Erotica

Erotica is art of any medium that features created with the intention of arousing sensual or sexual desire in its potential audience. This umbrella term is most often used to describe written works, but can include any visual art, photography, audio, or video that features depictions of sexually graphic imagery and aims to incite sexual desire. 

While some draw a distinction between erotica and pornography, this marked difference is not a consistent one, owing to how the definitions are quite subjective, depending on the context of culture, time period, personal opinions, aesthtetic preferences, moral standing, and legal stipulations. Because what can be consider “erotic” is so fluid, the line between these two terms and concepts often blur or overlap in colloquial use. 

Etymology and History

The word erotica is derived from the French érotique, which comes from the Greek erotikos, the root of which is eros, meaning sexual love and personified by Eros, the possible son of Aphrodite and god of carnal love in Greek mythology.

Erotic art dates as far back as prehistoric eras where depictions of sex acts have been found in the forms of cave paintings and wall art, sculptures and shaped figurines, and other such handicrafts. The oldest known example of erotic writing is etched on Istanbul #2461, an ancient Sumerian tablet known as “The Oldest Love Poem,” which dates back to the 21st century BC. Every era since has had its depictions and expressions of erotic art. 

Erotica as Erotic Literature

In the context of written works, erotica is often used interchangeably with descriptions such as erotic fiction, erotic romance, erotic literature, or literal erotica.

Erotica as a literary genre or style is a subset of fiction which centers depictions of sex and sexual themes. It often intends to arouse sexual desire. Although in some cases, erotic literature may also aim to provide social commentary or criticism through this lens of sexual experience. Such works have frequently been banned by the government or religious authorities.

Some people will draw distinction between erotica and erotic literature, but these terms are not clearly defined and subjective, based on individual assessments of what classifies as more serious or artistic, and also the time in which they are being assessed. For example, D.H. Lawrence’s notorious novel Lady Chatterly’s Lover was banned in many countries shortly after it was published on the grounds of it being too obscene. Today, it is lauded as a literary classic.

Erotica versus Erotic Romance

A distinction is made between erotica and erotic romance. Erotic romance is a subgenre of the greater romance genre, and must adhere to the tenets of romance: that the plot revolves around a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending, otherwise known as a Happy Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN).

Erotica is a broader term that does not have strict rules as a genre. It implies that sexual themes and depictions of sex will be included, however there are no consistent genre guidelines. Therefore, erotic romance could be considered erotica, but erotica is not necessarily an erotic romance.

Erotic Fantasy Fiction

Erotic fantasy fiction is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that does not shy away from sexual elements or graphically sexual scenes. Since fantasy fiction is characterized by its speculative nature, magical and mythical elements, and otherworldly settings and beings, the opportunity to challenge the boundaries of eroticism are vast.

A common form of erotic fantasy ficiton is fan fiction, which incorporates characters, settings, and plot elements from popular fiction. Erotic fan fiction writers will draw on existing characters or create new ones, encourage relationships between characters different from the ones they experience in their popular works (non-canon relationships; also sometimes known as slash fiction, which stress non-canon homoerotic relationships). The works drawn upon can be film, television, or written and printed media, such as books, graphic novels, and comics.

Erotica Versus Porn

The difficulty in defining erotica lies in matters of individual subjectivity and societal context. What is considered erotic is quite subjective to the individual. The same goes for what one considers art. As societal values shift, so too do their taboos and levels of sensitivity to a given subject matter, all of which influence what members of that society are more likely to deem obscene, arousing, both, or neither.

On a legal level, the consensus on what constitutes porn versus erotica remains famously undefined and therefore subjective to the whims of the court. In the 1964 Jacobellis vs Ohio case, US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously declared that detecting the difference between “hard-core” porn and erotic art wasn’t something that could be clearly defined, but was a matter of personal intuition: “I know it when I see it.”

Effects of the Feminist Sex Wars

Second wave era of feminism, especially through the 1970s and 1980s, raised heated debate around women’s issues related to sex and sexuality. Notable feminist activist and figures of the time incuding Andrea Dworkin, Catharine Alice MacKinnon, and Gloria Steinham took a strong stance against porn, which they considered to be denigrating depictions of women and only reinforced the sexual dominance men exercise over women to control them under a patriarchal structure. From this perspective, porn is heavily laced with negative connotations. Comparatively, erotica was deemed a higher class, more dignified medium with which to present sexual themes. 

However, in recent years, there have been several and increasing examples of adult content creators and porn purveyors who have produced pornographic content contrary to this definition, deliberately aiming to create aesthetically beautiful, emotionally aware, intellectually stimulating, story-driven, well-produced, overall higher quality as well as ethically conscious porn.

In essence, erotica and pornography share a common aim: to present depictions of sex and arouse sexual desire in the consumer. Whether one uses “erotica” or “porn” as the descriptive term depends on both how they choose to define these terms and which connotations they attach to them.

Audio Erotica

Audio erotica is any adult content in audio format, created with the intention of arousing the listener. This can come in the form of narrated erotic stories, sometimes enhanced with sound effects, scripted sexual experiences, and erotic ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) which uses gentle, amplified sounds to illicit a sensual or erotic response.