There is no mistaking a relaxed attitude towards pornography in Western societies nowadays. Although still X-rated, porn is available in a few mouseclicks; a matter of fact much to the disgrace of politicians and preservers of decorum. Our access to pornographic content is indeed unprecedented in history, no matter how lax morals might have been centuries ago. And this is leaving marks in affected societies.
Porn: A Social Experiment
While porn has been a matter of discreet aficionados in past times, we have to deal with its ubiquitousness today. That’s not because X-rated stuff can be seen on every wall but because of the widespread apparent pornography that we have met in part one. Apparent pornography is implying a pornographic context, either without being explicit or by transforming pornography into a piece of art. Pioneers of apparent pornography were softcore movies of the 1950s and sixties[1] which for the first time were available to a greater audience. However, “as if” pornography in an artistic context usually wants to “provoke”, while the same in advertising wants to sell things[2]. This latter kind of pornification doesn’t always make friends, because it’s touching the old question of abusing women in order to gain attention[3].
This way the borders between porn and popular culture have become blurred, because pornography is losing its aura of exceptionality. If we do like it or not, pornography is becoming a part of mainstream. And it’s appearing as apparent pornography which is barely acceptable for displaying in the wider public. The long-term effects of this development remain unexplored: this is a big social experiment.
Effects of Porn
Perhaps we have needed the nineties and the then common habit of ironizing everything. The ‘anything goes’ attitude has replaced the often laborious quest for cultural value added, and this is not the worst thing that could have been happened. Pornography and the depiction of the sexual act is no longer the Evil One in Western civilisation. In other cultural circles it still is, nonetheless. But, like water, pornography is proliferating quickly, and where it’s available for small social, media-savvy groups in countries where it’s still prohibited, it is undermining established positions.
While porn “as is” is still to be explored in many countries, it already has started to transform itself in the Western world. The appearance of apparent pornography is just a start. Since classic pornography has got long in the tooth, a historicising trend can be observed. “Retro” aren’t just funny cars and tube radios, but also porn magazines of the sixties. This is resulting in a re-evaluation of something that was ignored or detested by mainstream and high culture for a long time: this kind of porn has become a contemporary document, even a piece of art.
Buy Porn at Amazon
So if you want to buy porn on paper you no longer have to look for dubious paper shops, you now can find it at Amazon: The Private Collection Box 1970-1979 is giving you “the best of the revolutionary Swedish sex magazine”. Remastered photos, printed on glossy paper. Interestingly enough, it’s the renowned Taschen Verlag who is publishing this collection, not a small, independent enterprise. It’s the knightly accolade for classic pornography[4].
[1] See Russ Meyer[2] Caryn Franklin has written a critical article about this trend in fashion photography.
[3] Another article by Caryn Franklin with examples
[4] The same publisher features a biography of legendary porn star Vanessa del Rio (among many other titles).
Image Source: The Private Collection Box: 1970-1979, (C) Taschen America LLC, taken from Amazon
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