Onlooker2022

At its best, porn can be an erotic art form that not only arouses, but adds beauty to the world.

There is no either/or line between pornography and art. A small sliver of porn is art, and a small sliver of art is porn.

Dennis Dutton (1944-2010) identified six universal signatures in aesthetics:

1. Expertise or virtuosity. Humans cultivate, recognize, and admire technical artistic skills.
2. Non-utilitarian pleasure. People enjoy art for art's sake, and do not demand that it keep them warm or put food on the table.
3. Style. Artistic objects and performances satisfy rules of composition that place them in a recognizable style.
4. Criticism. People make a point of judging, appreciating, and interpreting works of art.
5.Imitation. With a few important exceptions like abstract painting, works of art simulate experiences of the world.
6. Special focus. Art is set aside from ordinary life and made a dramatic focus of experience.

Just as abstract art is an exception to the Imitation signature, pornography is an exception to the Non-utilitarian. Pornography usually satisfies a human need, the need for orgasm. But it satisfies all the rest of the elements too.

The study of love, sexual emotions, human relationships, human sexual response, criminal sexual behaviour, sexual function, sexual pleasure and fulfilment have been relatively recent endeavours in the scientific study of sexuality. Not everyone welcomes this.

In our post sexual revolution world, you can purchase a vibrator just as easily as a pair of shoes. That ease of access is not the same everywhere, and those of us who have a degree of sexual freedom need to remember - we cannot take any of our freedoms for granted.

Filmmakers Catherine Oxenberg (b. 1961) and Gabrielle Anwar (b. 1970) in their documentary series Sexology sought out sexual experts, tantric masters, researchers and everyday women to unearth women's full erotic potential. Everyone interested in women achieving orgasm, and that should be everyone, should watch their series.