Erotica versus pornography

Erotica versus pornography; An expose

Cameron Kippen, Curtin University of Technology, Perth WA

Erotica is the preferred term used by those who praise sexual manifestations in art. Pornography is a term used by those perpetually disgusted by all things carnal. In the arts of pictorial representation eroticism has a long association with human beings and takes precedence over the ancient genres of the Sacred and the Political. Only subsequent to the advent of photography has pornography become a social issue with many in society regarding obscene imagery as the source of moral and criminal decay. The author attempts to review the history of the nude in art and photography in an attempt to identify the convention we now recognise as pornography. The purpose of the exercise was to try to delineate between these terms, which have become synonymous in recent writings in order to identify a criteria, which defines pornographic imagery. The assignment relates to images only. The baseline assumption, which underpins this informed inquiry, was human beings have used the human body to gauge the universe. For the purpose of brevity the author has restricted comparison between erotica and soft porn. For the benefits of the reader soft porn was defined as pin-up-style pictures of semi-naked or naked women and men, close up pictures of female genitalia, oral and genital sex up to including ejaculation (Thompson, 1994, p.2). Depiction of minority sexual practices, such as sodomy, bestiality or pedophilia is termed hard-core porn and does not form part of this discussion.

The Nude in Art

Robson (1995) claimed the term nude become synonymous with female nude because over time the latter has been most common. This may be because most artists were men. Agreed by experts the consistent theme running through the nude in art of all ages is sexuality and for centuries the nude was an inspiration of artistic creativity in Western art. The human body provided the visual embodiment of ideas and views about the most basic human concern, love, whether earthly or sacred. See Table i. A brief history of the nude.

Greco-Latin Classic Period

The nude to the Ancient Greece depicted deity whereas real people were clothed. Nude figures in both Greek and Roman period were mainly male and embodied human idealism celebrating the strength and beauty of muscularity.

· Early Christian Art 1^st — 3^rd Century AD

In the book of Genesis, it stated God created man in His own image and likeness. The Judo-Christian belief the Devine was the source of perfection meant images of humans, made in the image of their maker, were idealised. Early examples depicted acts of procreation in the innocent faith. By the fourth century, a fig leaf mentality prevailed and meant the naked body represented temptation and sin. Many of the early Christian paintings were destroyed or covered up and only a few early erotic images remain.

· The Renaissance 14^th - 16^th Century AD

The classic ideals of the perfect body were rediscovered during this period. Artists like Vasaclus developed a new movement where the characteristics of the classic were combined with the Christian ideal to present the natural beauty, with guiltlessness and innocence. Botocelli was another artist in the same movement but was also aware of the sinful qualities of the nude and frequently played with perspective to incorporate phallic symbolism into his religious works. Joso d’ Bondeni began to paint nudes imbibed with human characteristics including expressions of emotion and sexuality. When Michelangelo created David he not only reintroduced the male nude but incorporated the classic with ordered proportion. No longer idealised the figure looked outward, challenging the viewer. In his religious paintings Michelangelo began to his own sexuality within the compositions. What Michelangelo did for the male nude Titian did for the female, with Venus of Albino (1538). The subject was inspiration for many painters capturing the reclining nude, eyes engaging the viewer as if they were voyeurs. Her hands covering her genitals in both innocent and suggestive way, with the recline and surrounding furniture as if something has just happened or likely to happen. In short, woman as a Goddess and sexual being. Only when the church allowed dissection did artists like, Leonardo d’ Vinci begin to represent true anatomical nakedness. This coincided with a greater acceptance among artisans that humans were not necessarily sinful and man not God become the image to be depicted in all its glory. During this time economic and the aesthetic were paired in grandiose style.

· Baroque to Enlightenment Impressionism to Realism

After the Reformation, the Catholic Church supported a new art movement called Baroque which celebrated absolutism and the supremacy of the monarchy. Painters like Reuben’s were commissioned to paint the monarchy ascending to heaven heavily decorated with nude figures. Artists following the Enlightenment movement challenged this and featured the individual, the citizen, as the central feature of art. They politicized the nude, which became a figure of equality before God. Now based on scientific dissection, nudes came to represent vulnerability of the human condition. Early in the nineteenth century a new movement called Neo Classicism, reworked the classical nude into forms of grandising (larger than life). John Augustus Domincan Am (1862) painted nudes, which were in the neoclassic style but deeply sensual (from a men’s perspective). Until the late 19^th century women were not allowed to draw nude figures. Nude studies declined in popularity in the 18^th century as depiction of everyday subjects became vogue. A century later the Impressionists resurrected the nude but it was the next movement, called Realism, which portrayed the nude, au natural. Rodan became the champion of the 19^th century controversial movement.

No coincidence perhaps this school of art mirrored the Victorian’s preoccupation with the new phenomenon called photography. Art had moved from Venus rising from the waves to Nini rising from her bed. Artists took shocking subjects and made them as beautiful as possible. A constant symbolism was women were essentially diabolic and their tempting charms were a gift of the devil The body of the artist’s model was frequently depicted as tempting Jezebels or "gorgeous exotic flowers with a deadly tarantula lurking at its heart".Until now nudes had been the prerogative of the aristocracy but developing technologies meant these were freely available to the masses. Celebration of the sexual human body was more apparent at this time, which coincided with the new science of sexology. Perhaps this movement may have been related to existentialism, a philosophy, God was dead. In any event fractionalisation of the human body (fetishism) was apparent. Realist, bohemian and radical, Gustave Courbet took the nude to gynecological heights when he painted L’ Origine du monde (1866).

· The Modern and Post Modern

The Modern movement started with Manet’s Olympia (1863). The reclining nude in classical pose now engaged her viewers both confidently and shamelessly. To good and sometimes controversial effect, Manet incorporated many qualities of the new photographic genre, including Tableaux Vivants (living pictures). The modern nude came to represent issues of contemporary society such as prostitution. After the First World War (1914-18) major changes arose in the nude. During the 20s grotesque females, many prostitutes, featured prominently in nude art works (Bohm-Duchen, 1992). How much this was influenced by the photographic images of the Great War atrocities is not clear but painters, such as Otto Dix and George Grosz, depicted deformed bodies with a potent mix of relish and disgust. This was also mirrored with high society’s preoccupation with S & M. and "dirty pictures". Although the nude continued to be a theme of post modern art, new print technologies diversified the market and appeal for the nude.

· The Nudes of Cubism, Fauvism and Pop Art

The impact of photographic techniques continued to influence the styles of nude painting and Picasso and Matisse used multi perspectives in their nude studies This led to Cubism, and Fauvism respectively. The godless view of existential Europe, torn by the Holocaust may explain why nudes post World War II became more abstract with the observer left to interact by completing the image. In the print mode fantasy became a popular genre incorporating sado-masochism, staged to promote viewer reaction. Whether this popular phenomenon was in the spirit of zeitgeist, a cognitive reaction to the stresses caused by global conflict remains unknown. From the 50s onwards the male nude became more apparent within the genre and women painters added considerably to female nude studies. By the 60s the influence of mass media became an inspiration for a new movement called Pop Art. Tom Wesselman and Alan Jones both

depicted stereotype women existing solely for the sexual gratification of men. The same direction was also obvious in the growing market for soft porn.

Pornography

According to Bishop & Osthelder (2001, p. 330) the word pornography entered the English language during the nineteenth century. It was made up from the Greek ÔporneÕ, meaning street prostitute; and ÔgraphosÕ Ð writing. The word was used to describe the salacious literature and postcards, which were avidly consumed by a growing Victorian middle class. Subsequently the term came to mean many things but mostly pictures and printed material, which were sexually explicit and referred to, or visually, depicted male and female (genital) anatomy cited Itzin (1992) referring to Dworking & MacKinnon (1988). All sexual behaviour implied took place out with the social context of love and marriage. For some, anything, which caused anxiety by stirring sex, was considered pornographic (Faust 1980, p.10). Pornography became a metaphor for genital sexuality, whether the actual sexual acts were depicted, simulated or displaced. In the ensuing years interpretation of an aesthetic genre that presents a variety of sexual material by emphasising content at the expense of all other considerations, has been the cause of many legal debates, which required specific interpretations not always clear to the lay public. Whilst Check (1992, p.350) described sexually explicit material into three groups. These were sexually violent pornography; non-violent dehumanizing pornography; and erotica. The absence of precise definitions has meant the community remains divided on sexual values and attitudes, this has not stopped speculative extrapolation on the functions and effects of pornography. In the UK it took until the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (UK) for parliamentarians to finally established the existence of Ôpornography" which was obscene, and ÔartÕ which was not. Pornography had no artistic merit; art on the other hand, as a collective, was in the public good. Needless to say a major stumbling block arose in UK legislation when nude pictures were sold as art studies. The Act did not clearly say and juries became very confused. Despite Amendments in 1964, no clear mandate was established. (Thompson 1994, p.21-22).

Pornography was divided between soft core, i.e legal, girlie magazines where the penis remained limp and nothing entered an orifice; and hardcore, illegal material which depicted sexual arousal with lewd and lascivious display of the genitals. Hard core pornography frequently depicted sadistic forms of rape (Bergen, 1996; Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985).

Anti pornographic debates were dominated by two main viewpoints. Moral conservatives, who found sex distasteful and civil libertarians who were unwilling to accept some forms of pornography may cause psychological damage and give rise to wider social problems, (Flood & Hamilton, 2003).

Photography

From the beginning of the 20th century, the production of nude photographs became a veritable industry and was matched by erotic literature. Nude photography developed early with Frenchman, Lerebours considered the first in 1840. Techniques of the time meant live subjects needed to be able to hold a pose for up to ten minutes. Hence professional models were used for pragmatic reasons as well as aesthetic. Many of these conventions still remain in todayÕs pornography images, albeit developments in cinematography and now digital enhancement, allow greater latitude. The introduction of photography metamorphosed nude studies with greater emphasis on fantasy. This was encouraged by inventions such as the ÔVerascopeÕ, which allowed people to view and take two photographs, simultaneously. Catalogues of stereoscopic images were common and the stereoscopic nude broke new barriers. Improved camera equipment was less constraining on the photographer and they moved out of the confines of their studio to more exotic settings. At a time when the body became a cult among the west, the illusion of reality, i.e. Tableaux Vivants (living pictures) satisfied the demands of the increasingly fashionable trend for voyeurism and fantasy. Nudes started to appear on postcards from 1896 onwards. Sexploitation of children took place and according to Thompson (1994, p.27) as many as 30% of pornographic catalogues contained "green fruit" ie. pre pubescent children. Presence of sexually transmitted diseases meant virgins were not likely to carry infection and hence the attraction to younger children. This by itself would not confirm existence of pedophilia, as we understand it today.

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Tomy Janadi. Refernces from : http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/erotica.html