Women's erotica
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Women's eroticais anyeroticmaterial that caters specifically towomentarget-demographicof varioussexual preferences.When erotica is specifically directed atlesbians,it is referred to aslesbian erotica.Women's erotica is available from a variety of media includingvideo games,websites,books,comics,short stories,films,photography,magazines,hentaiand audio. The content may cover many aspects ofsexuality,fromrelationshipstofetishes;the main idea being to conveysex-positivismfrom a woman's perspective, or to feature femaleempowermentandsexual fantasies.
Websites
[edit]Because of the privacy and anonymity offered by the internet, women have increasingly embraced erotic material online. In 2003, Nielsen Netratings noted that more than a quarter of all porn surfers were female.[1]The first women's erotica subscription-based website, Purve, was launched in 1998. The site featured photos of nude men culled from gay sites, articles and sex advice.Sssh.com,a similar subscription site that features original movies and photographic content, was launched in 1999 by Angie Rowntree, who was later inducted into theAdult Video News Hall of Fame,Internet Founders Division, in recognition of her efforts to help establish and grow an online market for women's erotica.[2]In 2015, Sssh.com became the first porn-for-women site to win theXBIZ Award for Best Alternative Site.The first women's adult directory was Ladylynx which featured links to galleries and site reviews.Kara's Links,a similar directory site, began operating soon after.
Audio
[edit]Audio erotica targeted vision-impaired people for many years and became more popular around the late 2010s. However, it commenced much earlier; in the late 20th century, phone sex emerged, where listeners would call in and imagine themselves as a participant, which tends to be the earliest form of pornographic sound.[3]As time went on, more work emerged and audio erotica became a small market in pornography that offered audio-described porn, explicit content in podcasting, erotic ASMR videos, music soundtracks in porn videos, gendering of orgasmic sounds in porn and orgasmic vocal performances in popular music.[3]Nowadays, the most popular phone apps for audio erotica are Quinn and Dipsea, which were founded by women and tended to market to women since they wanted it to be for the founders, friends, and all women who enjoy erotica.[3]Its most popular genre is the male-for-female (M4F) boyfriend experience (BFE).[3]
Fiction
[edit]Erotic literaturefor women has seen explosive growth in the period of 2010–2015. Publishers report that women's erotica novels consistently sell well.[4]
The first publishing imprint of erotic fiction for women wasBlack Lace,launched in Britain in 1992. It remained unique in publishing for over a decade and was only recently joined in the marketplace by big-name publishersHarlequin,Kensingtonand Avon, who have released their own "black label" lines for female readers.
The first series of books to feature eroticshort storiesfor women wasHerotica,first published byDown There Pressin 1996. Author and sex activistSusie Brightfounded the series and edited the first three volumes. A similar series isBest Women's EroticafromCleis Presswhich has appeared annually since 2001.
Internet-based publisherEllora's Caveproduces what it calls "romantica" - romance novels with explicit sex scenes. The company originally producede-booksbut has now moved into printed publishing.
Recently, many readers have been finding their recommendations via BookTok, a subsection of TikTok.[5]Fanfictionis another form of women's erotica, with authors often using pseudonyms to hide their identities.[6]
Films
[edit]Women were not acknowledged as a potential audience bypornographic filmmakersuntil 1985 when former adult starCandida Royallecreated her first adult movie for women,Femme.The movie featured explicit sex but focused on the woman's pleasure and refused to include "pop shots"(external ejaculation scenes). Since then, she has made 16 adult films for women. In April 2007, she launched a new line of films, Femme Chocolat, which depicts the sexual fantasies of Black women.
For many years, Royalle was the sole producer of erotic films for women. In 1997,Oscar-nominated directorLars von Trierstarted the companyPuzzy Power,and together withLene Børglumstarted producing pornographic films for women, starting withConstance(1998) andPink Prison(1999). In July 2009, women's magazineCosmopolitan(German edition) rankedPink Prisonas #1 in its Top Five ofDie Besten Frauenpornos(best women's porn), calling it the "Vorbild für die neue Porno-Generation"(role model for the new porn-generation).[7]
In the 21st century, a number of other women have stepped in and created their own vision of women's erotica. These include:
- Swedish directorJessica Nilsson,who made the award-winning feature filmAll About Anna(2005) for von Trier'sZentropa.
- Danish directorLisbeth Lynghøft,who made theVenus Award-winning feature filmPink Prison(1999) for von Trier's Zentropa.
- Independent filmmakerEstelle Joseph,who used her own money to fund theCity of Fleshseries, set in New York.
- UK based director and producerPetra Joywho created such films asSexual Sushi(2006),Female Fantasies(2007) andFeeling It! Not Faking It...(2008), as well as editing the anthology DVDHer Porn(2009).
- Swedish filmmakerErika Lustwhose short filmThe Good Girl(2004) was included in her feature filmFive Hot Stories for Her(2006).
- Nina Lennox,who has produced the Inpulse line of films. These focus mainly on male talent considered good-looking.
- Adult star Tina Tyler, who has created a line ofmale masturbationfilms for women.
- Longtime adult producerKelly Holland,who runs an adult company called Chick Media and produces films for women.
In 2006Playgirlin partnership with adult companyWickedproduced and released their own line of adult films for women.
Television
[edit]In 2009,Dusk!TV started in theNetherlandswith a 24-hour linear television channel with onlyeroticaand female-friendly porn. All the above-mentioned films are broadcast. More women are starting to produce erotic films; mostly small, independent products and usually from a sense of dissatisfaction with mainstream porn. The content of thetelevision channelis judged and chosen by female audience via Dusk! panel website. [8] [9][10][11]
Magazines
[edit]Cosmopolitanwas the first magazine to include a nude malecentrefold–Burt Reynoldsin April 1972. Australia'sCleomagazine followed suit in November 1972 with a spread of actorJack Thompson.
Playgirlmagazine, an answer toHugh Hefner'sPlayboy,first appeared in 1973 and offered a full-nude centerfold with its second issue. The magazine regularly features nude male models, erotic fiction and sex advice. While the magazine is ostensibly aimed at women, former editor Michelle Zipp has said that around 80% of the readership is gay men.[12] However, feminist and sex journalist Megan Hussey contests the claim thatPlaygirlwas a gay magazine, saying that she ledPlaygirl's Playgirl Posse fan club, which had a 95 percent female membership.[13] Women's erotica magazines include:
- Filament,a UK-based fashion-free women's magazine featuring intelligent articles and explicit and non-explicit images of men[14]
- Jungsheft,(formerly known asGluck) a German independent zine featuring "pale, skinny, sometimes hairy, indie boys in the comfort of their own bohemian bedsits"[15]
- Alley Cat,a German-language magazine showing non-explicit photoshoots of men alongside features on sex and fashion.[16]
- Viva,an American adult woman's magazine that premiered in 1973 and ceased publication in 1980.
Anime and manga
[edit]See also
[edit]
- Feminist pornography
- Feminist views of pornography
- Human female sexuality
- Sex-positive feminism
- Women's pornography
References
[edit]- ^Mireya Navarro, "Women tailor sex industry to their eyes",New York Times, 20 February 2004
- ^Blocks, Iris."AVN Announces 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees".AVN Magazine.RetrievedDecember 27,2013.
- ^abcdBellas, Athena; McAlister, Jodi (2023-07-03)."Let me take care of you: domestic caretaking fantasies in boyfriend experience audio erotica".Porn Studies.10(3): 319–333.doi:10.1080/23268743.2023.2220721.ISSN2326-8743.
- ^Patrick, Bethanne Kelly (July 24, 2006)."It's Not Just You—It Really Is Hot in Here".Publishers Weekly.RetrievedMarch 8,2015.
- ^Jerasa, Sarah; Boffone, Trevor (2021)."BookTok 101: TikTok, Digital Literacies, and Out‐of‐School Reading Practices".Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.65(3): 219–226.doi:10.1002/jaal.1199.ISSN1081-3004.
- ^Döring, Nicola (2020), Lykins, Amy D. (ed.),"Erotic Fan Fiction",Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender,Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–8,doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_65-1,ISBN978-3-319-59531-3,retrieved2023-11-27
- ^Cosmopolitan,July 2009, page 30
- ^Porn for women and Dusk! TV
- ^The Guardian,Porn made for women, by women
- ^Huffington PostVive la Révolution! The Superheroines of Porn Domination
- ^The Daily BeastOrganic, Fair-Trade Porn: On the Hunt for Ethical Smut
- ^Michael Rowe, "Great Scott: After years of struggling with his sexuality, Playgirl centerfold Scott Merritt is coming all the way out. To his surprise, so is Playgirl",The Advocate,Issue 895, August 19, 2003
- ^Hussey, Megan (March 10, 2021)."Remembering Playgirl: Entertainment for Women (No, Really!)".Sexpert.Com.Sexpert.
- ^Taylor, Jerome (May 28, 2009)."Can an ex-civil servant finally persuade women to buy erotica?".Independent.co.uk.RetrievedApril 17,2013.
- ^The f word review of Gluck
- ^Alley Cat website translated into English
External links
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