Hardcore pornography
Encyclopedia
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography
that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photograph
s, often displayed in magazine
s or on the Internet
, or film
s. It can also appear as a cartoon
. Since the 1990s it has been distributed widely over the Internet
. Hardcore pornography commonly includes explicit depictions of sex acts such as vaginal
or anal
penetration, cunnilingus
, fellatio
and ejaculation
and/or extreme fetish acts
.
Distribution of hardcore pornography was widely prohibited
in many countries until the second half of the 20th century when many countries began to allow some dissemination of softcore material. Supply is now usually regulated by a motion picture rating system
as well as by direct regulation of points of sale
. Restrictions, as applicable, apply to the screening, or rental, sale, or giving of a movie, in the form of a DVD, video, computer file, etc. Public display and advertising
of hardcore pornography is often prohibited, as is its supply to minors
.
Most countries have eased the restrictions on the distribution of pornography, either by general or restricted legalization or by failure to enforce prohibitive legislation. Most easing of restrictions has been by way of changes to the criteria of a country's movie classification system. The anti-pornography movement
often vigorously opposes legalization. In 1969, Denmark
became the first country in the world to legalize pornography. In the U.S., legal interpretations of pornography in relation to the constitutional right to free speech differ from state to state and from city to city. Hardcore pornography was legalized in the UK in 2000.
However, today, the availability of all types of pornography on the Internet has made regulation difficult.
Berl Kutchinsky's Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark (1970), a scientific report ordered by the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, found that the legalizing of pornography in Denmark
had not (as had been expected) resulted in an increase of sex crimes. Since then, many other experiments have been conducted, either supporting or opposing the findings of Kutchinsky.
A study conducted in Denmark in 2003 and later published in Archives of Sexual Behavior
found that men and women generally believe that hardcore pornography has a positive influence on their lives. The respondents credited porn with improving their sex
lives, their sexual knowledge and attitudes toward the opposite sex, and even their general quality of life. Other studies have come to strikingly different conclusions than the Denmark study regarding porn's impact on individuals and families.
reported in 2006 that Nielsen NetRatings found that more than nine million British male adults used Internet porn services. The study also reported a one-third rise in the number of women visiting X-rated sites, from 1.05 million to 1.38 million. A 2003 study found that one third of all British internet users accessed hardcore porn.
estimated that revenues from hardcore porn match Hollywood's domestic box office takings. According to that study, hardcore porn videos, internet sites, live sex acts and cable TV programming generate US$10 billion, roughly equal to US domestic box office receipts. Recently, several prominent people in the porn industry have said that due to internet and free competition, porn sales are far below those that are reported. Paul Fishbein of trade magazine Adult Video News said that due to free and amateur Internet competition that rental sales are off 10 percent to 15 percent.
Hardcore porn remains controversial in the United States, and is used as a campaign issue for politicians. Mitt Romney
decried the "cesspool" of pornography, but came under fire from social conservatives, including Tony Perkins
, because he sat on the board of Marriott International
, whose hotels profit from porn movies. Pay-per-view
pornography generates a lot of revenue for hotels. Anti-porn activist John L. Harmer
, who served as California's lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan
, estimated up to $500 million is generated industrywide.
In particular, organizations with ties to the Christian right
movement have concerned themselves with porn issues.
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s, often displayed in magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s or on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, or film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s. It can also appear as a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
. Since the 1990s it has been distributed widely over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Hardcore pornography commonly includes explicit depictions of sex acts such as vaginal
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
or anal
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
penetration, cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
, fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
and ejaculation
Ejaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...
and/or extreme fetish acts
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
.
Legality
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in many countries until the second half of the 20th century when many countries began to allow some dissemination of softcore material. Supply is now usually regulated by a motion picture rating system
Motion picture rating system
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...
as well as by direct regulation of points of sale
Point of sale
Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...
. Restrictions, as applicable, apply to the screening, or rental, sale, or giving of a movie, in the form of a DVD, video, computer file, etc. Public display and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
of hardcore pornography is often prohibited, as is its supply to minors
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
.
Most countries have eased the restrictions on the distribution of pornography, either by general or restricted legalization or by failure to enforce prohibitive legislation. Most easing of restrictions has been by way of changes to the criteria of a country's movie classification system. The anti-pornography movement
Anti-pornography movement
The term anti-pornography movement is used to describe those who argue that pornography has a variety of harmful effects, such as encouragement of human trafficking, desensitization, pedophilia, dehumanization, sexual exploitation, sexual dysfunction, and inability to maintain healthy sexual...
often vigorously opposes legalization. In 1969, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
became the first country in the world to legalize pornography. In the U.S., legal interpretations of pornography in relation to the constitutional right to free speech differ from state to state and from city to city. Hardcore pornography was legalized in the UK in 2000.
However, today, the availability of all types of pornography on the Internet has made regulation difficult.
Berl Kutchinsky's Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark (1970), a scientific report ordered by the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, found that the legalizing of pornography in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
had not (as had been expected) resulted in an increase of sex crimes. Since then, many other experiments have been conducted, either supporting or opposing the findings of Kutchinsky.
A study conducted in Denmark in 2003 and later published in Archives of Sexual Behavior
Archives of Sexual Behavior
The Archives of Sexual Behavior is a peer-reviewed academic journal in sexology. It is the official publication of the International Academy of Sex Research.- History :...
found that men and women generally believe that hardcore pornography has a positive influence on their lives. The respondents credited porn with improving their sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
lives, their sexual knowledge and attitudes toward the opposite sex, and even their general quality of life. Other studies have come to strikingly different conclusions than the Denmark study regarding porn's impact on individuals and families.
United Kingdom
The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported in 2006 that Nielsen NetRatings found that more than nine million British male adults used Internet porn services. The study also reported a one-third rise in the number of women visiting X-rated sites, from 1.05 million to 1.38 million. A 2003 study found that one third of all British internet users accessed hardcore porn.
United States
A 2003 study by Eric SchlosserEric Schlosser
Eric Schlosser is an American journalist and author known for investigative journalism, such as in his books Fast Food Nation, Reefer Madness and Chew On This.- Personal History :...
estimated that revenues from hardcore porn match Hollywood's domestic box office takings. According to that study, hardcore porn videos, internet sites, live sex acts and cable TV programming generate US$10 billion, roughly equal to US domestic box office receipts. Recently, several prominent people in the porn industry have said that due to internet and free competition, porn sales are far below those that are reported. Paul Fishbein of trade magazine Adult Video News said that due to free and amateur Internet competition that rental sales are off 10 percent to 15 percent.
Hardcore porn remains controversial in the United States, and is used as a campaign issue for politicians. Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
decried the "cesspool" of pornography, but came under fire from social conservatives, including Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins (politician)
Anthony Richard "Tony" Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian think tank and public policy foundation based in Washington, D.C...
, because he sat on the board of Marriott International
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
, whose hotels profit from porn movies. Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
pornography generates a lot of revenue for hotels. Anti-porn activist John L. Harmer
John L. Harmer
John L. Harmer is a former California politician who served in the California State Senate as a Republican from 1966 to 1974. He went on to serve briefly as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of California from 1974 to 1975, after the resignation of Edwin Reinecke on October 4, 1974. Departing Governor...
, who served as California's lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, estimated up to $500 million is generated industrywide.
In particular, organizations with ties to the Christian right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
movement have concerned themselves with porn issues.
Further reading
- O'Toole, L. (1998). Pornocopia: Porn, Sex, Technology and Desire. London: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1-85242-395-1.