Does Pornography Really Compare to Your Stories?

[Ssbbw4u1974]

I have written a few stories for people, that are published on Lit. I didn't write from a porn POV as much as from real experience.
I've been with several people, men and women.. And love sex!!
My writing is naughty and delightfully dirty, Smutty, etc .

It might parallel some sex acts from pornography, but I was pretty adventurous IRL sexually. So, I write both fantasy and porn related fun!!

 

[ElectricBlue]

The origins of the two words hint at an important distinction: pornography comes from the depiction of prostitutes (and slaves bought and sold to be used as prostitutes) while erotica comes from the depiction of sexual love.

Porn comes from sex that is bought. Erotica comes from amorous sex.

That differentiation works for me.

Pulling it right back to the original meanings of the words is a very useful take on this eternal debate. The language nails down the differences. That's the best separation in definition I've seen in a long time.

 

[lovecraft68]

Actually, you're saying stuff I ommitted in the first place because I went the quick route, so that's on me. Addiction being a trait that some are more susceptible to others is something that I, and anyone else with ADHD, knows because of how ADHD increases the risk of developing an addiction.

To answer your question: my original message would go on the PB because I went on a rant about how much I hate dychotomies and I will always refuse a call to pick a side. To quote Kahlil Gibran: "I am not a politician, and I would not be a politician."

Okay, that makes a lot of sense, and you're right, the 'middle ground' is a bare strip these days, not much room for people who don't go one way or another.

Good to know we're on the same page though with your added point.

 

[lovecraft68]

The origins of the two words hint at an important distinction: pornography comes from the depiction of prostitutes (and slaves bought and sold to be used as prostitutes) while erotica comes from the depiction of sexual love.

Porn comes from sex that is bought. Erotica comes from amorous sex.

That differentiation works for me.

Right except as time moves on and society evolves-or devolves, original meanings often become distorted and morph with the time.

 

[AG31]

Maybe I have it wrong but I've always thought that the difference is only in the explicitness of sex?

I think the only safe way to distinguish them is to say that porn is visual explicit sex and erotica is written. Beyond that, people vary so much that you have to inquire further to find out what they're talking about. I didn't get the impression that Madeline was using that easy distinction.

I certainly don't think explicitness of sex is a way to distinguish any kind of sex writing these days.

I don’t think that erotica means less explicit sexual content than porn. I think that’s another illusion.

I agree. But I'm still not sure what the OP means by porn.

I think it’s related to whether or not porn is an art form. I think the difference has to do with artistic aspects of the things. Erotica is definitely an art form, but is porn?

Getting closer. So badly written erotica is no longer erotica, it's just porn? Maybe? Asking for your definition, Madline.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Pulling it right back to the original meanings of the words is a very useful take on this eternal debate. The language nails down the differences. That's the best separation in definition I've seen in a long time.

I think it just once again proves that lacking a real definition, Erotica and Porn have a different meaning for everyone. Historical context doesn't mean much in this case. A good number of words don't have the same meaning they had when they were conceived.

 

[Voboy]

The origins of the two words hint at an important distinction: pornography comes from the depiction of prostitutes (and slaves bought and sold to be used as prostitutes) while erotica comes from the depiction of sexual love.

Porn comes from sex that is bought. Erotica comes from amorous sex.

That differentiation works for me.

TIL.

Soo... how do those terms relate to "smut?"

See, I've written many stories here. They'd all qualify as smut (I think) and most would probably call them "erotica," including (presumably) the owners of this site.

Some of my stories are about prostitutes, and others are about transactional sex without a "professional" component. I take it those would be, strictly speaking, "pornographic." Most of my stuff is far more amorous. I don't, in my own mind, draw much of a distinction; they're all "my stories" to me, but for the purposes of the OP's parameters I don't think any of it is porn.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It seems to be an unnecessarily contentious topic around here, but I think we are in a weird place societally with porn. Madeline is 100% correct, porn is no longer transgressive in any real sense in society but people are desperately trying to push whatever boundaries remain to make it so, for the "thrill".
The deluge of porn is undoubtedly bad for society.

 

[lovecraft68]

The deluge of porn is undoubtedly bad for society.

Is it? Or is it yet another example of people blaming something because they're never responsible for anything?

Does porn leap out of people's devices? Does it force their hands to click on it? No, people choose to watch it.

I see the increasing amount of porn as supply and demand, no one watches, no one's subscribing, no one's buying, they don't keep making it and expanding it.

Saying its bad for society is a cop out for some people who have a problem with it. Like Kitty said above sources of addiction are the outlet, not the motivation.

The issue with modern society is its so weak, that the answer is everything they have an issue with is "bad" and needs to be taken away because they can't police their selves.

Also the irony of someone who writes dirty stories saying porn is bad is priceless.

 

[madelinemasoch]

I think the only safe way to distinguish them is to say that porn is visual explicit sex and erotica is written. Beyond that, people vary so much that you have to inquire further to find out what they're talking about. I didn't get the impression that Madeline was using that easy distinction.

I certainly don't think explicitness of sex is a way to distinguish any kind of sex writing these days.

I agree. But I'm still not sure what the OP means by porn.

Getting closer. So badly written erotica is no longer erotica, it's just porn? Maybe? Asking for your definition, Madline.

Well, badly written doesn't preclude it from being artistic. So, it's not that either...

Porn isn't just anything with sexual content, either, because there's sex scenes in movies and TV shows that are decidedly not pornographic anyway.

I don't enjoy drawing definitional boxes around words, because I don't think that's how words get their meaning in reality. So, I'm not gonna try to give a definition, but that doesn't mean I can't define it, if that makes sense. Definitions always kinda miss part of the picture when it comes to the meaning of words.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think it just once again proves that lacking a real definition, Erotica and Porn have a different meaning for everyone. Historical context doesn't mean much in this case. A good number of words don't have the same meaning they had when they were conceived.

That is true, but attempting a rational definition based on etymology is better than any definition based on opinions, which is all we otherwise get.

Not that it matters, really. Sometimes I write pornography, sometimes erotica. What the readers call it is up to them.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

That is true, but attempting a rational definition based on etymology is better than any definition based on opinions, which is all we otherwise get.

Not that it matters, really. Sometimes I write pornography, sometimes erotica. What the readers call it is up to them.

And while the meaning of words does of course evolve, the original meaning of the words is still useful insofar as it suggests that a focus on craft or explicitness is misplaced. You can’t really use either to distinguish between porn and erotica.

The intent of the site, I assume, is for people to write what they genuinely love and to share it with others who might feel the same - without any exchange of cash. And that’s why it’s called literotica and not litporn.

Personally, I tell myself I’m ’writing porn’ but what I really mean by that is that I’m writing brazenly explicit sexual content.

As this site knows more than most, categories can be tricky things…

 

[TadOverdon]

"Porn refers to visual media" seems to me to be a pretty recent formulation. It's not true.

 

[Dearelliot]

Porn, some of it is great and sometimes it's even better than that...but often it's mediocre.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Is it? Or is it yet another example of people blaming something because they're never responsible for anything?

Does porn leap out of people's devices? Does it force their hands to click on it? No, people choose to watch it.

I see the increasing amount of porn as supply and demand, no one watches, no one's subscribing, no one's buying, they don't keep making it and expanding it.

Saying its bad for society is a cop out for some people who have a problem with it. Like Kitty said above sources of addiction are the outlet, not the motivation.

The issue with modern society is its so weak, that the answer is everything they have an issue with is "bad" and needs to be taken away because they can't police their selves.

Also the irony of someone who writes dirty stories saying porn is bad is priceless.

I don't have a problem with it, but I can acknowledge it's negative effects.
Alcohol is bad for society. Negative health outcomes, deaths from DUIs, lost productivity and so forth.
Reasonable people can acknowledge that and still have a glass of wine.

You seem to always want to reduce these things to a binary, where anyone who disagrees with you wants to "ban" and "take things away", I'm sure you'll toss "controlling women's bodies" into the mix shortly.

There is plenty of evidence of the negative effects of porn. You've got 20 year olds who need viagra to get it up because of porn consumption dysregulating their brain. Arguing that there aren't negatives is like someone claiming that alcoholism isn't a real thing because they drink all the time and don't have a problem.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The origins of the two words hint at an important distinction: pornography comes from the depiction of prostitutes (and slaves bought and sold to be used as prostitutes) while erotica comes from the depiction of sexual love.

That's the etymology, but I don't think many people nowadays would consider Pretty Woman, Moulin Rouge, or the Jodie Foster bits of Taxi Driver to be "pornography".

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's the etymology, but I don't think many people nowadays would consider Pretty Woman, Moulin Rouge, or the Jodie Foster bits of Taxi Driver to be "pornography".

They've not got graphic sex, though.

If you look at some of the main stream movies with fellatio or intercourse actually shown (some of Catherine Breillat's movies, for example, or going back to Realm of the Senses in the seventies), I think you wander into the same debate. Although it's called art house, in those cases.

 

[jehoram]

That's interesting. I'm actually working on a story about someone working for a porn company.

Didn't John Lennon write a song about that... "Paperback Writer"?

 

[StillStunned]

Didn't John Lennon write a song about that... "Paperback Writer"?

If it's a dirty story of a dirty man...

 

[ChuckWolf]

Didn't John Lennon write a song about that... "Paperback Writer"?

You got me interested, so looked it up and according to Wiki, it was Paul McCartney's song, inspired by his aunt's suggestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperback_Writer

 

[jehoram]

Do you think our literature is actually better than porn in terms of its attractiveness? I'm wondering if anyone else on here feels the same way or similarly. Did writing erotica ruin porn for you? Maybe this is just a part of getting older.

Well, pornography is literature, at least in its written form. Just as "Blondie" and "Pearls Before Swine" is as much a graphic art form as a Rembrandt or a Titian. So the difference is really content. But I agree that if you're interested in a character's change in response to their encounters with life, you're probably not going to find that in erotica, unless it's in the form of a character going out of their comfort zone and trying something new. If artfully handled, it can be good literature.

The deluge of porn is undoubtedly bad for society.

It's bad in terms of its setting unrealistic expectations of sexual performance and validity, sure. Kids who see it a lot are going to feel inferior to the performers with their perfect bodies, easy seduction abilities, and sexual stamina. But I think that they'll learn to separate that from their perception of reality, just as they've learned that action movies do not really reflect the laws of physics.

But consider this: in western countries that have legalized porn and prostitution, the frequency of rape has gone down. That tells me that men are using porn and legal sex to sublimate urges that formerly only had outlets in rape. Is that a bad thing?

I don't have a problem with it, but I can acknowledge it's negative effects.
Alcohol is bad for society. Negative health outcomes, deaths from DUIs, lost productivity and so forth.
Reasonable people can acknowledge that and still have a glass of wine.

The US recognized that alcohol was so bad for society that its manufacture and distribution were made illegal. That didn't work out so well... death rates rose due to bad booze. So a few years later, it was legalized again, with restrictions.

There is plenty of evidence of the negative effects of porn. You've got 20 year olds who need viagra to get it up because of porn consumption dysregulating their brain.

I haven't heard of that. Can you cite a source? Could it be that those 20-year-olds couldn't get it up anyway, but now had the ability to blame access to porn for their condition?

Anyway, as for me, I admit that my submissions to this site are erotic. Whether they'd be considered "porn" is up to the reader to decide. I don't care. I want to write a story about characters that I find attractive, and see how they develop their sexual tastes and overcome their societal taboos in the process. Yes, I want the reader to get aroused. But I want them to maybe think about the characters and the story after their orgasms. Maybe that's the difference.

And to be honest, most video porn has to have the same criteria to interest me. The hottest ones for me are those where the characters are talking about their arousal and attentive to their partner's needs, rather than just porking in front of a camera.

 

[jehoram]

You got me interested, so looked it up and according to Wiki, it was Paul McCartney's song, inspired by his aunt's suggestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperback_Writer

You're right. My bad.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Well, pornography is literature, at least in its written form. Just as "Blondie" and "Pearls Before Swine" is as much a graphic art form as a Rembrandt or a Titian. So the difference is really content. But I agree that if you're interested in a character's change in response to their encounters with life, you're probably not going to find that in erotica, unless it's in the form of a character going out of their comfort zone and trying something new. If artfully handled, it can be good literature.


It's bad in terms of its setting unrealistic expectations of sexual performance and validity, sure. Kids who see it a lot are going to feel inferior to the performers with their perfect bodies, easy seduction abilities, and sexual stamina. But I think that they'll learn to separate that from their perception of reality, just as they've learned that action movies do not really reflect the laws of physics.

But consider this: in western countries that have legalized porn and prostitution, the frequency of rape has gone down. That tells me that men are using porn and legal sex to sublimate urges that formerly only had outlets in rape. Is that a bad thing?



The US recognized that alcohol was so bad for society that its manufacture and distribution were made illegal. That didn't work out so well... death rates rose due to bad booze. So a few years later, it was legalized again, with restrictions.

I haven't heard of that. Can you cite a source? Could it be that those 20-year-olds couldn't get it up anyway, but now had the ability to blame access to porn for their condition?

Anyway, as for me, I admit that my submissions to this site are erotic. Whether they'd be considered "porn" is up to the reader to decide. I don't care. I want to write a story about characters that I find attractive, and see how they develop their sexual tastes and overcome their societal taboos in the process. Yes, I want the reader to get aroused. But I want them to maybe think about the characters and the story after their orgasms. Maybe that's the difference.

And to be honest, most video porn has to have the same criteria to interest me. The hottest ones for me are those where the characters are talking about their arousal and attentive to their partner's needs, rather than just porking in front of a camera.

The prohibition argument is irrelevant, saying "the alternative is worse" doesn't mean something isn't harmful or bad. Society recognized alcohol was bad, tried an unsuccessful strategy to combat that. The fact that strategy failed doesn't suddenly mean the bad didn't exist.
That said, I'm not calling for banning anything. You can recognize something is bad without wanting to ban it.

As for rape and porn... correlation isn't causation. More to the point, rape isn't about sex. There are power and control issues. Look at Bill Cosby, guy was a filthy rich celebrity. You don't think there were plenty of women who would have willingly shared their pudding with him? Rape is something altogether different.

Here is your reference for 20 year olds needing viagra.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fixing-families/202102/addicted-porn-how-get-back-in-control

You really think it's LESS embarrassing for a 20 year old to say, "I jerk off to porn so much I can't get it up anymore." Than just say they have some medical problem causing ED?

 

[TheLobster]

More to the point, rape isn't about sex.

This is somewhat tangential, but it's also my pet peeve so I can't resist

Rape is about sex. For a rapist, it's the victim's struggle that's the source of sexual arousal. It's a recognized, distinct paraphilia.

This doesn't invalidate the power component, of course, but the extremely prevalent claim that the cause of most instances of rapes is something other than desire for sexual satisfaction (i.e. "it's about power, not sex") is false.

 

[SmokingFap]

I'm starting to have a big change of heart about pornography in recent months. As I've realized that what I have in my heart and soul and my ideas are better and more attractive to me personally a lot of the time than pornography is, I kind of stopped liking it so much. I went through a time period where I had really broad spectrum of tastes and explored a lot of different things, particularly around different arrangements and words and roles to take on and things to express. I could get really attracted to any woman I found attractive. Since then, it's narrowed down exclusively to the characters. They're just prettier than any pornstar or random woman online could ever be. I don't say this because they're exaggerated, I say this because for me that's just the way it is. I can't really get super into pornography anymore.

Do you think our literature is actually better than porn in terms of its attractiveness? I'm wondering if anyone else on here feels the same way or similarly. Did writing erotica ruin porn for you? Maybe this is just a part of getting older.

Porn can never compare to the stories I write for myself. And nothing could ruin porn for me. Although the big hair and huge fake tits of the '80s came close.