Is erotic fiction porn?
We’ve got it all wrong if we think erotic fiction is just a harmless way for women to sizzle away under their blankets at night. Of course, we all know the Fifty Shades series had a sizeable portion of the female population Olympic-sprinting for some alone time with Mr. Grey, but we must remember this is not a gendered issue, nor is it anything new.
Erotica is not ‘women’s porn.’
It’s just porn.
Erotica has been a firm pillar of the porn industry for many years. Often it has been well-guised as “romance” or “fan fiction,” but steamy, graphic fantasies fill these books which categorically deem them as pornography.
But how? Can we really consider erotic reading pornography? Is it true—is erotic fiction porn? Yes. Here are four reasons why:
1.It’s in the definition itself.
“Pornography is printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” (Thanks, Oxford English Dictionary!)
We tend to believe online porn has exclusive rights to the title because it’s exploded into the mainstream so successfully, but does the literature you have focus on the sexual experience? Does it take you on an erotic journey, rather than an emotional or intellectual one? I’m not lumping all romance into the pornographic box…you could call it a “Grey” area, but you’ll know if it’s intended to be erotic or not. And if it is, it’s a neat fit into the definition of porn, a concept XXXchurch has written about before.
2. Erotica is your very own personal fantasy.
It’s a way of tagging out of reality in the easiest and most pleasurable way possible: sexual fantasy. This is the calling card of pornography. Instead of interacting with other humans and facing the daily grind, you find yourself alone and in another realm, where reality slips away.
There is definitely a place for rest and dreaming in life. Novels can be a great expression of creativity and adventure, but the danger of using erotica to achieve these things is the same as in video pornography. It breeds dissatisfaction with reality and relationships. Why? Because reality is messy, unpredictable, and often much smaller in scale than our grandiose fantasies. Erotic reading fuels the fire of disappointment and teaches us what the perfect man, woman, and sexual encounter must look like—excluding most of the real population and their intimate experiences.
Erotica lures you away on your own, and feeds you a picture of false intimacy.
3. It can be just as addictive as videos and acting out.
Masturbating away to erotic fiction releases the same “warm, fuzzy” chemicals as viewing porn does. These are dopamine, oxytocin, and a little guy called iFosB (pronounced “delta fos B”) which follows dopamine and leaves ‘trail markers’ in your reward pathway. These direct the brain back to the source of pleasure. These are the building blocks of addiction. Reading, watching, listening, doing—whatever way you absorb sexually graphic material, your brain is having a good time and shooting out addictive chemicals. With enough stimulation, your brain will become tolerant and crave something more intense. Enter the slippery slope argument. Where might you end up? Personally, I discovered erotica online and in in secondhand book stores as a pre-teen. For me, it was the first baby steps toward the video pornography I would one day consume
4. Erotica turns you on.
Let’s not beat around the bush: erotic reading is exciting. It’s sexual, thrilling, and desirable. It awakens the same feelings online pornography does. When I walk through the book section at K-mart, I need horse blinders on my head to steer clear of temptation. My brain doesn’t crave it to expand my vocabulary or to delve into a great plot line—it wants the sex, the fantasy. Not everything that turns you on is porn, of course. But graphic depiction of a sex act that leads you to masturbation or arousal is.
Erotic fiction is not just ‘harmless women’s fun’.
Words can be porn, too.
This article was originally published on XXXChurch.com and is used with permission.