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Pornography
Pornography or porn is the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement. Over the past few decades, an immense industry for the production and consumption of pornography has grown,
with the increasing use 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 mainstream counterparts. Amateur pornography has become widely popular and generally distributed
via the Internet for free. Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from 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 are not classified as pornography. In most countries pornography is considered and treated differently, both culturally and legally, from
depictions of nudity in art or photography. Etymology The word derives from the Greek πορνογραφία (pornographia), which derives from the Greek words πόρνη
(pornē, "prostitute" and pornea, "prostitution"), and γράφω (graphō, "I write or record," derived meaning
"illustration," cf. "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." History 
The depiction of sexual acts 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 the fact of their suppression, depictions of erotic imagery were
common throughout history.[1] Sub-genres In general, softcore refers to pornography that does not depict penetration (usually genitals are not shown
right on camera), and hardcore refers to pornography that depicts penetration explicitly. Pornography takes different forms depending on physical characteristics of the participants, fetish, sexual
orientation, etc. Reality and voyeur pornography, animated videos, and legally prohibited acts also influence
the classification of pornography. Some popular genres of pornography include: * Alt porn
* Amateur pornography
* Fetish pornography
* Orientation-based pornography (heterosexual pornography; gay pornography; lesbian pornography; bisexual pornography)
* Orgy pornography
* Race-oriented pornography (e.g. Asian, black, Latino, interracial)
* Reality pornography
* Voyeur pornography (e.g. hidden camera pornography, "upskirt" pornography) Economics 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.[2] 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,[3] after being
published in Eric Schlosser's book on the American underground economy.[4] Studies in 2001 put the total
(including video, pay-per-view, Internet and magazines) between $2.6 billion and $3.9 billion.[5] 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 pornography. The porn industry has been considered influential in deciding format wars in media, including being a factor
in the VHS vs. Betamax format war (the videotape format war)[6][7] and in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war
(the high-def format war).[6][7][8] 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 focused on non-commercial
pornographic photographs. 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 claim[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 invention 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. 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.[9] Production and distribution 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. Legal status 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, and 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.[citation needed] 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,[10] 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 has criminalised possession of what it terms "extreme pornography" following the highly
publicised murder of Jane Longhurst. Effect on sexual aggression Research concerning the effects of pornography is inconclusive. Some studies support the contention that
the viewing of pornographic material may increase rates of sexual crimes, while others have shown no effects,
or a decrease in the rates of such crimes. Moreover, all these studies focus on various correlations, but
correlation does not imply causation. Anti-pornography movement Opposition to pornography comes generally, though not exclusively, from several sources: law, religion and
feminism. 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. Religious objections Some religious groups discourage members from viewing pornography, and support legislation restricting
its publication. These positions derive from broader religious beliefs about human sexuality. In some religious
traditions, for example, sexual intercourse is limited to the sole function of procreation. Thus, sexual
pleasure or sex-oriented entertainment, as well as lack of modesty, are considered to be immoral.
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