Loren Pechtel

Originally posted by lunachick
There is a myth among some people, including scholars, that pornographic images began with the invention of the photographic process.

A few years ago my wife and I went to a museum of ancient chinese sex things. Most weren't pornographic in nature but some of the artwork was. She had a hard time believing that such things could have existed long ago in China--the communists did a sufficiently good job of suppressing sex that she didn't realize it had been suppressed from a more open time before.

What was amazing about this museum was that it was in Shanghai. It wasn't doing well and later closed but that was understandable given the limits under which it operated. Among others: They were not permitted a sign because they couldn't do so without using unacceptable words. (While shops selling sex toys do exist openly over there their names aren't sexual.) She spent more than half an hour within a block of the place and with the correct address before she found it. (As that's her hometown and I neither speak nor read the language, navigation there is her job.)

Loren Pechtel

The notion that there is something evil in sex or depictions thereof is crazy.

As for why it was brought up, you like despots.

queue

There was a series on the Trio television channel about The History of Pornography which gave some interesting information.

HeatherD

Of course we all know why sex and eroticism is seen as disgusting by so many people.

Christianity

The worst thing to have ever been developed by human kind.

Ronin

Preach on...:notworthy :notworthy

lunachick

Some interesting and brief tidbits from http://www.world-sex-records.com : plus a few additional links added for extra value.

Japanese erotic art is generally regarded as reaching a peak during the Edo period, 1600-1868; Edo refers to the small fishing town which was to succeed the old city of Kyoto as capital of Japan and which was to become the Tokyo of today. The Edo period saw a quite unparalleled development of erotic art and literature, one consequence of which was that the Japanese government started to take an interest in censorship.



The oldest sex manuals in the world can be traced to China, more than two and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ. Huang-Ti (2697-2598 B.C.), the legendary Yellow Emperor, has been regarded as the originator of the traditional sex practices and beliefs. The ancient "Handbooks of Sex," composed nearly five thousand years ago, anticipate anything produced in the West by well over two thousand years.


The oldest and best known Indian sex manual is the "Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana", written about 1500 years ago. (I found a sample here). It has been pointed out that this comprehensive volume summarised many earlier writings on sexual topics dating back as much as three thousand years. The first English edition of the "Kama Sutra" was privately printed in 1883; the Indian "Ananga-Ranga" (or "The Stage of Love", also known as "Kamaled-hiplava" or "A Boat in the Ocean of Love") was translated into English ten years before the "Kama Sutra". This latter, more important work, is the first full manual from India devoted exclusively to the subject of human sexuality and in particular to the relationships between the sexes.


Is Christianity completely to blame? I know it has a fuck of a lot to answer for (pardon the pun), but surely there has to be more to it?

Persia has a rich history in sensual and erotic literature, for example. Did Christianity invade there a century or two before Islam? - I look for any relevant links later. (Gotta run for now, I'm late. )

And why the sexual censorship in Communist China? Did that have roots (pardon the Aussie pun) in Christianity, too?

Loren Pechtel

Originally posted by lunachick
And why the sexual censorship in Communist China? Did that have roots (pardon the Aussie pun) in Christianity, too?

Obviously not. I don't know why they chose to censor it. Mao was a pervert, though, maybe that had something to do with it.

lunachick

Why, 'obviously not'?

There are parallels with morality and philosophy in the west. Was there a period in history when influences converged, and sexual repression and censorship became the basis for mass control? Consciously Christian, or not?


In what way?

- I'm genuinely interested, btw; I'm not just trolling.

fando

Hey totalitarianist, did you realize Hitler was a prude who didn't like being touched? It's true! Confirmed by one of his surviving secretaries, Trundl Junge. All you need now is a propaganda man, a mustachio, and a banana republic, then you're set!

If anyone is ever in Lima, Peru, visit the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) for a glimpse at some interesting Incan artifacts. They have tons of sexually explicit clay pipes and cups. Strangely enough, they also host a lot of martial artifacts from Japan for the Japanese tourists. Apparently, it's taboo for Japanese to revel in their martial history, so they must experience that part of their heritage abroad.

lunachick

Oh, fando! Forget Trebax; he's full of it. I do not recommend feeding the troll - it tends to get in the way of far more interesting subject matters.

Please post some links and info that relate to your knowledge of the history of / or, indeed, the counter-culture of / human sensuality throughout the ages.

cheers!