Pornography - Vev

Pornography

Un article de Vev.

Jump to: navigation, search
Image:Peep Show by David Shankbone.jpg
Pornographic entertainment advertised in a sex shop window
Image:India Sex.jpg
Carvings at Khajuraho, an ancient Hindu Temple near Delhi, India

Modèle:Pp-semi-vandalism Modèle:Otheruses

Pornography or porn is, in its broadest state, the explicit representation of the human body or sexual activity with the goal of sexual arousal and/or sexual relief. It is similar to erotica, which is the use of sexually-arousing imagery for mainly artistic purposes. Over the past few decades, an immense industry for the production and consumption of pornography has grown, due to emergence of the VCR, the DVD, and the Internet, as well as the emergence of social attitudes more tolerant of sexual portrayals. Performers in pornography are referred to as pornographic actors (or actresses), or the more commonly known title, "Porn Star", and are generally seen as qualitatively different from their non-pornographic counterparts.

In general, "erotica" refers to portrayals of sexually arousing material that hold or aspire to artistic or historical merit, whereas "pornography" (which is frequently considered a pejorative term) connotes the more direct, blunt or excessive depiction of sexual acts, with little or no artistic value, intended for mere entertainment. The line between the two is often highly subjective. In practice, pornography 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 leaves legal actions by those who oppose pornography open to wide interpretation.

Pornography may use any of a variety of media—printed literature, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video, or video game. However, when sexual acts are performed for a live audience, by definition it is not pornography, as the term applies to the depiction of the act, rather than the act itself. Thus, portrayals such as sex shows and striptease may be considered similar, but not identical, to pornography.

In most countries pornography is treated as a separate entity, both culturally and legally, from depictions of naked persons in art or photography. See "nudity" for more information.

Sommaire

[modifier]

Etymology

The word derives from the Greek pornographia, which derives from the Greek words porne ("prostitute"), grapho ("to write or record"), and the suffix ia (meaning "state of", "property of", or "place of"), thus meaning "a place to record prostitutes".

[modifier]

History

Modèle:Citations missing

Modèle:Details Pornography is as old as civilization (and can be found painted on various ancient buildings), but the concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. Previous 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, specific books, engravings or image collections were censored or outlawed, but the trend to compose laws that restricted viewing of sexually explicit things in general was a Victorian construct. When large scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shocking the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire. They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of sexuality, and endeavored to hide them away from everyone but upper class scholars. The moveable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy and what could not be removed was covered and cordoned off as to not corrupt the sensibilities of women, children and the working class. Soon after, the world's first law criminalizing pornography was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1857 in the Obscene Publications Act. 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 obscenity 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.<ref name = libido7> Beck , Marianna 



     (May 2003)
   
.    The Roots of Western Pornography: Victorian Obsessions and Fin-de-Siècle Predilections 
. Libido, The Journal of Sex and Sensibility

. Retrieved on 2006-08-22. </ref>

[modifier]

Sub-genres

Main article: List of pornographic sub-genres

In general, softcore refers to pornography that does not depict penetration (usually genitals are not shown), and hardcore refers to pornography that depicts penetration explicitly.

Pornography is of different forms depending on physical characteristics of the participants, fetish, sexual orientation etc. Reality and voyeur pornography, animated videos, legally prohibited acts also depicted. Some popular genres of pornography:

[modifier]

Economics

Main article: Porn industry

Revenues of the adult industry in the United States have been difficult to determine. 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. Report of The Commission on Obscenity and Pornography 1970, Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.</ref>

In 1998, Forrester Research published a report on the online "adult content" industry estimating $750 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. As an unsourced aside, the Forrester study speculated on an industry-wide aggregate figure of $8-10 billion, which was repeated out of context in many news stories,<ref name="AlternetNaked"> 

  Richard , Emmanuelle 
       
   
  . 
 "
  The Naked Untruth 
   " , Alternet
  , 2002-05-23
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-08
 .  (English) 
   Archived from the original on 2004-09-28.
  </ref> after being published in Eric Schlosser's book on the American underground economy.<ref>Modèle:Cite bookSchlosser's book repeats the $10 billion figure without additional evidence</ref> Studies in 2001 put the total (including video, pay-per-view, Internet and magazines) between $2.6 billion and $3.9 billion.<ref name="ForbesAckman"> 
  Ackman , Dan 
      
   


     (2001-05-25)
   
.    How Big Is Porn? 
    . Forbes.com
. Forbes.com

. Archived from the original on 2001-06-09. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
 “$2.6 billion to $3.9 billion. Sources: Adams Media Research, Forrester Research, Veronis Suhler Communications Industry Report, IVD”

</ref>

A significant amount of pornographic video is shot in the San Fernando Valley, which has been a pioneering region for producing adult films since the 1970s, and has since become home for various models, actors/actresses, production companies, and other assorted businesses involved in the production and distribution of porn.

The porn industry has been considered influential in deciding format wars in media; including being a factor in VHS v. Betamax (the videotape format war)<ref name="Macworld" /><ref name="Inquirer" /> and a factor in the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format war.<ref name="Macworld"> 

  Mearian , Lucas 
      
   


     (2006-05-02)
   
.    Porn industry may be decider in Blu-ray, HD-DVD battle 
    . Macworld
. Mac Publishing

. Archived from the original on 2006-07-12. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.

Ron Wagner, Director of IT at a California porn studio: "If you look at the VHS vs. Beta standards, you see the much higher-quality standard dying because of [the porn industry’s support of VHS] ... The mass volume of tapes in the porn market at the time went out on VHS."</ref><ref name="Inquirer"> 

  Lynch , Martin 
     
 


     (2007-01-17)
   
.    Blu-ray loves porn after all 
    . The Inquirer
. Incisive Media Investments

. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
 “By many accounts VHS would not have won its titanic struggle against Sony’s Betamax video tape format if it hadn’t been for porn. This might be over-stating its importance but it was an important factor. ... There is no way that Sony can ignore the boost that porn can give the Blu-ray format.”

</ref><ref name="Fox"> 

  Gardiner , Bryan 
     
 


     (2007-01-22)
   
.    Porn Industry May Decide DVD Format War 
    . FOXNews.com - Technology News
. Ziff Davis Media

. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
 “As was expected, the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show saw even more posturing and politics between the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD camps, with each side announcing a new set of alliances and predicting that the end of the war was imminent.”

</ref>

[modifier]

Non-Commercial Pornography

As well as the porn industry, there is a large amount of non-commercial pornography. This should be distinguished from commercial pornography falsely marketed as featuring "amateurs". The Alt Sex Stories Text Repository focuses on prose stories collected from Usenet. Various Usenet groups are focussed on non-commercial pornographic photographs.

[modifier]

Technology

Mass-distributed pornography is as old as the printing press. Almost as soon as photography was invented, it was being used to produce pornographic images. Some claimModèle:Who that pornography has been a driving force in the development of technologies from the printing press, through photography (still and motion), to video, satellite TV, DVD, and the Internet. With the invent of tiny cameras and wireless equipments voyeur pornography is gaining ground. Mobile cameras are used to capture pornographic photos or videos, and forwarded as MMS.

Others think pornography's role in technology adoption have been greatly exaggerated. For example according to Forbes.com, adult video income was only $1 billion in 2001 calling into question the impact any adult studio, even a major one like Playboy, could have on a videotape or DVD format war. "The industry is tiny next to broadcast television ($32.3 billion), cable television ($45.5 billion), the newspaper business ($27.5 billion), Hollywood ($31 billion), even to professional and educational publishing ($14.8 billion). When one really examines the numbers, the porn industry -- while a subject of fascination -- is every bit as marginal as it seems at first glance."<ref name="ForbesAckman" />

[modifier]

Computer-generated images and manipulations

Digital manipulation requires the use of source photographs, but some pornography is produced without human actors at all. The idea of completely computer-generated pornography was conceived very early as one of the most obvious areas of application for computer graphics and 3D rendering.

Until the late 1990s, digitally manipulated pornography could not be produced cost-effectively. In the early 2000s, it became a growing segment, as the modelling and animation software matured and the rendering capabilities of computers 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 Playboy featured topless pictures of the title character from the BloodRayne video game.<ref> Playboy undressed video game women - Aug. 25, 2004


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>

[modifier]

Production and distribution by region

Main article: Pornography by region

The production and distribution of pornography are economic activities of some importance. The exact size of the economy of pornography and the influence that it has in political circles are matters of controversy.

Pornography in Japan: Rates of pornography use in Japan have climbed in the 20th century. Despite this, no correlation has been found between pornography use and rape or other sex crimes. Indeed, during this period, rates of sexual assault have dropped. Japan has the lowest levels of reported rape and the highest levels of arrests and convictions in any developed nation in the world.<ref>Modèle:Cite journal</ref>

[modifier]

Legal status

See List of pornography laws by region for detailed list

The legal status of pornography varies widely from country to country. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, softcore pornography is considered 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 slightly lesser degree the possession, of child pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and most countries have restrictions 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 parents can restrict, among other means. There is usually 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 practically irrelevant by widely available Internet pornography.

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

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

The Internet has also caused problems with the enforcement of age limits regarding performers and subjects. In most countries, males and females 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 Denmark it is legal for women as young as 16 to appear topless in mainstream newspapers 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, including pornography producer Larry Flynt and the writer Salman Rushdie,<ref name="TimesRushdie"> 

  Baxter , Sarah 
     
 
 ; Brooks, Richard 

     (2004-08-08)
   
.    Porn is vital to freedom, says Rushdie 
    . Times Online
. Times Newspapers

. Archived from the original on 2007-11-08. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
 “Pornography exists everywhere, of course, but when it comes into societies in which it’s difficult for young men and women to get together and do what young men and women often like doing, it satisfies a more general need.... While doing so, it sometimes becomes a kind of standard-bearer for freedom, even civilisation.”

</ref> have argued that pornography is vital to freedom and that a free and civilized society should be judged by its willingness to accept pornography.

The UK Government is planning to outlaw possession of what it terms "extreme pornography" after a campaign following the highly publicised murder of Jane Longhurst.

[modifier]

Anti-pornography movement

Image:La grande Epidemie de PORNOGRAPHIE.gif
A French caricature on "the great epidemic of pornography".
Main article: Anti-pornography movement

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

[modifier]

Effect on sex crimes

A lower per capita crime rate and historically high availability of pornography in many developed European countries (e.g. Netherlands, Sweden) has led a growing majority to conclude that there is an inverse relationship between the two, such that an increased availability of pornography in a society equates to a decrease in sexual crime.<ref> Pornography, rape and the internet


. Retrieved on 2006-10-25. </ref> Some researchers speculate that wide availability of pornography may reduce crimes by giving potential offenders a socially accepted way of regulating their own sexuality. Moreover, there is some evidence that states within the U.S. that have lower rates of internet access have a greater incidence of rape.<ref> D'Amato , Anthony 



     (June 23, 2006)
   
.    Porn Up, Rape Down

. Retrieved on 2006-12-19. </ref>

Japan, which is noted for its large output of rape fantasy pornography, has the lowest reported sex crime rate in the industrialized world. However, 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 victims of sex crime are less likely to report it (e.g. chikan<ref> The His and Hers Subway


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>).

[modifier]

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 encourage violence against them. It has been suggested that there was an alliance, tacit or explicit, between anti-porn feminists and fundamentalist Christians to help censor the use of or production of pornography.<ref> The Anti-Pornography Movement - Ashland Free Press


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>

Some researchers Modèle:Who have found that "high pornography use is not necessarily indicative of high risk for sexual aggression," but go on to say, "if a person has relatively aggressive sexual inclinations resulting from various personal and/or cultural factors, some pornography exposure may activate and reinforce associated coercive tendencies and behaviors".<ref> Modèle:Cite journal (Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000, p. 79-81)</ref>

[modifier]

Feminist objections

Feminist critics of pornography, such as Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, generally consider it demeaning to women. They believe that most pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment, and contributes to the male-centered objectification of women. Some feminists distinguish between pornography and erotica, which they say does not have the same negative effects of pornography. However, many Third-wave feminists and postmodern feminists disagree with this critique of porn, claiming that appearing in or using pornography can be explained as each individual woman's choice, and is not guided by socialization in a capitalist patriarchy.

[modifier]

Pornography by and for women

"We came up with the idea for the Feminist Porn Awards because people don't know they have a choice when it comes to porn," said Chanelle 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 wanted to recognize and celebrate the good porn makers as well as direct people to their work."

Some recent pornography has been produced under the rubric of "by and for women". According to Tristan Taormino, "Feminist porn both responds to dominant images with alternative ones and creates its own iconography."<ref> Political Smut Makers by Tristan Taormino


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>

[modifier]

Legal objections

Modèle:Globalize/USA

In the United States, distribution of "obscene" materials is a Federal crime, <ref>http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001462----000-.html</ref>and also under most laws of the 50 states.[citation needed] The determination of what is obscene is up to a jury in a trial, which must apply the Miller test; however, due to the prominence of pornography in most communities most pornographic materials are not considered obscene by the Miller Test. In explaining its decision to reject claims that obscenity should be treated as speech protected by the First Amendment, in Miller v. California, the US Supreme 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 debate with commercial exploitation of obscene material demeans the grand conception of the First Amendment 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 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 against 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 interest 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 maintain 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.

Partly because Denmark decriminalized pornography in 1967 with few adverse effects and partly because of the 1968 United States Supreme Court decision which held that people could view whatever they wished in the privacy of their own homes, in 1968 Congress created the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography to investigate the effects of obscenity and pornography on the people of the United States with each member personally appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In what became the most detailed and comprehensive investigation into pornography to date, the commission in it's final report found that pornography could not be shown to do harm to individuals or to society and recommended the repeal of obscenity and pornography legislation as it related to adults. Released during the presidency of Richard Nixon the report generated a brief bout of controversy but was ultimately ignored by the administration.

Attorney General for Ronald Reagan, Edwin Meese, also courted controversy 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 became a target 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 Penthouse be removed from shelves,<ref> Politics and Pornography


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>a ban which spread nationally<ref> The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon


. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref> until being quashed with a First Amendment admonishment against prior restraint 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 priority of the Department of Justice.<ref name="Acosta"> 

  Kay , Julie 
     
 


     (2005-08-30)
   
.    U.S. Attorney's Porn Fight Gets Bad Reviews 
    . Daily Business Review
. ALM Properties

. Archived from the original on 2005-10-25. 

 Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
 “The agents were stunned to learn that a top prosecutorial priority of [interim U.S. Attorney Alex] Acosta and the Department of Justice was none of the above. Instead, Acosta told them, it's obscenity. Not pornography involving children, but pornographic material featuring consenting adults. ... Acosta replied that this was Attorney General Gonzales' mandate.”

</ref>

[modifier]

Religious objections

Some religious 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, sexual intercourse is limited to the express function of procreation. Thus, sexual pleasure or sex-oriented entertainment, as well as lack of modesty, are considered immoral. Other religions do not find sexual pleasure 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 sexual pleasure in and of itself, but they impose limitations on the circumstances under which sexual pleasure may be properly experienced. Pornography in this view is seen as the secularization of something sacred, and a violation of spouses' intimate relationship.

Though the Torah (Jewish written law) has a great many prohibitions of about sexual behaviors, pornography is not specifically mentioned. However, the Tzniut requires Jewesses to be covered from ankle to wrist (thereby forbidding pornographic modeling or acting for women). The halakhah states that sexually arousing images are to be avoided. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tznius</ref>

The Qur'an 24:31 states "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and keep covered their private parts, and that they should not show-off their beauty except what is apparent, and let them cast their shawls over their cleavage. And let them not show-off their beauty except to their husbands... "<ref>http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Quran/24?oldid=506079</ref>

The New Testament does not forbid the production of pornography, but rather its use. Jesus states, "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Mathew 5:27-2Image:Cool.gif. In the first verse Jesus is quoting the Torah (Exodus 20:14). The seriousness of this offense is seen in Leviticus 20:10 "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

Paragraph 2354 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Pornography... offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each another. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants... since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offence.


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 problem and in developing treatment methods.

[modifier]

Pornography and violence against women

In 1979, Andrea Dworkin published Pornography: Men Possessing Women, which analyzes (and extensively cites examples drawn from) contemporary and historical 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 eroticize the domination, humiliation, and abuse of women). Other studies, such as two separate US government commission studies instituted in 1968 and in 1986 (as noted above), do not support this claim.

[modifier]

See also

Modèle:Portal

[modifier]

Forms

[modifier]

Lists

[modifier]

People and groups

[modifier]

Other

[modifier]

Media

Modèle:Multi-video start Modèle:Multi-video item Modèle:Multi-video end

[modifier]

References

<references />
[modifier]

Further reading

[modifier]

Advocacy

[modifier]

External links

{{#tag:ImageMap| Image:Commons-logo.svg|50px|commons:Accueil default commons:Accueil desc none}}

Wikimedia Commons propose des documents multimédia libres sur Pornography.

Commentary
Government
History
Sociology

ar:إباحية ast:Pornografía bg:Порнография ca:Pornografia cs:Pornografie da:Pornografi de:Pornografie el:Πορνογραφία es:Pornografía eo:Pornografio fr:Pornographie ko:포르노그래피 id:Pornografi is:Klám it:Pornografia he:פורנוגרפיה la:Pornographia lb:Pornographie lt:Pornografija hu:Pornográfia nl:Pornografie ja:ポルノグラフィ no:Pornografi nn:Pornografi pl:Pornografia pt:Pornografia ro:Pornografie ru:Порнография sq:Pornografia sk:Pornografia sl:Pornografija sr:Порнографија sh:Pornografija fi:Pornografia sv:Pornografi tr:Pornografi uk:Порнографія yi:פארנאגראפיע bat-smg:Pornograpėjė zh:色情物品

Récupérée de « http://herveleblouch.free.fr/vev/index.php/Pornography »