Pornography or Erotica?

[Cinnyperez]

I'm gonna be pedantic and say they're two different things. The "graphy" part comes from the Greek word for images, hence the word "graphic", so strictly speaking it's only pornography if it involves videos and photographs. That would also mean that erotic audiobooks are technically "pornophony", even though nobody uses that word. If it involves the written word, then it's erotica or smut.

That's the way I see it and it's the way I explained it to a Twitter troll recently.

Additionally, I see pornography as something that requires real people (although AI is blurring that line) versus something that is created in the mind. You can paint a picture or write a story that is completely imaginary and merely 'depicts' an actual person. Conversely, porn depicts real people having real sex.

I suppose I might consider someone watching a couple have sex while writing down everything they're doing as porn.

 

[Rob_Royale]

If the plot is background for sex then it is porn.
If the sex is just a supporting aspect of the plot then it is romance or erotica.

That has a ring of truth to it.

 

[Off_base]

Then a huge proportion of "main stream" fiction is erotica. What distinguishes main stream fiction with sexy scenes from what we find in Literotica.com?

I agree that much of mainstream fiction is erotica, and no different than erotica found here on Lit.
I was giving my opinion on the difference between erotica and porn.

 

[AG31]

I agree that much of mainstream fiction is erotica, and no different than erotica found here on Lit.
I was giving my opinion on the difference between erotica and porn.

Well, we don't exactly agree. I don't see sexy mainstream fiction as erotica. By the same token, I think a bunch of stories in Literotica don't qualify as erotica. I think erotica needs to be about sex. Even if the story contains lots of plot and character.

 

[Off_base]

I understand your argument, and we don't have to agree.
I was opining on erotica vs <i>porn</i>, not mainstream fiction vs literotica/erotica.

 

[Off_base]

And I see that's not how you make italics work in forum posts.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Well, we don't exactly agree. I don't see sexy mainstream fiction as erotica. By the same token, I think a bunch of stories in Literotica don't qualify as erotica. I think erotica needs to be about sex. Even if the story contains lots of plot and character.

Paging Anais Nin, your services are required in the lobby.

Little Birds and Delta of Venus are famous collections of erotica, now famous in the mainstream. I bought my copies a couple of decades before Literotica existed.

I think erotica needs to be about sex, or at least the suggestion of it, because if it's not, then many of my vignettes have no label, because they're certainly not pornography.

For the record, I write erotica mostly because I'm a literary snob, but some of it gets very graphic, thus some of it must be pornography by that definition. But a lot of it isn't, so it must be erotica...

 

[ElectricBlue]

And I see that's not how you make italics work in forum posts.

The Forum is really easy. You highlight the text and click on the I.

 

[TheLobster]

The Forum is really easy. You highlight the text and click on the I.

I.e., this button on the toolbar above the reply textbox:

You can also press Ctrl+I or Cmd+I.

 

[EmilyMiller]

And I see that's not how you make italics work in forum posts.

There’s a button in the toolbar that lets you do italics

 

[kreemi_pi]

When i feel just a tad naughty.
I go looking for fiction Eroti...
But when i feel Horn,
I go looking for porn
Or hit the clubs off'ring my body

 

[EmilyMiller]

When i feel just a tad naughty.
I go looking for fiction Eroti...
But when i feel Horn,
I go looking for porn
Or hit the clubs off'ring my body

Have you read?

https://www.literotica.com/p/miscellaneous-limericks

And

https://www.literotica.com/p/miscellaneous-limericks-2

 

[kreemi_pi]

Have you read?

https://www.literotica.com/p/miscellaneous-limericks

And

https://www.literotica.com/p/miscellaneous-limericks-2

No but I will

Not sure why, but my brain loves making limericks

 

[EmilyMiller]

No but I will

Not sure why, but my brain loves making limericks

Me too

 

[kreemi_pi]

Me too

I wonder if human brains are just wired that way.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I.e., this button on the toolbar above the reply textbox:
View attachment 2572150
You can also press Ctrl+I or Cmd+I.

That's exactly what I said to do. There's no "or" about it, ffs.

This perfectly illustrates the difference between erotica and pornography: some people use words, other folk need pictures.

 

[TheLobster]

That's exactly what I said to do. There's no "or" about it, ffs.

Which is exactly why I edited my post. It even shows up in your quote.

 

[Blake_Palafox]

I think all porn is erotica, but erotica isn't necessarily explicit, so not all of it is porn. Not that everything explicit is porn; porn is specifically something that has a primary focus on explicit depictions of sex for sexual gratification.

To answer the question, I set out to write porn, but it always ends up being about something else, too, so I have no idea.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I wonder if human brains are just wired that way.

It could be my brain’s wired that way
That with words I just love to play
With five lines of song
Two short and three long
I can still say what I want to say

 

[ElectricBlue]

Which is exactly why I edited my post. It even shows up in your quote.

Also, erotica needs editors, apparently porn does not .

 

[kreemi_pi]

It could be my brain’s wired that way
That with words I just love to play
With five lines of song
Two short and three long
I can still say what I want to say

I guess i'll go out on a limb
Lim'ricking while my mind's dim
I feel so confused
'Cuz i've found a new muse
The lovely incomp'rable Em

 

[kreemi_pi]

Also, erotica needs editors, apparently porn does not .

Limericks have no competitor
Rushing forth like a bull with no matador
But they're not meant to last
So you have to write fast
And it's obvious that there's no editor

 

[Bramblethorn]

There are at least three competing ideas of the distinction between "porn" and "erotica":

works that exist solely to get readers off vs. works that include sexual elements but aren't there primarily to elicit arousal
works that should be banned vs. works that should be legal
works that are shameful to create vs. works that somebody can be proud about writing

IME when people argue about how a given work should be classified, they're often not clear even in their own heads about which of these meanings they're discussing.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The Forum is really easy. You highlight the text and click on the I.

Or just Ctrl-I. (Command-I for Macs.)

 

[ElectricBlue]

Or just Ctrl-I. (Command-I for Macs.)

Tablets don't have a control key, they only have a screen keyboard at the bottom of the page. None of these shortcuts are there for me.