New Worlds: Pornography

Nov. 28th, 2025 09:06 am
swan_tower: (Default)
[personal profile] swan_tower
It may seem odd that I'm following up a discussion of segregation on the basis of sex with one on pornography, but bear with me: they're not as unrelated as they seem.

Pornography is notoriously difficult to define. There's even a Wikipedia page for the phrase famously used by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Steward to describe hard-core material: "I know it when I see it." Subjective? Definitely. But then, what counts as obscene or purient material has always been subjective. In one society, the sight of a lady's ankles might be titillating; meanwhile, over in Moche Peru, potters were busy making ceramics depicting anal sex, fellatio, and other explicit acts.

What is licentious is closely linked with what is hidden from common view. I recall reading a mystery novel written by an author living in Saudi Arabia, where the male protagonist mentally chides himself for gazing too long at a woman's hands, the only part of her not covered by her burqa. He also overhears conservative imams on the radio railing against women "seducing" men with the mere sound of their voices. When almost everything is hidden away, the few scraps remaining become massively charged with sexual potential.

This means that, believe or not, what's considered pornographic or titillating is a place for worldbuilding! Holly Black made great use of this in her Curse Workers trilogy, a contemporary fantasy where magic requires contact between the bare skin of someone's hand and another person. Because this ability is widespread, gloves are a standard part of the dress code for everybody, a way of signaling that you're safe to be around . . . and at one point in the series, the teenaged protagonist, snooping on his older brother's computer, finds a stash of soft-core porn featuring women tugging their gloves off all sexy-like for the camera. We think nothing of seeing somebody's bare hands, but when they're normally concealed? You bet that would become an erotic sight.

By contrast, that which is routine will carry much less force. We tend to hide female breasts from view enough that even breastfeeding in public can be controversial, but in tropical regions where women traditionally wear nothing on top, it's not a non-stop pornographic show: that's simply normalized. Greece and Rome in antiquity were full of representational dicks -- worn as jewelry, carved on buildings, molded into lamps, used as wind chimes -- but those were to turn away evil, not to get people aroused.

In addition to shaping what is pornographic, your worldbuilding specifics will affect what kind of pornography is available to people. The Moche may have left behind a lot of sexually explicit ceramics, but those would have been elite objects; the average peasant toiling away in his field wouldn't be able to acquire elaborately molded works made by skilled artisans, regardless of their subject matter. For most of history, pornography has largely been the domain of the wealthy.

Some things are ubiquitous. We've had the ability to scratch simple depictions of genitalia into wood, stone, or clay for tens of thousands of years, and boy howdy have people done that! But how often was it done for the purpose of titillation? That, we don't know. It's easier to be certain when we find sexualized graffiti in appropriate contexts, like the walls of brothels in Pompeii. We also have examples of extremely phallic objects going back to the Upper Paleolithic, though the earliest we can be sure of any of these being put to sexual use is ancient Egypt (where we have artwork depicting it in action). Was that use purely recreational, or somehow ritual in nature? Again, we often don't know.

What really makes pornography take off, though, is printing technology. Prior to that, your smut had to be artisanally hand-crafted -- expensive in both labor and resources. The common person could really only afford dirty talk and maybe some crude pictures scratched into a wall. Once you have woodblocks, though, and later on, movable type, it becomes possible to mass-produce both images and text for all kinds of purposes. Of course, early printing was often highly regulated, with governmental censors eager to quash anything that might corrupt public morals. We don't have a great surge of obscene material from the late medieval and early modern periods. As printing became cheaper and more widespread, though, so was born an underground industry in pornography. Later on, audiovisual media did the same thing for sexual performances, allowing them to be enjoyed in privacy rather than only at live shows.

It isn't all about getting people off, though. Some sexual works are created with an eye toward education, e.g. for married couples who needed to learn how to do the deed, and maybe even how to enjoy themselves better along the way. The Kama Sutra is an extremely famous example of this, though it's much broader in focus than its pop-culture image presents; it's more like a forerunner of the entire relationship-advice genre. Meanwhile, Edo-period shunga (erotic pictures) in Japan kept getting regulated not because the shogunate disapproved of salacious art in general, but because the artists kept slipping political commentary into their works!

Regulations have run the gamut. In puritanical eras, the government usually tries to eliminate pornography entirely -- with limited success at best. Such things will still circulate via private networks, especially among the elite, who have the wealth and influence to buy both the material and escape from the consequences of having it. In other times and places, normative heterosexual pornography is fine, but anything considered "deviant," like homosexual acts, faces censorship. Or pornography is permitted, but it has to be packaged in a fashion that marks it out for what it is, e.g. with a plain paper cover in a certain color. Or it's high art if it takes certain forms, like sculpture, but low art and banned if it's available to the masses.

But again, bear in mind: what's considered licentious will be entirely defined by social norms. Thomas Edison made a film in which a man and a woman kissed; some people considered that obscene when it came out in 1896. In 1999, it was judged culturally significant enough to be preserved in the National Film Registry. And whether licentiousness is a priori bad will also be culturally relative: some Hindu temples not only depict sexual acts, but are intended to arouse the viewer, because sexual desire is entirely compatible with religious experience. So from the perspective of a fictional world, it's entirely up to the writer where they set their parameters . . . but how that's received by their real-world audience will be another matter entirely!

Patreon banner saying "This post is brought to you by my imaginative backers at Patreon. To join their ranks, click here!"

(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/dP9kgS)

Buy Nothing Day

Nov. 28th, 2025 01:57 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is Buy Nothing Day. Take a break from being a consumer, and be a creator for day. How do you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? Here are some ideas...

Buy Nothing Day Banner

Read more... )

The Friday Five for 28 November 2025

Nov. 28th, 2025 02:33 am
anais_pf: (Default)
[personal profile] anais_pf posting in [community profile] thefridayfive
These questions were originally suggested by [livejournal.com profile] the_heartless.

1. What were some of the smells and tastes of your childhood?

2. What did you have as a child that you do not think children today have?

3. What elementary grade was your favorite?

4. What summer do you remember the best as a child?

5. What one piece of advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

Round 156, Hour -16

Nov. 28th, 2025 01:13 am
xandromedovna: impressionistic photo of a moonlit lake (Default)
[personal profile] xandromedovna posting in [community profile] fic_rush_48
Over 1.1K tonight, I think that's plenty of progress for me, I'll be sleepcheerleading for you!

Round 156, Hour -17

Nov. 28th, 2025 12:38 am
xandromedovna: impressionistic photo of a moonlit lake (Default)
[personal profile] xandromedovna posting in [community profile] fic_rush_48
oh wow I should probably go to bed, but I'm finally on a roll...what conundrums do you face this Hour?
penaltywaltz: (I'm A Mod)
[personal profile] penaltywaltz posting in [community profile] wipbigbang
(Posting on behalf of the author)

Project Title: A Bond Stronger Than a String
Fandom: Scum Villain
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74876726
Summary: Shen Jiu wakes up able to see a red string on his finger and memories of many lives which ended horribly. Now he needs to decide how he will live this life.
Warnings: n/a
Characters: Shen Jiu | Original Shen QingqiuTianlang-junOriginal Luo BingheYue Qingyuan
Pairings: Shen Jiu | Original Shen Qingqiu/Tianlang-jun
When I Started: Mid 2024.
How I Lost My Shit: Lots I wanted in the story and kept thinking rather than writing.
How I Finished My Shit: Deadline helped me.

Round 156, Hour -18

Nov. 27th, 2025 11:04 pm
xandromedovna: impressionistic photo of a moonlit lake (Default)
[personal profile] xandromedovna posting in [community profile] fic_rush_48
Don't mind me, just creating microscopic black holes for plot reasons, trust me I'm a physicist*


*Fact Check: OP has never studied physics in her entire life
ysabetwordsmith: (Cheap Cookin)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
We made this today and it was delicious. :D

Read more... )

Happy Thanksgiving

Nov. 27th, 2025 11:01 pm
cornerofmadness: (Default)
[personal profile] cornerofmadness






For those celebrating, I hope you had a good holiday. Me, I went to this...I don't want to call it a soup kitchen per se, free community meal? Mostly it's there and free for the students who can't go home and for townspeople who can't afford it etc. Helped out. Had lunch of well stuffing and cake and a bit of turkey. the rest is...not to my taste but that's okay. Can't complain about free.

Came home, didn't clean. Wrote some. Did book reviews I forgot to do. Made pumpkin soup, stuffin muffins and threw the rotisserie turkey breast in the oven. Not a bad meal at all.

I have Free HBO, Starz etc this weekend. Have recorded the new Superman movie and 5 episodes of It Welcome to Derry so there's that.

Hope you all had a nice day. I'm thankful for my friends in RL and online.

Round 156, Hour -19

Nov. 27th, 2025 10:14 pm
xandromedovna: impressionistic photo of a moonlit lake (Default)
[personal profile] xandromedovna posting in [community profile] fic_rush_48
There are rumours coming in that editing and perhaps even words have occurred! Are they true?

Communities

Nov. 27th, 2025 09:20 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Living beyond growth: How communities bypass the machine

The paradox of modern life is that economies grow larger every year, yet most people do not feel more secure or more fulfilled. Global production has multiplied many times over in the last century, but inequality persists, and ecological systems face collapse. Growth is celebrated as the path to prosperity, yet its reality often means longer working hours, deeper debts, and fragile supply chains that make us more vulnerable rather than less.

Read more... )

Round 156, Hour -20

Nov. 27th, 2025 09:20 pm
xandromedovna: impressionistic photo of a moonlit lake (Default)
[personal profile] xandromedovna posting in [community profile] fic_rush_48
Here, have a free word!

Your word is:
THE

Climate Change

Nov. 27th, 2025 09:00 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Scientists warn half the world’s beaches could disappear

Rising seas and human pressures are rapidly shrinking the world’s beaches and destabilizing the ecosystems that depend on them.

Human development and climate-driven sea level rise are accelerating global beach erosion and undermining the natural processes that sustain coastal ecosystems. Studies reveal that urban activity on the sand harms biodiversity in every connected zone, magnifying worldwide erosion risks
.


This sounds overly optimistic.  Beaches -- in the sense of pleasant sandy stretches -- are by definition shallow shorelines.  Little if any of that will be left given the rapid rise of sea level.  That's before factoring in other hazards such as sand theft, erosion, etc.  Of course, there will always be places where land and water meet, but those won't be in the same places in the future, wherever there is a shallow slope of land facing a large body of water.  Ironbound coasts, which have a high rocky cliff, are much less subject to inundation. 
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Declan’s Views
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1B of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 662
[Sunday, May 10, 2020, night]


:: Hours later, Declan opens up a little more. Part of the Edison’s Mirror universe. Thank you to everyone for your patience after a day of connectivity issues and other crud chewed up almost all of my writing time for the entire 24-hour period. Here’s what I’d INTENDED to post yesterday. For everyone in the US, Happy Thanksgiving! ::




Aidan crossed to the door just as someone pounded on it with a heavy fist. Aidan opened the door for Shandiin, his eyes widening in alarm. “Shandiin? What’s wrong?”
Read more... )
ysobel: (kitty with fish)
[personal profile] ysobel
...which I'm sure has ~no~ correlation to having gone to the free thanksgiving meal my church did

two types of salad, turkey, ham, sage stuffing, peas and shallots, roasted brussels sprouts / carrots / onions, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, potato rolls, and like eight types of pie (including: pecan, pumpkin, sweet potato, apple, chocolate cream, key lime, and idk what else) with real whipped cream.

All homemade, all insanely good, and there was even a centerpiece that was a handmade cornucopia made out of bread and containing actual fruots and vegetables.

I ... am going to go into a food coma now, lol

Profile

alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)
let me hear your voice tonight

December 2024

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Nov. 28th, 2025 09:37 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios