- What is eroticism?
- Characteristics of eroticism
- Eroticism in art
- Eroticism and pornography
- Autoeroticism
- How to enhance eroticism?
We explain what eroticism is, its characteristics and presence in art. Also, how to empower it and differences with pornography.
What is eroticism?
Eroticism is the ability to awaken in the other the desire and sexual arousal, usually through behaviors, images me words insinuating, that is, veiled, not explicit. It's about a concept complex, often assimilated to sensuality, which generally expresses mischief, provocation and stimulation of libido, although in many cases it is distinguished from pornography and explicit sexual content.
Eroticism is an entirely cultural factor, different from that of the sexuality itself, and its forms and conditions may vary substantially from one culture to the other.
What in some cultures is considered erotic (that is, capable of awakening the libido) may not be so in some other, as is the case with the subject of women's hair in the Islam and the Judaism, religions in which the woman is required to cover it with a veil, a scarf or a wig. For the same reason, it is very difficult to universally define what can and cannot be erotic.
The word eroticism comes from the name that the ancient Greeks gave to the deity of passionate love and sexual attraction: Eros, equivalent to the Roman Cupid. This god was held responsible for infatuation, that is, for arousing maddening desire among Humans.
Eventually, the ancient Greeks distinguished between this type of love driven by erotic desire (Eros, Y little cupids for the Romans) and solidarity or elevated love that is guided by the desire for well-being of the other (agape, Y little faces for the Romans).
This distinction is central to Western thought and gave rise centuries later to the distinction between erotic love (linked to the body) and romantic love (linked to the spirit), although the two need not necessarily always be separate.
Eroticism has always had a huge presence in the arts and in culture, either protected by ambiguity and apparent innocence, or in a more frontal and suggestive way.
On the other hand, it has been in constant tension with religions monotheists, who are generally modest and frown upon both nudity and sexual desire (the lust). However, many descriptions of the mystical or religious rapture, such as those composed by Saint Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582), can have an undeniable erotic tone.
On the other hand, eroticism is not exclusive to art and culture, but is part of daily life, to the extent that individuals have fantasies, hidden desires and feelings of their own around the sexual act, which can vary from individual by individual and are part of the discourse that we weave around sex.
Eroticism is present in seduction, since it is a way of expressing sexual affections, and it is said that a person she is eroticized when she is "taken" by them.
Characteristics of eroticism
In general, eroticism is considered to have the following characteristics:
- It is everything that connects the viewer with sexual desire and physical attraction, although rarely in an explicit and direct way: the erotic is usually suggestive, veiled, inviting.
- It is a cultural perspective, which can vary from one people to another and which is not properly reduced to sexual libido, although it is capable of arousing it.
- From a social point of view, it is part of the individual and collective ways of expressing sexual interest and attracting the other, in order to lead to intercourse.
- Eroticism can be encouraged or tempered, and many couples seek the former through erotic games (or sex games), such as power dynamics, costumes, role plays, etc.
Eroticism in art
The presence of eroticism in the art it dates, as we have said, from ancient times. In fact, some of the first human sculptural representations accentuate the erotic features (the bust, its body curves, etc.) of female effigies, surely associated with the worship religious of some deity linked to fertility (of the womb or of the soils).
However, as cultures developed more complex social and religious systems, and many sexual behaviors were subject to repression or taboo, eroticism gained ground as an artistic outlet to hint at (rather than show) sexual desire.
In general, erotic art is content to show in a veiled way, to suggest or hint at what cannot be appreciated frontally, through paintings, poems or sculptures. The nude in the antiquity, for example, did not have the same erotic considerations that he would have in the medieval, given the repression of sensuality that characterized the Christianity European of the time.
But erotic art survived and reappeared with force in the contemporaneity, using new techniques of artistic representation, such as the cartoon, the Photography or the movie theater, in which situations, visions or stories with suggestive content are represented. Unlike pornography, traditionally linked to business and bad taste, artistic eroticism is considered a valuable form of expression human.
Examples of erotic artistic works are:
- The Japanese woodcuts of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), as The dream of the fisherman's wife .
- The novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977).
- The erotic cartoons of the Italian Milo Namara (1945-) as The click or The invisible perfume .
- The movie The last Tango in Paris by Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018).
Eroticism and pornography
The line between eroticism and pornography is difficult to draw and often complicated. Traditionally, the erotic is considered to imply a veiled, suggestive or suggestive representation, while the pornographic is the explicit, frontal or in bad taste.
However, that distinction has become more and more complicated over time, as the speeches around the Body and art changes and much of what was once a cause of scandal, today is in museums.
It is also possible to distinguish between eroticism and pornography from a more pragmatic consideration: the former obeys the world of art and human behavior, while the latter is linked to the commercial exploitation of the cinematographic representation of sex.
In other words, pornography is an industry dedicated to producing films about sex, whose mission is to eroticize or excite the viewer, but devoid of any considerable artistic merit.
Even so, many complicated and intermediate cases arise, many artists accused of being pornographers or, why not, many forms of pornography that have conquered the hearts of those who appreciate art. It is, therefore, a distinction in continuous change and redefinition, although at each given moment in history it is possible to differentiate between what is acceptable (eroticism) and what is taboo (pornography).
Autoeroticism
With the term autoeroticism, in the jargon of psychoanalysis, the German psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) referred to certain forms of sexuality that are manifested around one's own body, dispensing with someone else to satisfy itself. Masturbation is the main act of autoeroticism, generally through bodily stimulation through one's own hands, or through erotic toys such as vibrators, dildos, etc.
How to enhance eroticism?
In the case of couples who seek to enhance their erotic life, to revive or intensify their sexual encounters, there are many possible ways to regain the lost connection with the other, but all must necessarily start from communication and the search for formulas that stimulating for both of you. Among them are, generally:
- Massages, dances, aphrodisiac foods or even trips that interrupt the routine and regain a sense of novelty.
- Role plays, costumes and the use of suggestive underwear.
- The incorporation of sex toys during intercourse, or fetishistic sexual practices (BDSM).
- The incorporation of third parties during intercourse, or the practice of sexual exchanges (swingers).
Whichever practice you choose to try, it must always be mutually agreed between the parties, or you run the risk of causing unexpected damage to the couple's relationship, or even to the psyche of the participants. Similarly, any sexual practice must be experienced with responsibility (both affective and physical) and due protection from sexually transmitted diseases.