Editing Erotica (section)

== Erotica and pornography ==
A distinction is often made between erotica and [[pornography]], although some viewers may not distinguish between them. A key distinction, some have argued, is that pornography's objective is the graphic depiction of sexually explicit scenes. At the same time, erotica "seeks to tell a story that involves sexual themes" that include a more plausible depiction of human sexuality than in pornography.<ref name=MIT>[http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N65/erotica.65l.html "Erotica Is Not Pornography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727113516/http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N65/erotica.65l.html |date=2017-07-27 }}. William J. Gehrke. ''The Tech''. December 10, 1996.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Berta |title=Erotica vs. pornography |journal=The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality |date=2015 |pages=352–353 |doi=10.1002/9781118896877.wbiehs133|isbn=978-1-4051-9006-0 }}</ref>  Additionally, works considered degrading or exploitative tend to be classified by those who see them as such, as "porn" rather than as "erotica" and consequently, pornography is often described as exploitative or degrading.<ref name=MIT/><ref name=India>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/815524.cms|title=Don't confuse erotica with porn|author-first1=Jug|author-last1=Suraiya|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=August 15, 2004}}</ref> Many countries have laws banning or at least regulating what is considered pornographic material, a situation that generally does not apply to erotica.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

For the anti-pornography activist [[Andrea Dworkin]], "Erotica is simply high-class pornography; better produced, better conceived, better executed, better packaged, designed for a better class of consumer."<ref>{{cite book |title=Pornography: Men Possessing Women |last=Dworkin |first=Andrea |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-399-12619-2 |pages=39|publisher=Putnam }}</ref> Feminist writer [[Gloria Steinem]] distinguishes erotica from pornography, writing: "Erotica is as different from pornography as love is from rape, as dignity is from humiliation, as partnership is from slavery, as pleasure is from pain." Steinem's argument hinges on the distinction between reciprocity versus domination, as she writes: "Blatant or subtle, pornography involves no equal power or mutuality. In fact, much of the tension and drama comes from the clear idea that one person is dominating the other."<ref>{{cite book|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|title=Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions|publisher=Henry Holt & Co.|year=1984|location=New York|edition=1|page=219}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Erotica and Pornography: A Clear and Present Difference|magazine=Ms.|date=November 1978|page=53}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Pornography—Not Sex but the Obscene Use of Power|magazine=Ms.|date=August 1977|page=43}}</ref>