What is "porn"?

*** Note: Not 100% sure whether I wanted this on my photography site or not, so posting my thoughts here instead of there. ***

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This is a topic that I get extremely heated about since some prude called a fully clothed shot of a model at a workshop that I took (based on the instructor’s direct instruction and after his lecture of what is legal and not for shooting with a minor) “porn”. I’m sorry for that repressed lady’s opinion, but she doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about.

Basically I’m sick of people, like that lady, throwing around terms that they don’t really understand.

If you go and actually look up the term “porn”, and leave your emotions at the door, you’ll find that there isn’t any 100% crystal clear definition of that term anywhere in any dictionary. They’ll use phrases like “artistic” or “obscene” but the definitions of those is just about as vague.

So. What actually is porn? How can it be defined in a manner that no one* can dispute?

Here’s my proposed answer. Note, I am definitely not a lexicographer.

porn (n.) actual depiction of a sexual act involving a) insertion of an object into the genitalia or anus; b) insertion of the genitalia into a bodily opening (e.g., mouth, genitalia, anus); c) one or more individuals.

Simple. Everything else can be construed as “art” or having “artistic value” to some group or another. Everything can be considered “offensive” to someone or some group, so you just can’t say “porn is anything offensive”… sorry, but “offensive” isn’t clear-cut enough.

I had a conversation w/ a friend and fellow photographer earlier on this subject (brought on my some ranting of a mutual acquaintance) and after actually consulting the dictionary (I used Dictionary.com and read the definitions from the 2-3 different sources it listed) we were basically in agreement that most of what is on television today could be considered porn. “Sex sells” is the advertising idea used by a lot of advertisement firms, and has been for decades, but they’re not actually talking about showing sex, but using sexual arousal to increase sales.

I don’t think a lot of people would agree with that assessment. Therefore, it is my opinion that we need a better — clearer — definition of the term “porn” so that there is no mistake or confusion.

Erotic is not porn.
Nudity is not porn.
Glamour is not porn.
Fashion is not porn.

The only problem that I saw with my above definition was defining “sexual act” (thank you Bill Clinton) so I added the rest after that phrase to avoid any confusion as to what is meant by “sexual act”. But if you really don’t know what a “sexual act” is, then you probably shouldn’t have been reading this… we’ll be safe from you furthering your ignorance since you don’t know how to reproduce. hahaha

Perhaps the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” should be changed to “porn is in the eye of the beholder”.

* “no one” is used to represent a clear majority of a cross-section of society