Erotica (from the Greek Eros - "love") — refers to works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions. Erotica is a modern word used to describe the portrayal of the human anatomy and sexuality with high-art aspirations, differentiating such work from commercial pornography. Erotica may refer to: Erotica, works of art that deal with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions Erotica (album), the fifth studio album by pop singer Madonna Erotica (song), the first single from Madonnas album Erotica Erotica (The Darling Buds album), the final album of The Darling Buds Category: ... Eros ( érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. ... In fine art, a work of art (or artwork or work) is a creation, such as a song, book, sculpture or a painting, that has been made in order to be a thing of beauty in itself or a symbolic statement of meaning, rather than having a practical function. ... Erotic literature is a literary genre that either takes the form of erotica written to arouse the reader, or to give instruction in sexual technique. ... Eroticism is an aesthetic focus on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It is generally agreed that people know and understand the world and reality through the act of naming it; thus, through language and representations (Oxford English Dictionary, cited in Vukcevich 2002). ... List of bones of the human skeleton Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the adult human body. ... Sexual behavior is a form of physical intimacy that may be directed to reproduction (one possible goal of sexual intercourse) and/or to the enjoyment of activity involving sexual gratification. ... Porn redirects here. ...

The erotica/pornography debate

Erotica refers to pornography for women.

The distinction between erotica and pornography (as well as the lesser known genre of sexual entertainment, ribaldry) is difficult to identify, if not completely impossible. Proponents for erotic art argue that such work is intended to be artistically interesting rather than sexually, and is therefore not pornographic. Opponents see this as a pretentious stand as they believe that erotic art is indeed intended for sexual arousal. Porn redirects here. ... Ribaldry is the third and somewhat neglected genre of sexual entertainments, something different from either pornography or erotica, yet is often confused with them. ... The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). ...

The issue of whether a distinction can be made between erotica and pornography raises multiple complicated questions. These questions include whether aesthetic and erotic feelings are mutually exclusive, how the level of commercialism and tastefulness in an artwork can be objectively measured, and at what point they make the work pornographic.

In general, "erotica" refers to portrayals of sexually arousing material that hold or aspire to artistic or scientific merit, whereas "pornography" often connotes the prurient depiction of sexual acts, with little or no artistic value.

In literature, a new cross between erotica and romance has resulted in "romantica" (a term coined by publisher Ellora's Cave). Romantica refers to pornography with a happy ending. For example, a woman working in a brothel has sex with many men constantly throughout the book, but meets a man near the end and leaves the brothel for him (plot from an actual Ellora's Cave book). Note the difference here. If she had just stayed at the brothel and had constant sex, that would constitute erotica or pornography, but since she had a happy ending, the term roamntica applies.

Genres and themes

There are various sub-genres of erotica. As with fiction as a whole, there are erotic stories with a science fiction, fantasy, horror or romance focus. Additionally, erotica can also focus on specific sexual behavior or fetishes such as BDSM, wearing uniforms, cross-dressing, polygamy and sexual promiscuity. Fan fiction featuring characters engaging in male homosexual acts has become known as slash fiction. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Smaug in his lair: an illustration for the fantasy The Hobbit Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ... Look up romance, romantic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up fetish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... // A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. Female bottom in bondage with leather monoglove BDSM is any of a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ... This page describes uniform in the sense of clothing. ... This articles is about cross-dressing in general, that is the act of wearing the clothing of another gender for any reason. ... The term polygamy (many marriages in late Greek) is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociobiology, and sociology. ... Promiscuity is the practice of making relatively unselective, casual and indiscriminate choices. ... Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ... The symbolic slash, used to separate the two names in a romantic pairing, from which slash fiction takes its name. ...

See also

• Adult theater
• Erotic art
• Erotic literature
• Eroticism
• History of erotic depictions
• History of erotic photography
• Homoeroticism
• Lesbianism in erotica
• List of authors of erotic works