy did not show any pubic hair or genitals. Penthouse became the first magazine to show pubic hair in 1970. Playboy followed the lead and there ensued a competition between the two magazines over publication of more racy pictures,
8844-579: The Victorian era that included fetish and taboo themes such as sadomasochism and 'cross-generational sex' are: My Secret Life (1888–1894) and Forbidden Fruit (1898). On accusations of obscenity many of these works had been outlawed until the 1960s. The world's first law that criminalized pornography was the English Obscene Publications Act 1857 , enacted at the urging of the Society for
8976-506: The Victorian-era England, the affluent classes believed they are sensible enough to deal with it, unlike the lower working classes whom they thought would get distracted by such material and cease to be productive. Beliefs that masturbation would make people ill, insane, or become blind also flourished. The obscenity act gave government officials the power to interfere in the private lives of people unlike any other law before. Some of
9108-472: The association was released with an "X" rating. When pornographers began to release their productions with the rating X, the association adopted NC-17 rating for adults only films, leaving the X rating to pornography. Later the invented gimmick rating "XXX" became a standard for pornographic material. In 1970, the United States President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography , set up to study
9240-400: The authorities tried to prevent the illegal sale of pornography they found that juries , while not particularly liking the material, were reluctant to convict defendants where the material was intended for private use among consenting adults. During the 1990s the advent of the internet made it easier than ever before for British citizens to access hardcore material. Finally, in 2000, following
9372-596: The authority of the Church-State, aristocrats, priests, monks, and other royalty. One of the most important authors of socially radical pornography was the French aristocrat Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), whose name helped derive the words "sadism" and "sadist". He advocated libertine sexuality and published writings that were critical of authorities, many of which contained pornographic content. His work Justine (1791) interlaced orgiastic scenes along with extensive debates on
9504-533: The book was celebrated; while the British English text Fanny Hill (1748), considered "the first original English prose pornography," has been one of the most prosecuted and banned books. In the late 19th century, a film by Thomas Edison that depicted a kiss was denounced as obscene in the United States, whereas Eugène Pirou 's 1896 film Bedtime for the Bride was received very favorably in France. Starting from
9636-590: The case of Iran where the current laws against pornography now include death sentences for those convicted of producing pornography. In India the Obscenity law is the same as had been framed by the British Government. Charges of obscenity have been levelled against various writers and poets till date; the law has not yet been revised. The famous trials relate to the Hungryalists who were arrested and prosecuted in
9768-533: The courthouse was not speech but conduct amounting to an "absurd and immature antic". Standards superseded by the Miller Test include: FCC rules and federal law govern obscenity in broadcast media. Many historically important works have been described as obscene or prosecuted under obscenity laws, including the works of Charles Baudelaire , Lenny Bruce , William S. Burroughs , Allen Ginsberg , James Joyce , D. H. Lawrence , Henry Miller , Samuel Beckett , and
9900-560: The dismissal of a test case brought by the BBFC , hardcore pornography was effectively legalised, subject to certain conditions and licensing restrictions. It is still an offence to sell obscene material by mail order . After 1984, videotape sellers were more likely to be prosecuted under the Video Recordings Act rather than the OPA. The VRA requires that all videos must have a certificate from
10032-703: The earliest online pornographic websites, coded by Ashe – a former stripper and nude model, the website was reported by CNN to had generated revenues of $ 6.5 million by 2000. According to some leading pornography providers on the Internet, customer subscription rates for a website would be about one in a thousand people who visit the site for a monthly fees averaging around $ 20. Ashe said in an interview that her website employs 45 people and she expects to earn $ 8 million in 2001 alone. The total number of pornographic websites in 2000 were estimated to be more than 60,000. The development of streaming sites, peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) networks, and tube sites led to
10164-515: The early modern era. From at least the 17th century, erotic artworks became part of the mainstream social culture. Depictions of sexual intercourse were often presented on pictures that were meant to provide sex education for medical professionals, courtesans, and married couples. Makura-e (pillow pictures) were made for entertainment as well as for the guidance of married couples. The ninth-century Japanese art form " Shunga " that depicted sexual acts on woodblock prints and paintings became so popular by
10296-488: The effects of pornography, reported that there was "no evidence to date that exposure to explicit sexual materials plays a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal behavior among youths or adults". The report further recommended against placing any restriction on the access of pornography by adults and suggested that legislation "should not seek to interfere with the right of adults who wish to do so to read, obtain, or view explicit sexual materials". Regarding
10428-599: The exploitative use of children" rather than to prevent the material from poisoning the minds of its viewers. The three dissenting justices in that case argued, "While the sexual exploitation of children is undoubtedly a serious problem, Ohio may employ other weapons to combat it." This is most notably shown with the "X" rating under which some films are categorized. The most notable films given an "X" rating were Deep Throat (1972) and The Devil in Miss Jones (1973). These films show explicit, non-simulated, penetrative sex that
10560-468: The first country that legalized pornography, including child pornography , which was later prohibited in 1980. The 1969 legislation, instead of resulting in a decline in pornography production, led to an explosion of investment in, and commercial production of pornography in Denmark, which made the country's name synonymous with sex and pornography. The total retail turnover of pornography in Denmark for
10692-601: The ills of property and traditional hierarchy in society. When large-scale archaeological excavations were undertaken in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii during the 18th century, much of the erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum came to light, shocking the authorities who endeavored to hide them away from the general public. In 1821, the moveable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples , and what could not be removed
10824-483: The invention of the motion picture in 1895. A pioneer of the motion picture camera, Thomas Edison , released various films, including The Kiss that were denounced as obscene in late 19th century America. Two of the earliest pioneers of pornographic films were Eugène Pirou and Albert Kirchner . Kirchner directed the earliest surviving pornographic film for Pirou under the trade name "Léar". The 1896 film, Le Coucher de la Mariée , showed Louise Willy performing
10956-485: The law's 'solicitude to protect the privacies of the life within [the home]'". In 1969, Blue Movie by Andy Warhol became the first feature film to depict explicit sexual intercourse that received a wide public theatrical release in the United States. Blue Movie was real . But it wasn't done as pornography—it was done as an exercise, an experiment. But I really do think movies should arouse you, should get you excited about people, should be prurient. Prurience
11088-512: The male genitalia and in 91 ways the female genitalia. Lysistrata (411 BCE) is a sex-war comedy play performed in ancient Greece . In India, Hinduism embraced an inquisitive attitude towards sex as an art and a spiritual ideal. Some ancient Hindu temples incorporated various aspects of sexuality into their art work. The temples at Khajuraho and Konark are particularly renowned for their sculptures, which had detailed representations of human sexual activity. These depictions were viewed with
11220-535: The meaning for pornography , and the Oxford English Dictionary : "obscene painting" (1842), "description of obscene matters, obscene publication" (1977 or earlier). Definitions for the term "pornography" are varied, with people from both pro- and anti-pornography groups defining it either favorably or unfavorably, thus making any definition very stipulative . Nevertheless, academic researchers have defined pornography as sexual subject material such as
11352-550: The mid-twentieth century have been noted for playing an important role in the sexual revolution and the liberalization of laws and attitudes towards sexual representation in the Western world . Hugh Hefner , in 1953 published the first US issue of the Playboy , a magazine which as Hefner described is a "handbook for the urban male". The magazine contained images of nude women along with articles and interviews covering politics and culture. Twelve years later, in 1965, Bob Guccione in
11484-416: The mid-twentieth century on, societal attitudes towards sexuality became more lenient in the Western world where legal definitions of obscenity were made limited. In 1969, Blue Movie by Andy Warhol became the first film to depict unsimulated sex that received a wide theatrical release in the United States. This was followed by the " Golden Age of Porn " (1969–1984). The introduction of home video and
11616-493: The mid-twentieth century. Starting from 1957 to 1997, the US Supreme Court made numerous judgments that redefined obscenity. The nineteenth-century legislation eventually outlawed the publication, retail and trafficking of certain writings and images that were deemed pornographic. Although laws ordered the destruction of shop and warehouse stock meant for sale, the private possession and viewing of (some forms of) pornography
11748-509: The missionary position. In Mesopotamian votive plaques from the early second millennium ( c. 2000 – c. 1500 BCE ), a man is usually shown penetrating a woman from behind while she bends over drinking beer through a straw. Middle Assyrian lead votive figurines often portrayed a man standing and penetrating a woman as she rests on an altar. Scholars have traditionally interpreted all these depictions as scenes of hieros gamos (an ancient sacred marriage between
11880-619: The non-pornographic video sharing website YouTube . The website is based in Houston, Texas , and has servers in San Francisco , New Orleans and Montreal . Wired reported that RedTube was one of the 5 fastest-growing websites in December 2007. The site's database was accessed and temporarily shut down by Turkish hackers in October 2008. In 2009, it was one of twelve pornographic sites blocked by
12012-675: The northern English city of Leeds . Parts of the Act were repealed shortly after the Paraskos trial and it has rarely been used since in relation to visual art. Sex crime has generated particular concern. In 1976 the BBFC said that, in that year, it had viewed 58 films depicting "explicit rape", declaring scenes that glorified it as "obscene". As opposed to questions of "indecency", which have been applied to sexual explicitness, films charged with being obscene have been viewed as having "a tendency to deprave and corrupt" and been liable to prosecution. In 2008,
12144-570: The notion that sexually explicit content is improper, the Commission found it "inappropriate to adjust the level of adult communication to that considered suitable for children". The Supreme Court supported this view. In 1971, Sweden removed its obscenity clause. Further relaxation of legislations during the early 1970s in the US, West Germany and other countries led to rise in pornography production. The 1970s had been described by Linda Williams as 'the "Classical" Era of Theatrically Exhibited Porn',
12276-409: The past few decades which is attributed to the growth of Internet pornography . Technological advancements such as digital cameras , laptops , smartphones, and Wi-Fi have democratized the production and consumption of pornography. Subscription-based service providers such as OnlyFans , founded in 2016, are becoming popular as the platforms for pornography trade in the digital era. Apart from
12408-452: The peace" and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The conviction was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court of California but reversed by the Supreme Court. In a 5–4 decision, Justice Harlan wrote for the Court that Cohen's conviction was based solely on speech and was protected by the First Amendment. 403 U.S. at 26. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Blackmun countered that Cohen's wearing of the jacket in
12540-408: The people suspected for masturbation were forced to wear chastity devices. "Cures" and "treatment" for masturbation involved such measures like giving electric shock and applying carbolic acid to the clitoris. The law was criticized for being established on still yet unproven claims that sexual material is noxious for people or public health. In 1865, the US postal service was seen as a "vehicle" for
12672-445: The personal data of the individuals involved, the plaintiff claims that he had charged a company called ITGuards, Inc. (allegedly of San Jose, California) who used a proprietary software by the name of "GLADII 1.1.3", allowing them not only to collect the IP addresses of users accessing certain URL's on redtube.com, but also to determine the exact time at which the user started playing or paused
12804-551: The pleasure and inspiration of the viewer everywhere. The desire to ponder images of love-making is clearly innate in the human – perhaps particularly the male – psyche." — Tom Hodgkinson Kama , the word used to connote sexual desire, was explored in Indian literary works such as the Kama Sutra , which dealt with the practical as well as the psychological aspects of human courtship and sexual intercourse. The Sanskrit text Kama sutra
12936-519: The popular erotic literary works from the twentieth century include the novels: Story of the Eye (1928), Tropic of Cancer (1934), Tropic of Capricorn (1938), the French Histoire d'O ( Story of O ) (1954); and the short stories: Delta of Venus (1977), and Little Birds (1979). After the invention of photography , the birth of erotic photography followed. The oldest surviving image of
13068-585: The porn industry in the early twenty-first century is unknown. In 2015, estimates of the worldwide market value stood at US$ 97 billion, with the US revenue valued at $ 10 to $ 12 billion. The US revenue was estimated to have reached at least US$ 3.3 billion in 2020. Pornography in Japan was estimated to be worth over $ 20 billion in 2018. The legality of Pornography varies across Countries. The US pornography industry employs numerous performers along with production and support staff, and has its own industry-specific publications: XBIZ and AVN ;
13200-462: The professional pornographers, content creators on such platforms include others like; a physics teacher, a race car driver , a woman undergoing cancer treatment. In 2022, the total pornographic content accessible online was estimated to be over 10,000 terabytes . AVN and XBIZ are the industry-specific organizations based in the US that provide information about the adult entertainment business. XBIZ Awards and AVN Awards , analogous to
13332-698: The public in the United States; the ratings are issued through the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). The intent of the rating system is to provide information about the content of motion pictures so parents can determine whether an individual motion picture is suitable for viewing by their children. Obscenity law in England and Wales is currently governed by the Obscene Publications Act , but obscenity law dates back much further into English common law . The conviction in 1727 of Edmund Curll for
13464-607: The publication is the undue exploitation of sex, or the combination of sex and at least one of crime, horror, cruelty or violence", that publication is deemed to be "obscene" under the current law. The current law states: 163. (1) Every person commits an offence who makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates or has in their possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or any other obscene thing. The Canada Border Services Agency seizes items it labels obscene. In 1993, Canadian police arrested
13596-582: The publication of Venus in the Cloister or the Nun in her Smock under the common-law offence of disturbing the peace appears to be the first conviction for obscenity in the United Kingdom, and set a legal precedent for other convictions. These common-law ideas of obscenity formed the original basis of obscenity law in other common law countries, such as the United States. The classic definition of criminal obscenity
13728-504: The publication of written and visual material, which was essentially pornographic began. Heptaméron written in French by Marguerite de Navarre and published posthumously in 1558 is one of the earliest examples of salacious texts from this era. Beginning with the Age of Enlightenment and advances in printing technology, the production of erotic material became popular enough that an underground marketplace for such works developed in England with
13860-531: The sale of sex toys , regulating them as obscene devices. Some states have seen their sex toy bans ruled unconstitutional in the courts. That ruling leaves only Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia with current bans on the sale of obscene devices. Literature (non-fiction) communicating contraceptive information was prohibited by several states. The last such prohibition, in Connecticut, was overturned judicially in 1965. In Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971),
13992-475: The sale of "erotic, grotesque, nonsense" (ero-guro-nansensu) periodicals, particularly in the Taishō era (1912–1926). From the 1960s, pink films , which portrayed sexual themes became popular in Japan. In 1981 the first Japanese Adult video (AV) was released. The Japanese pornography industry peaked in the early 2000s when about 30,000 AVs were made a year. From the mid-2010s, increased availability of free porn on
14124-408: The sale of sexual material nevertheless continued through "under the counter" means. Magazines specialising in a genre called "saucy and spicy" became popular during this time (1896 to 1955), titles of few popular magazines include; Wink: A Whirl of Girls , Flirt: A FRESH Magazine , and Snappy . Cover stories in these magazines featured segments such as "perky pin-ups" and "high-heel cuties". Some of
14256-694: The same in a rape case where the perpetrators stated they were motivated to do so after watching online pornography. As of 2009, three of the largest porn sites — "RedTube, YouPorn and Pornhub — collectively only make up 100 million unique visitors". MindGeek has since acquired all three sites. In December 2013, the German law firm "Urmann und Collegen (U+C)" sent up to 30,000 cease and desist letters (" Abmahnungen " in German ) giving legal warnings to German Internet users who allegedly viewed streams from RedTube containing certain copyrighted videos, demanding them to pay
14388-653: The same time, erotic graphic art that began to be extensively produced in Paris came to be known in the Anglosphere as "French postcards". Enlightenment-era France had been noted by historians as the center of origin for modern-era pornography. The works of French pornography, which often concentrated on the education of an ingénue into libertine , dominated the sale of sexually explicit content. The French sought to interlace narratives of sexual pleasure with philosophical and anti-establishment basis. Political pornography began with
14520-458: The society of ancient Greece held lenient attitudes towards sexual representation in the fields of art and literature. The Greek poet Sappho 's Ode to Aphrodite (600 BCE) is considered an earliest example of lesbian poetry. Red-figure pottery invented in Greece (530 BCE) often portrayed images that displayed eroticism . The fifth-century BC comic Aristophanes elaborated 106 ways of describing
14652-423: The term pornography connotes depiction of sexual activity; no date is known for the first use of the term pornography , the earliest attested, most related word found is πορνογράφος ( pornographos ) i.e. "someone writing about harlots" in the 3rd century CE work Deipnosophists by Athenaeus . The oldest published reference to the word pornography as in 'new pornographie,' is dated back to 1638 and
14784-684: The term " masochism " was derived. The Sins of the Cities of the Plain (1881) is one of the first sole male homosexual literary work published in English, this work is said to have inspired another gay literary work Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal (1893), whose authorship has often been attributed to Oscar Wilde . The Romance of Lust , written anonymously and published in four volumes during 1873–1876, contained graphical descriptions of themes detailing incest, homosexuality, and orgies. Other publications from
14916-428: The transmission of materials that were deemed obscene by the American lawmakers. An act relating to the postal services was passed, which made people pay a fine of $ 500 for knowingly mailing any "obscene book, pamphlet, picture print, or other publication". From 1865 to up until the first three months of 1872, a total number of nine people were held for various charges of obscenity, with one person sentenced to prison for
15048-581: The video of the murder of Jun Lin . He received a six-month non-custodial sentence in a plea agreement, and left court after sentencing with his mouth covered in duct tape to protest his prosecution. Ever since 1940, in the Title VI of the Penal Code, naming crimes against sexual dignity (until 2009 crimes against social conventions), the fourth chapter is dedicated to a crime named "public outrage related to modesty" ( Portuguese : ultraje público ao pudor ). It
15180-536: The videos embedded on each of those pages. The BBC reports that the IP addresses were provided to the law firm by the court in Cologne , which began a retrospective review of its decision after receiving complaints. While sending out cease-and-desist letters to Internet users for copyright offenses related to filesharing had been common practice in Germany before, this marks the first time that legal measures are taken against people for merely watching streamed content from
15312-578: The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. While most recent (2016) obscenity cases in the U.S. have revolved around images and films, the first obscenity cases dealt with textual works. The classification of "obscene" and thus illegal for production and distribution has been judged on printed text-only stories starting with Dunlop v. U.S. , 165 U.S. 486 (1897), which upheld
15444-706: The works published in the Victorian era are considered bold and graphic even by today's lenient standards. The English novel The Adventures, Intrigues, and Amours, of a Lady's Maid! written by anonymous "Herself" (c. 1838) professed the notion that homosexual acts are more pleasurable for women than heterosexuality which is linked to painful and uncomfortable experiences. Some of the popular publications from this era include: The Pearl (magazine of erotic tales and poems published from 1879 to 1881); Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess (1870) by Alfred de Musset; and Venus in Furs (1870) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from whose name
15576-405: The year 1969 was estimated at $ 50 million. Much of the pornographic material produced in Denmark was smuggled into other countries around the world. In the United States, pornography is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution unless it constitutes obscenity or child pornography that is produced with real children. Nevertheless, in Stanley v. Georgia (1969),
15708-432: Was a booming market and it was relatively simple for individuals to smuggle hardcore material in from Europe or the United States, where it could be purchased legally, either for personal use or to copy it for distribution. This resulted in a considerable black market of poor quality videotapes. Meanwhile, people attempting to buy pornography legally would often be sold heavily censored R18 certificate material. While
15840-592: Was abandoned amidst derision from academics and the media . For visual works of art the main obscenity law in England and Wales was, until the 1960s, the Vagrancy Act 1838 which was successfully used in prosecutions against D.H. Lawrence for an exhibition of his paintings at the Warren Gallery, London, in 1929, and in 1966 against the British artist Stass Paraskos for an exhibition of his paintings held that year in
15972-560: Was clearly intended as pornography. However, neither the English, nor the United States Act defined what constituted "obscene", leaving this for the courts to determine. For implementing the Comstock act, the US courts used the British Hicklin test to define obscenity, the definition of which was first proposed in 1868, ten years after the passing of the English obscene act. The definition became cemented in 1896 and continued until
16104-453: Was compiled by the sage Vatsyayana into its final form sometime during the second half of the third century CE. This text, which included prose, poetry, as well as illustrations regarding erotic love and sexual behavior, is one of the most celebrated Indian erotic works. Koka shastra is another medieval Indian work that explored kama. Other examples of early art and literature of sexual nature include: Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) ,
16236-502: Was considered the beginning of print pornography in Rome . The second edition of this book was published in 1527, titled Aretino Postures , which combined erotic images with text - a first in the Western culture . The Vatican called for the complete destruction of all the copies of the book and imprisonment of its author Marcantonio Raimondi . With the development of printing press in Europe,
16368-598: Was debated for less than an hour in the US Congress before being passed into law. Apart from the power to seize and destroy any material alleged to be obscene, the law made it possible for the authorities to make arrests over any perceived act of obscenity, which included possession of contraceptives by married couples. Reportedly in the US, 15 tons of books and 4 million pictures were destroyed, and about 15 people were driven to suicide with 4,000 arrests. At least 55 people whom Comstock identified as abortionists got indicted under
16500-570: Was either covered or cordoned off from public view. During the Victorian era (1837–1901), the invention of the rotary printing press made publication of books easier, many works of lascivious nature were published during this period often under pen names or anonymity. In 1837, the Holywell Street (known as "Booksellers' Row") in London had more than 50 shops that sold pornographic material. Many of
16632-496: Was judged to be obscene in a proceeding that put the book itself on trial rather than its publisher. Another was Kaplan v. California , 413 U.S. 115 (1973) whereby the court most famously determined that "Obscene material in book form is not entitled to any First Amendment protection merely because it has no pictorial content." In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice formed the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force in
16764-472: Was not made an offense until the twentieth century. Historians have explored the role of pornography in determining social norms . The Victorian attitude that pornography was only for a select few is seen in the wording of the Hicklin test , stemming from a court case in 1868, where it asked: "whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences". Although officially prohibited,
16896-403: Was obscene—and thus not protected, versus what was merely erotic and thus protected by the First Amendment . Delivering the opinion of the court, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote: The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether
17028-681: Was only cleared in 1986. However, the film has not been screened because the only cinema that has tried to organize a screening was thwarted by the city council that owned the building's lease. Section 9 of the Criminal Law provide provisions against pornography , including creation, distribution and organizing public viewing. In 2016, the Ministry of Culture in China censored 23 companies for hosting obscene content online. The take-down included over 20,000 live feeds from 26 different websites that were hosting
17160-483: Was passed at the point when most Western countries were about to enter a new phase of sexual freedom . The trial of Penguin Books over their publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960 failed to secure a conviction and the conviction in the 1971 trial of Oz magazine was overturned on appeal. An attempt to prosecute the University of Central England in 1997 over a copy of a library book by Robert Mapplethorpe
17292-691: Was presented as part of a reasonable plot with respectable production values. Some state authorities issued injunctions against such films to protect "local community standards"; in New York, the print of Deep Throat was seized mid-run, and the film's exhibitors were found guilty of promoting obscenity. According to the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated , films that include gay sex (even if implied) or female pleasure have been more harshly censored than their heterosexual, male counterparts. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) issues ratings for motion pictures exhibited and distributed commercially to
17424-461: Was their distribution, which was strictly private. In the Western world , during the 1960s, social attitudes towards sex and pornography slowly changed. In 1967, Denmark repealed the obscenity laws on literature; this led to a decline in the sale of pornographic and erotic literature. Hoping for a similar effect, in the summer of 1969, legislators in Denmark abolished censorship on picture pornography, thereby effectively becoming, from July 1, 1969,
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