Women's erotica
Encyclopedia
Women’s erotica is any erotic
material that caters specifically to heterosexual women. When erotica is directed at lesbian
women, it is referred to as lesbian erotica. Women's erotica is available from a variety of media including website
s, book
s, short stories
, film
s, photography
, magazine
s and audio. The content may cover many aspects of sexuality
, from relationships to fetishes; the main idea being to convey sex from a woman’s perspective, or to feature female sexual fantasies.
for women has seen explosive growth over the last two years. Publishers report that women’s erotica novels consistently sell well.
The first publishing imprint of erotic fiction for women was Black Lace, launched in Britain in 1992. It remained unique in publishing for over a decade and was only recently joined in the marketplace by big-name publishers Harlequin, Kensington and Avon who have released their own “black label” lines for female readers.
The first series of books to feature erotic short stories
for women was Herotica, first published by Down There Press in 1996. Author and sex activist Susie Bright
founded the series and edited the first three volumes. A similar series is Best Women’s Erotica from Cleis Press which has appeared annually since 2001.
Internet-based publisher Ellora's Cave
produces what it calls "romantica" - romance novels with explicit sex scenes. The company originally produced e-books but has now moved into printed publishing.
created her first adult movie for women, Femme. The movie featured explicit sex but focused on the woman’s pleasure and refused to include "pop shots
" (external ejaculation scenes). Since then she has made 16 adult films for women. In April 2007 she launched a new line of films, Femme Chocolat, which depicts the sexual fantasies of black women.
For many years Candida Royalle
was the sole producer of erotic films for women.
In 1997, Oscar-nominated director Lars von Trier
started the company Puzzy Power
, and together with Lene Børglum
started producing pornographic films for women, starting with Constance
(1998) and Pink Prison
(1999). In July 2009, women's magazine Cosmopolitan
(German edition) ranked Pink Prison as #1 in its Top Five of Die Besten Frauenpornos (best women’s porn), calling it the "Vorbild für die neue Porno-Generation" (role model for the new porn-generation).
In the 21st century a number of other women have stepped in and created their own vision of women’s erotica. These include:
In 2006 Playgirl
in partnership with adult company Wicked produced and released their own line of adult films for women.
bared all in April 1972. Australia’s Cleo
magazine followed suit in November 1972 with a spread of actor Jack Thompson
.
Playgirl
magazine, an answer to Hugh Hefner
’s Playboy
, first appeared in 1973 and offered a full-nude centrefold with its second issue. The magazine regularly features nude male models, erotic fiction and sex advice. While ostensibly aimed at women, former editor Michelle Zipp has said that around 80% of the readership is gay men .
Women’s erotica magazines currently in print include:
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
material that caters specifically to heterosexual women. When erotica is directed at lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
women, it is referred to as lesbian erotica. Women's erotica is available from a variety of media including website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s, book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s and audio. The content may cover many aspects of sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, from relationships to fetishes; the main idea being to convey sex from a woman’s perspective, or to feature female sexual fantasies.
Websites
Because of the privacy and anonymity offered by the internet, women have increasingly embraced erotic material online. In 2003, Nielsen Netratings noted that more than a quarter of all porn surfers were female. The first women’s erotica subscription-based website, Purve, was launched in 1998. The site featured photos of nude men culled from gay sites, articles and sex advice. The first women’s adult directory was Ladylynx which featured links to galleries and site reviews. Kara's Links, a similar directory site, began operating soon after.Fiction
Erotic literatureErotic literature
Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, and sex manuals...
for women has seen explosive growth over the last two years. Publishers report that women’s erotica novels consistently sell well.
The first publishing imprint of erotic fiction for women was Black Lace, launched in Britain in 1992. It remained unique in publishing for over a decade and was only recently joined in the marketplace by big-name publishers Harlequin, Kensington and Avon who have released their own “black label” lines for female readers.
The first series of books to feature erotic short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
for women was Herotica, first published by Down There Press in 1996. Author and sex activist Susie Bright
Susie Bright
Susannah "Susie" Bright is an American writer, speaker, teacher, audio-show host, and performer, all on the subject of sexuality....
founded the series and edited the first three volumes. A similar series is Best Women’s Erotica from Cleis Press which has appeared annually since 2001.
Internet-based publisher Ellora's Cave
Ellora's Cave
Ellora's Cave is an erotic fiction publisher. The company originally started publishing erotic fiction in e-book format, then moved to publishing printed works. Ellora's Cave has primarily published romantic erotica, dubbed 'Romantica'. The term "Romantica" has been registered as a trademark by the...
produces what it calls "romantica" - romance novels with explicit sex scenes. The company originally produced e-books but has now moved into printed publishing.
Film
Women were not acknowledged as a potential audience by pornographic filmmakers until 1985 when former adult star Candida RoyalleCandida Royalle
Candida Royalle is an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography and a former pornographic actress. She is member of the XRCO and the AVN Halls of Fame....
created her first adult movie for women, Femme. The movie featured explicit sex but focused on the woman’s pleasure and refused to include "pop shots
Cum shot
A cum shot, cumshot, come shot, pop shot, or money shot are slang terms used to describe a person ejaculating , usually onto a person or object. It is typically used by the cinematographer within the narrative framework of a pornographic film, and since the 1970s has become a leitmotif of the...
" (external ejaculation scenes). Since then she has made 16 adult films for women. In April 2007 she launched a new line of films, Femme Chocolat, which depicts the sexual fantasies of black women.
For many years Candida Royalle
Candida Royalle
Candida Royalle is an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography and a former pornographic actress. She is member of the XRCO and the AVN Halls of Fame....
was the sole producer of erotic films for women.
In 1997, Oscar-nominated director Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
started the company Puzzy Power
Puzzy Power
Puzzy Power is a Danish film company started in 1997 as a subsidiary to Lars von Trier's company Zentropa, with the goal of producing hardcore pornographic films for women...
, and together with Lene Børglum
Lene Børglum
Lene Børglum is a Danish film producer who has worked on several important films in a variety of genres, including experimental shorts, hardcore porn videos and theatrical feature films such as Lars von Trier's Golden Palm-nominated Dogville.-Career:Lene Børglum graduated in 1984 from Copenhagen...
started producing pornographic films for women, starting with Constance
Constance (1998 film)
Constance is an erotic film for women, directed by Knud Vesterskov and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier's film company Zentropa...
(1998) and Pink Prison
Pink Prison
Pink Prison is an erotic film for women, directed by Lisbeth Lynghøft and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier's film company Zentropa....
(1999). In July 2009, women's magazine Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
(German edition) ranked Pink Prison as #1 in its Top Five of Die Besten Frauenpornos (best women’s porn), calling it the "Vorbild für die neue Porno-Generation" (role model for the new porn-generation).
In the 21st century a number of other women have stepped in and created their own vision of women’s erotica. These include:
- Swedish director Jessica NilssonJessica NilssonJessica Nilsson is a Swedish director based in Denmark; she is perhaps best known for the feature film All About Anna .She studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and later graduated from the Danish Film School....
, who made the award-winning feature film All About AnnaAll About AnnaAll About Anna is a Danish pornographic film released in 2005, directed by Jessica Nilsson and starring Gry Bay and Mark Stevens. The film is explicit in its exploration of sexual relationships...
(2005) for Lars von TrierLars von TrierLars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
's ZentropaZentropaEuropa is a film directed by Lars von Trier. Released in 1991, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and is the final film in the Europa trilogy....
. - Danish director Lisbeth LynghøftLisbeth LynghøftLisbeth Lynghøft is a Danish director of stage and screen, perhaps best known for the feature erotic film Pink Prison ....
, who made the Venus Award-winning feature film Pink PrisonPink PrisonPink Prison is an erotic film for women, directed by Lisbeth Lynghøft and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier's film company Zentropa....
(1999) for Lars von TrierLars von TrierLars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
's ZentropaZentropaEuropa is a film directed by Lars von Trier. Released in 1991, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film and is the final film in the Europa trilogy....
. - Independent filmmaker Estelle Joseph, who used her own money to fund the City of Flesh series, set in New York.
- UK based director and producer Petra JoyPetra JoyPetra Joy is an award-winning German feminist film director, film producer, TV producer, distributor, author, and photographer. She lives in Brighton, England. Along with Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Maria Beatty, and others, she is one of the pioneers of the movement to make pornography for...
who created such films as Sexual Sushi (2006), Female Fantasies (2007) and Feeling It! Not Faking It... (2008), as well as editing the anthology DVD Her Porn (2009). - Swedish filmmaker Erika Lust whose short film The Good GirlThe Good Girl (pornography)The Good Girl is a Spanish indie pornographic short film directed by Erika Lust and produced by Lust Films. The story is a traditional "pizza delivery guy" cliché, but takes place from a female perspective. The film also does not take itself too seriously by making fun of typical porn clichés. The...
(2004) was included in her feature film Five Hot Stories for Her (2006). - Nina Lennox, who has produced the Inpulse line of films. These focus mainly on good looking male talent.
- Adult star Tina TylerTina TylerTina Tyler was a prolific Canadian pornographic actress, director and is the current director of publicity for Sin City Films...
, who has created a line of male masturbation films for women. - Longtime adult producer Kelly HollandKelly HollandKelly Holland, aka Toni English, is a pornographic film director and producer. A former mainstream documentarian, she directed her first adult film in 1994, under an exclusive contract with Vivid Entertainment. She went on to direct films for other companies, including the award-winning 22-volume...
, who runs an adult company called Chick Media and produces films for women.
In 2006 Playgirl
Playgirl
Playgirl is a print quarterly adult magazine published in the United States that is marketed mainly to heterosexual women, but has also gained a considerable gay following...
in partnership with adult company Wicked produced and released their own line of adult films for women.
Magazines
Cosmopolitan was the first magazine to include a nude male centrefold – Burt ReynoldsBurt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
bared all in April 1972. Australia’s Cleo
Cleo
Cleo is a given name that is short for Cleopatra or Cleophalus and an alternate spelling of Clio. It is a Greek prefix often translated to mean 'pride', 'fame' or 'glory'.Cleo may refer to:-People:...
magazine followed suit in November 1972 with a spread of actor Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson (actor)
Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society...
.
Playgirl
Playgirl
Playgirl is a print quarterly adult magazine published in the United States that is marketed mainly to heterosexual women, but has also gained a considerable gay following...
magazine, an answer to Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
’s Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, first appeared in 1973 and offered a full-nude centrefold with its second issue. The magazine regularly features nude male models, erotic fiction and sex advice. While ostensibly aimed at women, former editor Michelle Zipp has said that around 80% of the readership is gay men .
Women’s erotica magazines currently in print include:
In print
- FilamentFilament MagazineFilament is a quarterly magazine aimed at women, showcasing erotic photographs of men. Filament professes, through its tagline, to be "The thinking woman's crumpet". Unlike other magazines for women that have featured solely muscular men, Filament features a wide variety of men...
, a UK-based fashion-free women's magazine featuring intelligent articles and explicit and non-explicit images of men - Candy Rain magazine,, a US-based magazine 'for women who like the d'.
- Jungsheft, (formerly known as 'Gluck') a German independent zine featuring "pale, skinny, sometimes hairy, indie boys in the comfort of their own bohemian bedsits"
- Scandalous!, a website that produces a semi-annual print edition, is the first magazine to present alternative sexual lifestyles to women in a fashion magazine-style format. It features images of men, articles on sexuality and letters from readers detailing their sexual experiences.
- Alley Cat, a German-language magazine showing non-explicit photoshoots of men alongside features on sex and fashion.