What is Porn ?

Just because something contains nudity does not mean it is pornographic.

For those who may not recognize the above photo, it is an ancient statue of a nude woman entitled "Venus De Milo”.  It reveals the “form” of a woman by depicting her nude breasts and uncovered backside. 

Think back to 5^th or 6^th grade health class when you first learned what the opposite sex’s reproductive organs looked like. Or perhaps a biology class when you first learned about anatomy.  Would any of these be considered pornographic?

The answer is most definitely no.  Nudity does not, nor will it ever, equal porn.  Recently a famous Emmy award winning YouTube personality “Spricket24” did some artful nudes³ with a close photographer friend.  Originally she said she would never “pull out her boobs for the whole world to see” ¹ but then when her friend approached her to do this art project, she agreed.  She made a video explaining why she did it for all her fans².

My point is that, as with most things in life, it is all about intent, context and communication.  What is the intent of the producer of the content?  What is the context of the content?  And what is the content attempting to communicate?  Asking these three questions will usually help one determine whether or not they are looking at porn or art. 

Oh, and one more thing.  I have listed by sources below.  Sources 2 and 3 contain artistic nudity.

1. Source: "Breasts are the best" A Spricket24 production by Karen Alloy.  YouTube. 2009

2. Source: Jordan Volness Photos (Nude Artistic Photography) A Spricket24 production by Karen Alloy. Youtube. 2010.

3. Source: Jordan Volness Flickr.  Accessed March 20th, 2010.