History of Porn

[RainDog]

Part 1 of 6 via Channel 4/UK.

NSFW

According to this documentary, the word, "pornography," as we know it, did not exist in English-language dictionaries until the mid-1800s.

Pornography as a concept was an invention of the Victorians brought about by the discovery of erotic murals painted on walls in rooms in various houses in ancient Pompeii.

The ancient world of the Roman Empire shocked the Victorians, with murals and sculptures depicting sexual acts as part of the everyday - and were locked away. The erect phallus was a good luck charm in Roman society and was placed at the front door of houses - presenting sexuality in humorous ways.

I haven't seen the full series - but thought I'd share it here. Seems like this might be a group interested in the topic. This first section reminded me of...

When the British made contact with Hindu temple sculptures depicting sexual acts that were part of some religious practice - they experienced the same shock - bas relief depictions of sex as part of religious iconography confused and scared the Victorian mind - and helped to lead them to depict other cultures as barbaric and uncivilized as an excuse to colonize.

Western colonizers used the same sort of shame to depict other cultures as uncivilized during the age of exploration, as the west came into contact with indigenous people in the Americas and Africa whose cultures did not have the same shame about the human body.

This shame, a product of the of patriarchal religions that spread across western Europe and the Middle East as Islam and Christianity fought for supremacy of their religion and colonized the world from 700 a.d. Islam as well as Christianity brought its religion to various areas of the world - and brought patriarchal sexual mores along with it.

I think it's sort of interesting that the prohibition against pornography is, itself, a basic tenet of patriarchy in western society.

All the protections were ways of maintaining and preserving power over females and the lower classes by protecting them "for their own good."

[NYC_SKP]

1. "the prohibition against pornography is, itself, a basic tenet of patriarchy in western society"

Recommended.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. But, once again we have the confusion between...

porn and sexuality. Religious or spiritual depictions of sex as porn? Really now...

Since sex is a basic human function, depictions of it in various societies would seem no different than depictions of, say, the Last Supper. I've seen those well-hung little Roman lares (curiously, there was a large display of them at the Cologne Cathedral) just as I've seen similar drawings in the Book of Kells and vulvas on celtic crosses. None of them seemed to be intended to spur the wackage of horny teenagers or cuckolds, but were the celebration of sex, which most of us seem to agree is every bit worth celebrating as any other human activity. While many prefer the celebrating be done in private, to call it porn is itself degrading.

The Victorians, btw, appear to not have been anti-sex at all, just anti- talking about it. One wonders how much that, along with the cult of the little girl and other odd fixations, encouraged them to conquer the world.

[redqueen]

3. Indeed, anonymous sex, S&M clubs, etc.

were popular in Victorian London.

There was also a woman who did a sex survey similar to Kinsey's at the time, focused on women, and they were all indicative of healthy ideas about sexuality.

[RainDog]

6. The dance halls were constantly threatened with closure

and were, eventually closed. You're talking about the underworld of Victorian Britain, not the larger society - the two aren't the same.

Printers were regularly arrested for indecency for printing images and stories that would be considered blase in our time.

Sexuality was definitely a locus of control for females in Victorian Britain.

You're probably thinking about the American researcher who did a survey of American women.

http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=29954

[redqueen]

7. Oops, yes, I was thinking of her.

Definitely agree that people were just as sexual then as now, and that the strict policing of women's sexuality was a major part of it. Then, as in here in the 50's, young unmarried upper class women's pregnancies were kept secret and the babies adopted out or the parentage denied. Lower class women were simply persecuted.

Porn was available to upper class men though, at least, from what I've read.

[RainDog]

4. The Pompeii murals were in people's homes

they weren't religious in nature.

They were part of the public rooms of people's homes.

The Victorians were extremely misogynistic against prostitutes, no matter what anyone wants to say about it and, in fact, were very disturbed by views of the human body as part of society - this is a fact.

I worked on a collection of British Victorian porn - they, in fact, talked about it a lot, among certain people - but could also be arrested for doing the same.

The Enabling Acts came about to stop the spread of venereal disease when soldiers returned from the Crimean War. The government refused to have any soldiers checked for disease but could arrest any female who was alone on the street as a possible prostitute and subject her to medical examination and lock her away.

I have read primary source documents about this issue. After years and years of this, Josephine Butler helped to lead a campaign to stop the discrimination against females - the soldiers had been exempted b/c the powers-that-be in parliament did not want to hurt soldiers' morale.

Women's lives could be ruined by the suggestion that they had engaged in prostitution. Among the lower class, female prostitution was often done out of necessity - not all women were full-time prostitutes.

Victorians were, for the most part, anti-birth control - because they associated the same with loose women - and the French - whom they hated.

Annie Besant was routinely vilified in the press for supporting birth control and family planning for the poor to help relieve their poverty.

They were a colonial power because they viewed others as subhuman.

[RainDog]

5. The Victorians viewed sexual depictions in religion as porn

absolutely.