Embracing Our Erotic Pleasures

Last week, Foreplay and Fangs hosted romance author Kirsten Blacketer, who shared with us her 10 Things Never to Say to A Romance Author. Among these, Kirsten discussed the oft-repeated opinion that “Romance is just porn for women”.
 

This is not an uncommon opinion, but the more important question—brought up to me by a couple of colleagues on Twitter—really should be, “so what if it is?”

Erotica in the Headlines: Huffington Post Brings us a Look at The Lost Erotica of Spain

An article in this week’s Huffington Post takes us away to the Spain of the 1920’s, previously characterized as a time of melancholy after the fall of the country’s imperialism.

Erotic postcard series,€ A Virtual Wunderkammer: Early Twentieth Century Erotica in Spain,
published by The Huffington Post on Thursday January 21, 2016, Web
accessed Sunday, January 24, 2016, originally from http://sicalipsis.humnet.ucla.edu/items/show/125.

From the looks of it, though, the years between 1898 and 1939—especially the roaring 20’s—weren’t quite as melancholy as previously believed. UCLA Professor Maite Zubiaurre stumbled upon a collection of erotic works, written and pictoral, showing a far more robust and exciting side of sexuality, feminism, and early LGBT awareness in the country, shedding light on a history not only fascinating, but really, really lovely.

The article goes on to describe the societal importance of the pieces Zubiaurre has discovered, but also includes photos from the collection which are absolutely gorgeous. Revelations not just of a more open and celebratory sexuality, but of men as well as women, depictions of homosexual lovers, transgender individuals, and—one of my personal favorites—satirical depictions of the clergy in flagrante delicto.

The collection looks simply amazing. Take a look at the images in the Post article and let me know what you think. Which images speak to you most? What do you think this means for historians of the period and the culture today?

In The Headlines: New York Public Library's Erotica Collection

The New York Times published a story last week on the "triple-star" (i.e., "erotica") collection of the NY Public Library, which is being opened up to wider public consumption for the first time. 

According to the Times, the Library's collection contains a wide spectrum of erotic literature as well as other material classified as "Supervision Required" or considered morally objectionable. These included illustration, advertisement, pulp books, even playing cards featuring pornographic images.  One curator describes the Library's interests in arranging the collection as a need "to understand and document what the city of New York was like. That meant collecting the good and the bad".

The Times' story paints a fascinating picture of the material contained within the NY Public Library's collection. Certainly many of the works signify a social and historical culture modern-day erotic writers and readers would love to peruse. Much like the Las Vegas Erotic Heritage Museum, this collection highlights the art and literature of American sexuality still often repressed and denied by the mainstream. Even the language of this article demonstrates the still-negative reflection on erotic material: "the good and the bad" insinuating the collection falls into the latter. Elsewhere it is noted that a similar Paris collection classified its materials as "contrary to good morals". Throughout the Times' story, language used by the library curators seems to indicate an illicit and subversive responsibility.

Regardless, the existence and increased access to such a collection provides us with a much-needed look at our nation's sexual evolution and identity. What say you? How do such exhibits reflect on us as a culture? Should we continue to keep them under restriction in "triple-star" archives? Leave your thoughts in the comments. 

Talking Shop: The Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas

On the corner of Industrial Road and West Desert Inn Road in Las Vegas, behind the Trump International Towers, is the Harry Mohney's Erotic Heritage Museum.

The joint venture of a preacher and a pornographer, the museum is home to a variety of exhibits exploring the intricacies of sexuality in history, culture, and the individual. Inside, visitors find multiple galleries of erotic information: a portion of the upstairs dedicated to erotic artwork; a "Wall of Shame" outlining the history of attacks on the first-amendment rights in relation to "obscenity"; infographics on different facets of contemporary sexual issues like sexting and long-distance relationships; and even a screening of what is believed to be the oldest pornographic film on record: A Free Ride, 1915.