Pornography may use any of a variety of media — written and spoken text, photos, movies, etc. Pornographic journals published in the United States include Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler. There is also a wide range of fetish magazines. Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ... Classic Playboy logo. ... Jesse Capelli on Penthouse magazine cover Penthouse is a mens magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combining urban lifestyle articles and soft-core pornographic pictorials, that eventually, in the 1990s evolved into hard-core. ... For other meanings, please see Hustler (disambiguation) Hustler is a United States published pornographic magazine. ... A fetish magazine is a magazine devoted to sexual fetishism. ...

Pornographic movies in the United States

Much of the pornography produced in the United States is however movies, due to this medium's visual and dynamic nature. The movie camera has been used for pornography throughout its history, but pornographic movies were for most of that time typically only available in the United States by underground distribution, for projection at home or in private clubs. The Arricam ST, a popular 35 mm film camera currently used on major productions. ...

The 1970s

More permissive legislation permitted the rise of "XXX-rated" movie theaters in the U.S. in the 1970s. There was also a proliferation of coin-operated "movie booths" in sex shops that displayed pornographic "loops" (so-called because they projected a movie from film arranged in a continuous loop). A typical megaplex (AMC Ontario Mills 30 in Ontario, California). ... Motto: E pluribus unum (1789 to 1956) (Latin: Out of Many, One) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government • President • Vice President Federal republic George... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Front of sex shop featuring sex toys A sex shop is a shop that sells products such as sex toys, pornography, erotic lingerie, erotic books, and safer sex products such as condoms and dental dams. ...

At that time, pornographic movies even approached acceptance into the mainstream movie industry, with films such as Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door and Gerard Damiano's 1972 film The Devil in Miss Jones being shot on film with high production values, and grossing substantial amounts in movie theaters. Deep Throat   poster Deep Throat is a US pornographic movie released in the summer of 1972, written and directed by Gerard Damiano and starring Linda Lovelace. ... Marilyn Chambers Behind the Green Door (1972) was the first hardcore pornographic movie widely released in the United States. ... Gerard Damiano is a former adult film director. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) The Devil in Miss Jones is a 1973 Pornographic movie, written and directed by Gerard Damiano. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ...

1980s and later

A few large companies operating out of Southern California's San Fernando Valley are responsible for much of the pornography produced in the United States. Southern California Downtown Los Angeles Skyline Southern California, sometimes abbreviated SoCal or colloquially, the Southland, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the state of California. ... San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles. ... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn, or porno) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. ...

The distribution of pornography has changed radically after the 1980s with videotape and cable television largely displacing X-rated theaters. Video distribution in turn is in the process of being replaced by DVD (and Internet distribution for niche markets). Distribution of pornography is a large industry which involves major entertainment companies such as Time Warner (which profits from pornography through its cable channels, and in-room movies provided by hotel chains). The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Bottom view of VHS videotape cassette with magnetic tape exposed Videotape is a means of recording television pictures and accompanying sound onto magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house Cable television or Community Antenna Television (CATV) (often shortened to cable) is a system of providing television, FM radio programming and other services to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted directly to people’s televisions through fixed optical... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that is used for playback of movies with high video and sound quality and for storing data. ... Time Warner Inc. ...

The prototypical female porn star in the United States is a Caucasian woman in her mid-twenties, wearing high heels, with bleached blond hair and with large breasts (usually augmented by breast implants) and buttocks, and often with tattoos and/or body piercing and a dark suntan with tanlines. However, the prevalence of this stereotype has been decreasing in recent years. Men in heterosexual pornography tend to be older than the females and are often heavily muscled, whereas men in gay pornography are, on the average, younger. Gay actors, though, can range from slim and androgynous ("twinks") to very large and extremely hairy ("bears"). African American performers are abundantly male, while almost all Asian American performers in heterosexual pornography are female (the most notable exception being Rick Lee) This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. ... BLEACH ) is a manga and anime series by Tite Kubo ), mangaka of Zombie Powder. ... Model Ellen Rocche has naturally blonde hair. ... Breast implant diagram A breast implant is a prosthesis used in cosmetic surgery to enlarge the size of a womans breasts (known as breast augmentation), or to reconstruct the breast (e. ... A tattoo is a design or marking made by the insertion of a pigment into punctures or cuts in the skin. ... A captive bead ring. ... Despite the risks, many female teens said in a survey that they look better with a tan and feel healthier, more sophisticated Sun tanning describes a darkening of the skin (especially of fair-skinned individuals) in a natural physiological response stimulated by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunshine (or a... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... If referring to a flower, see disambiguation under bisexual Androgyny is the state of indeterminate gender, or characteristics of gender. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... An Asian American is a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... -1...

American pornography movies often attempt to promote pornographic stars, and the boxes for video tapes tend to be extremely gaudy. Plot in pornographic movies has diminished constantly over the last three decades and is now generally minimal. There are, however, some pornographic movies called couples films that are deliberately made for the female and/or heterosexual couple market, and these have more elements of plot in them as well as a generally more romantic treatment of the sexual aspects. Pornographic movies are movies that explicitly depict sexual intercourse and other sexual acts, for the purpose of sexual arousal in the viewer. ...

With the onset of AIDS in the 1980s, HIV transmission between performers resulted in a number of deaths, including that of the famous erotic actor John Holmes. After this, the pornography industry instituted a system of testing for HIV designed to prevent the spread of the virus within the industry. In general, the pornography industry does not depict safer sex: mainstream pornographic movies now depict a range of behaviors including anal sex that are high risk activities for sexually transmitted disease transmission, as if the taboo status of these activities has made them more thrilling for the consumers of pornography. Anal sex and other similar activities are now part of U.S. heterosexual pornography in a way that was unprecedented before the outbreak of AIDS. The Red Ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... John Curtis Estes (August 8, 1944 – March 13, 1988) better known as John Holmes, John C. Holmes or Johnny Wadd (after the lead character in a series of related films), was one of the most famous male porn stars of all-time, appearing in about 2,500 adult loops, stag... Safe sex (also called safer sex) is a term describing practices designed to reduce the risk of sustaining or imparting sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) (also known as sexually-transmitted diseases or STDs in the US). ... Roman men having anal sex. ... Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) – also known as sexually transmissible diseases, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and, infrequently, as venereal diseases (VD) – are diseases or infections that have a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of sexual contact—vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and/or anal sex. ... A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social custom declared as sacred and forbidden; breaking of the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. ...

In 1999 there were 711 million rentals of hard-core sex films. Subsidiaries of major corporations were the largest pornography sellers. The General Motors subsidiary Direct TV sold $200 million worth of sex films. EchoStar Communications and AT&T were also very large sellers, as were the major hotel chains. Video rentals and sales revenue exceeded $4 billion a year plus $800 million less explicit erotic works. Revenues of companies such as Playboy and Hustler were small by comparison. [1] 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is an American automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ... DirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States of America. ... AT&T Inc. ... Classic Playboy logo. ... Hustler (April, 2004) Hustler (June, 1978), perhaps the most controversial issue due to the perceived misogyny of the cover image Larry Flynts Hustler, a monthly pornographic magazine published in the United States, was first issued in 1974. ...

Pornography or obscenity?

The legal dividing line between legal pornography and illegal obscenity in the United States is controlled by the Miller test. This considers the community standards, whether specific sexual conduct is present and whether the work has serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. As was found in the Movie Buffs video store case in 2002, even towns which claim to be very conservative can actually have an unusually high consumption of pornographic material, making it hard to find that community standards have been exceeded. The Miller test is the United States Supreme Courts test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited. ...

See also

• 18 U.S.C. 2257
• 28 C.F.R. 75
• European pornography
• pornography by region
• pornography in Japan

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with 2257 Regulations. ... 28 C.F.R. 75 is the set of rules in the United States Code of Federal Regulations enforceable by the United States Department of Justice which exist due to the passing by the United States Congress of 18 U.S.C. 2257. ... Pornography in Europe is dominated by a few pan-European producers and distributors, the most notable of which is the Private Media Group that had successfully claimed the throne of Color Climax Corporation in early 1990s. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Japanese pornography has some unique features which separate it from pornography in other cultures, especially Western pornography. ...

External links

• Attorney General's Commission on Pornography Final Report. July 1986 U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 20530.
• American Porn Report by Frontline (PBS TV series) (first aired in 2002, updated in 2004), watchable online.