Erotica Through the Centuries
For as long as humans have been having sex, they’ve been making art to reflect it. From nude paintings to phallic sculptures to smutty fanfiction, erotica has been produced in many different iterations and mediums for centuries. One of poet and scholar Audre Lorde’s more recognizable essays, The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, defines the erotic as “an internal sense of satisfaction to which, once we have experienced it, we know we can aspire.” Erotica, then, can be understood as the way humans transform those intense feelings of (mainly sexual) pleasure into art and literature. It’s often made with the purpose to arouse the viewer, but sometimes it’s to just share the creator’s own sexual experiences and thoughts.
Art by Francesca Polistina
Our modern understandings of erotica are influenced by our tech-driven world. The most recognizable medium today is video pornography, which is accessed online through websites like PornHub and Bellesa. It’s often used as a tool to stimulate viewers— usually physically rather than aesthetically or emotionally. Wattpad, Literotica, and other online platforms are another way erotica is shared, this time through writing and fiction. Explicit magazines like Playboy are also popular and accessible. But before the introduction of the internet and the commercialization of porn, many cultures from all different eras and countries were creating erotic art for viewers to enjoy.
Jumping all the way back to prehistoric times, archaeologists have found engravings of vulvas and penises on cave walls. In a cave in Abri Castanet, a site in the southern region of France, the engravings are located about the space where inhabitants would gather to eat and sleep, situating the art as a public mode of sexual observation. Grecian vases and cups have been discovered depicting figures in all kinds of sexual acts. Some of them were more humorous while others portrayed more serious, suggestive scenarios. These explicit images are similar to the NSFW art many continue to create and share today for erotic inspiration and arousal. Drawings of fictional characters in sexual situations are often shared among fanbases on websites like Tumblr.
Japanese shunga, a specific style of erotica artwork, was popular from the 17th to mid-19th century. It often highlighted exaggerated depictions of genitalia and faces exuding orgasmatic bliss. The images were often made as woodblock prints and illustrated everything from mastubation to tentacle sex. They also weren’t limited to heterosexual intercourse and focused on feminine pleasure.
Shunga was a mainstream genre that was not considered obscene, but rather used as a tool to educate and celebrate sexual engagment. Young brides often received shunga before marrying for instruction and arousal. Now, sharing sexual “manuals” is even more common. Magazines like Cosmopolitan are known for publishing articles with various sex positions to experiment with. These are often accompanied by diagram-like images and detailed instructions.
Even in more sexually conservative periods and cultures, erotica still slipped through. During the Italian Renaissance I Modi (The Ways) was published. It showcased prints and later accompanying poetry that portrayed sixteen couples in various sexual positions. I Modi was mass produced for a large audience, breaking from the traditional stance that erotic works were reserved for the wealthy. This step towards increased accessibility helped bring us to where we are today, with erotica being available for free on online platforms.
Even during the Victorian era, a time when many European cultures were discouraged from even mentioning sex, people continued to produce erotica. During the 19th century, Hollywell Street in London became an epicenter for selling erotic novels and pornographic prints. Erotica has always, and continues to, serve as an outlet for sexual desire in cultures where the subject is more tabboo.
Despite its many different forms, erotica has been produced for nearly all of traceable human existence. A lot of its current criticism, particularly of that concerning porn, is based in concerns about exposure. Indeed, erotica shared online is much more easy for children and minors to access. There’s also the issue of desensitization; many worry that overconsumption of erotic materials will cause people to become disinterested in real sexual encounters or experience them with less feeling. While those are all valid concerns, it’s important to remember that erotica provides a number of benefits. It can be a safe and approacable tool for sex education (like with shunga) and gives people creative ways to express their feelings of sexual joy and desire. Erotica will likely stick around for as long as humans have sex, so learning to engage with it in a responsible way is beneficial for all.