Erotography

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In psychological and media-pedagogical theory and research on sexual representations in art and mass media, erotography encompasses the border area between what is viewed as erotic and what is viewed as pornography .

Definition

In her book Die neue Lust der Frauen, the cultural scientist Corinna Rückert defines the term erotography particularly briefly and succinctly: "Erotography should include pornographic material that depicts something sexual, but does not reveal any degradation in the way it is presented." The term has been around for ten years one of the most important technical terms in the discussion about the protection of minors in Germany and was coined by the Bamberg psychology professor Herbert Selg . The scientist suggested a differentiated language regime for dealing with sexual representations in order to avoid any dealings with sexual content having a negative connotation. In addition to the usual term pornography , he pleaded for the broader use of the term erotography , which quickly met with approval in psychology , media studies , cultural studies , art history and jurisprudence and gave rise to hope that the previous language poverty could be overcome. Since then, the scientific discussion on various aspects of erotography has continued. Research into the effects of pornography and erotography brought the knowledge that it is not so much the sexual content as the violent content of media presentations that leads to effects that make youth protectors concerned about their educational responsibility.

The word “erotography”, which is intended to denote an opposite term to “pornography”, has existed for a long time, but it has not caught on enough in specialist circles. The differentiation seems to be necessary: ​​The products on the erotic market today are extremely multifaceted, so that there are great conceptual ambiguities. This is indicative of the fact that impact research is lagging behind market developments. While in the 1950s the smell of being pornographic was already mere nudity , today relevant productions are located on the edge of what is known as "hard pornography" under threat of the penal code (i.e. existing barriers in the direction of sodomy, coprophagia, sadomasochistic Practices, necrophilia or pedophilia). In the fifties and sixties, protection from any kind of sexual representation was the focus of youth protection work. In the 70s, the question of the effect of depictions of violence was added and became a new focus. Today one tries to differentiate between which forms of sexual presentation can be harmful to young people.

Erotography versus pornography

An example of nude photography. However, the boundaries between nude, erotic photography and pornography ...

The distinction tries to take into account the changed sexual morality in the western world , which arose as a consequence of the so-called sexual revolution . In the latest literature on the subject of pornography, material is defined as "which sexually stimulates or can stimulate, but contains clearly aggressive elements, with aggressiveness already being present when people are devalued or degraded without the context stimulating reflection on it" [Def. after Herbert Selg]. Erotographic, on the other hand, is material that depicts sexuality without degradation and on the basis of the equality of those involved and that can fundamentally support prosocial actions. Artistic erotography is frivolous, but not obscene or vulgar, it can also depict sexual fantasies and not just everyday sexual life. If the world of erotography is a utopian one , then it shows the possibilities that lie beyond our daily sexual experience. Erotography is usually - but not always - aimed at sexual stimulation and shows physical intimacy ; but it aims at more than just the sexual stimulation of the viewer.

Erotography therefore includes artistic representations (e.g. nudes , eroticism in films, fiction, plays, poetry, etc.), erotic realism (e.g. erotic scenes in non-fiction and educational films , writings in which sexuality is an integral part of the human Life is depicted, depictions with nude look fashion elements, etc.) as well as erotica for sexual stimulation (e.g. erotic photography , so-called men's magazines , deliberate self-determined “soft-pornographic” violation of conventions and taboos à la Fanny Hill - in the case of sexual fantasies play dominance and inferiority a significant role).

But what is degrading is of course always dependent on the norms and values ​​of a society and cannot be fundamentally determined. Personality-related and situational factors decide whether pornography and erotography promote violent behavior and require an increase in dose or whether the individual's state of arousal leads to the sublimation of the drive potential.

In the legal literature it is stated that the boundaries from the artistic act to the revealing and erotic act to pornography are fluid. First of all, this is supposed to be related to the most varied of subjective opinions. Means: What some still see the provocative, revealing act in, has already crossed the line to pornography for some and the artistic value of the picture is more than questionable.

In other words: the boundaries between nudes, eroticism and pornography cannot be clearly drawn: what one person accepts without reservation may already be below the moral belt for the other and thus be pornographic. The jurisprudence, in turn, defines pornography "... as a rough representation of the sexual in drastic directness, which degrades people to a mere (interchangeable) object of sexual desire or activity of any kind in a way that incites the sexual instinct or pulls it into the dirt or ridicules it "(fsm.de). Apart from that, the design limits are set wide and artistic freedom is even protected by the Basic Law.

The reception factors

Global statements about the effect are not possible due to the diversity of the offer, but information about the effects of certain products for specific recipient groups is possible. The social reception of erotography is conditioned by many factors, such as: B .:

  • cognitive representation of sexual acts in symbolic memory codes (imaginative, verbal, etc.),
  • Norms and behaviors in the family environment (moral justification, learning of attitudes and behaviors) and in reference groups (peer groups),
  • Quantity aspect (measurable in the proportion that sexuality takes up in a work, starting with individual scenes up to so-called "unreal porn", which only consists of sex scenes, such as the work Opus pistorum by Henry Miller ),
  • Socialization (self-affirmation, neutralization of self-punishment),
  • Importance, clarity, comprehensibility of the erotic or sexual act (real vs. fictional) and
  • Perceptual ability and level of arousal of the viewer (complexity of the representation).

Erotography and protection of minors

In the opinion of the youth protectionists, the young viewer can be disturbed in his development into a sexually and socially ethically responsible personality by depictions such as

  • give the impression that human life is exclusively centered on sexual pleasure,
  • represent the lack of interpersonal relationships, suggest reducing people to the function of sexual partners and their interchangeability,
  • reduce the sexual act to a purely technical process while leaving out the emotional-spiritual area and
  • To belittle or glorify promiscuity and prostitution .

A comprehensive content analysis of erotic and pornographic products is still pending. The fundamental discussion regarding pornography and erotography should by no means dilute the term relevant to criminal law . Especially on the Internet there is a dimension of sexual representations that go beyond the "usual" offline offer. Similar to the horror films, the most important thing here is to think about where the needs for violent pornography, including its most brutal misanthropic variants and dehumanizing the victim, come from and why it is so prevalent.

Pornography is a term used in the penal code , but is often used synonymously in public discussion for any media representation of sexuality. Whether it is just erotic representations in the sense of erotography, even art or really pornography, must - problematically enough - be clarified in each individual case. For the protection of minors, the division of the material into erotography or pornography cannot be the only yardstick. However, the distinction between erotography and pornography can often exclude works of art from the penal area. “In everyday language, 'pornographic' is always that which violates one's own norms; it is a quick, emotional judgment. If, on the other hand, rational judgments and a differentiation of terms in the sense suggested above prevail, i.e. if clear sexual representations are no longer automatically suspected of being pornography, the 'artistic freedom' often sought after in disputes actually experiences fewer restrictions than it is at the moment due to the conceptual narrowness of the concept Fall is “(Herbert Selg).

See also

literature

  • Herbert Selg: Pornography and Erotography. Psychological suggestions for language regulation. In the magazine: TV Discourse - Responsibility in Audiovisual Media. Ed .: Voluntary Self-Control Television e. V. (FSF), Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Issue 01, 1997, pp. 48–51, ISSN  1433-9439 .
  • Elisabeth Holzleithner : Boundaries: To the law of pornography. In: Texts on Art: Sexual Politics Cologne 1996, No. 22, pp. 149–59.
  • Jutta Kolbenbrock-Netz: Art and / orPornography. A contribution to the discourse history of censorship in the 19th and 20th centuries. In: Lindner, Ines / Schade, Sigrid / Wenk, Silke [Ed.]: Blick-Wechsel. Constructions of masculinity and femininity in art and art history. Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-496-00471-1 , pp. 493-499.
  • Corinna Rückert: The new lust of women: from the relaxed handling of pornography. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-61686-6 .
  • Gunter Schmidt (ed.): Sexuality and late modernity: on the cultural change in sexuality. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2002, ISBN 3-89806-212-0 .
  • Joachim von Gottberg: Sexuality, protection of minors and the change of moral concepts. In the magazine: TV Discourse - Responsibility in Audiovisual Media. Ed .: Voluntary Self-Control Television e. V. (FSF), Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Issue 15 2001 pp. 60–67, ISSN  1433-9439 online version
  • Barta, Ilsebill / Breu, Zita / Hammer-Tugendhat, Daniela [eds.]: “Women, images, men, myths. Art historical contributions. ” Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1987. pp. 217-238, ISBN 3-496-00910-1
  • Schmidt, Hellmut [Ed.]: "Hot breath of the senses: poems, prose texts and drawings, pictures on the subject of eroticism" , Sulzbach-Rosenberg: Richmond-Verlag 2006, ISBN 3-9807109-4-7
  • Lenssen, Margrit; Stolzenburg, Elke [ed.]: "Schaulust: Eroticism and pornography in the media" . Opladen, Leske and Budrich 1997, ISBN 3-8100-1670-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A tightrope walk between eroticism and pornography - Part 1 right on the picture, from October 11, 2010
  2. ^ Karl Stechl: Nude photography PC magazine from July 14, 2008