Pornography

Pornography may be presented in a variety of media, including books, magazines, postcards, photographs, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, phone calls, writing, film, video, and video games. The primary subjects of present-day pornographic depictions are pornographic models, who pose for still photographs, and pornographic actors or "porn stars", who perform in pornographic films.

Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotically stimulating material such as nudity (softcore) and sexual intercourse (hardcore).

Various groups within society have considered depictions of a sexual nature immoral, addictive, and noxious, labeling them pornographic, and attempting to have them suppressed under obscenity and other laws, with varying degrees of success.

Pornography addiction is an addiction model of compulsive sexual activity with concurrent use of pornographic material, despite negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, or financial well-being.

Social attitudes towards the discussion and presentation of sexuality have become more tolerant in Western countries, and legal definitions of obscenity have become more limited, notably beginning in 1969 with Blue Movie by Andy Warhol, the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and the subsequent Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), leading to an industry for the production and consumption of pornography in the latter half of the 20th century.

Blue Movie, the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, is a seminal film in the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984) and helped inaugurate the "porno chic" phenomenon in modern American culture, and later, in many other countries throughout the world.

Pornography (often abbreviated porn) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal.

For example, many people may find nudity, erotica or pornography sexually arousing.

The primary subjects of present-day pornographic depictions are pornographic models, who pose for still photographs, and pornographic actors or "porn stars", who perform in pornographic films. This industry employs thousands of performers along with support and production staff.

Most actors specialize in certain genres, such as gay sex, lesbian sex, bondage, strap-on sex, anal sex, double penetration, semen swallowing, teenage women, interracial or MILFs.

Social attitudes towards the discussion and presentation of sexuality have become more tolerant in Western countries, and legal definitions of obscenity have become more limited, notably beginning in 1969 with Blue Movie by Andy Warhol, the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and the subsequent Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), leading to an industry for the production and consumption of pornography in the latter half of the 20th century.

These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States.

More recently, sites such as Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn, in addition to much pirated porn posted by individuals, have served as repositories for home-made or semi-professional pornography, made available free by its creators (who could be called exhibitionists).

Pornhub is a Canadian pornographic video sharing and pornography site on the Internet.

This industry employs thousands of performers along with support and production staff.

The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related services, such as prostitution, strip clubs, host and hostess clubs and sex-related pastimes, such as pornography, sex-oriented men's magazines, sex movies, sex toys and fetish and BDSM paraphernalia.

Commercialized pornography accounts for over US$2.5 billion in the United States alone, including the production of various media and associated products and services.

The term sex toy can also include BDSM apparatus and sex furniture such as slings; however, it is not applied to items such as birth control, pornography, or condoms.

More recently, sites such as Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn, in addition to much pirated porn posted by individuals, have served as repositories for home-made or semi-professional pornography, made available free by its creators (who could be called exhibitionists).

RedTube is a pornographic video sharing site, which in September 2009 held an Alexa ranking within the world's top 100 sites.

The word pornography was coined from the ancient Greek words πόρνη (pórnē "prostitute" and πορνεία porneía "prostitution" ), and γράφειν (gráphein "to write or to record", derived meaning "illustration", as in "graph"), and the suffix -ία (-ia, meaning "state of", "property of", or "place of"), thus meaning "a written description or illustration of prostitutes or prostitution".

It is one branch of the sex industry, along with pornography, stripping, and erotic dancing.

The more inclusive word erotica, sometimes used as a synonym for "pornography", is derived from the feminine form of the ancient Greek adjective ἐρωτικός (erōtikós), derived from ἔρως (érōs), which refers to lust and sexual love.

Erotica is any literary or artistic work that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotically stimulating or sexually arousing but is not pornographic.

Pornography may be presented in a variety of media, including books, magazines, postcards, photographs, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, phone calls, writing, film, video, and video games.

Phone sex service providers typically advertise their services in men's magazines, in pornographic magazines and videos, on late-night cable television, and online.

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.

However it has also been widely considered taboo, with either social norms or laws restricting its creation, distribution, and possession, particularly when it is deemed to be "pornographic", "immoral", or "obscene".

Data suggests an increase in pornography viewing over the past few decades, and this has been attributed to the growth of Internet pornography since widespread public access to the World Wide Web in the late 1990s.

Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the Internet, primarily via websites, peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups.

In 1969, Denmark became the first country to abolish censorship, thereby decriminalizing pornography, which led to an explosion in investment and of commercially produced pornography.

The first country in the world to legitimize pornography was Denmark in 1967.

Pornography is generally classified as either softcore or hardcore.

Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play.

The scholarly study of pornography, notably in cultural studies, is limited, perhaps due to the controversy about the topic in feminism.

Pornography has been one of the most divisive issues in feminism, particularly in anglophone (English-speaking) countries.

Pornography is generally classified as either softcore or hardcore.

Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a "lack of penetration" (such as stripteases, lingerie modeling, erotic masturbation, etc.) and emphasis the sensual appreciation of the female or male form.

Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work.

Alternative porn (also known as alt-porn, alternaporn, or simply alt), a shortening of "alternative pornography", tends to involve members of such subcultures as goths, punks, emos, scenes, skaters or ravers and is often produced by small and independent websites or filmmakers.

Ethnic pornography is a genre of pornography featuring performers of specific ethnic groups, or depictions of interracial sexual activity.

A pornographic parody film is a subgenre of the pornographic film industry genre where the basis for the production's story or plotline is the parody of a mainstream television show, feature film, public figure, video game or literary works.

Through the 2010s, many pornographic production companies and top pornographic websites – such as PornHub, RedTube and YouPorn – were acquired by MindGeek, which has been described as "a monopoly".

MindGeek owns and operates many popular pornographic websites, including video sharing services Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn, as well as adult film production companies Brazzers, Digital Playground, Men.com, WhyNotBi.com, Reality Kings, and Sean Cody, among others.

Some couples use pornography at times for variety and to create a sexual interest or as part of foreplay.

Some couples create sexual interest by watching erotic and pornographic videos.