Since the dawn of time, people have been horny. If that wasn’t the case then we wouldn’t be here to read this. Have you ever stopped to wonder how pornography has evolved throughout history to what we have today? I was personally inspired to write this piece after listening to the Dark History Podcast — “From Hoovers to Hentai: The Dark History of Porn.” So sit back and relax as we take a trip and explore the history of porn.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines porn as the “depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement.” Historians have discovered evidence of porn dating back as early as 35,000 years ago in the form of cave paintings. If you look at art throughout history you’ll find people have been drawing, sculpting, and painting each other naked or involved in erotic acts. Some famous examples would be The Venus of Willendorf fertility statue dating back 28,000 years to nude art like Venus Rising from the Sea.
Much like today people have been reading and writing erotic literature. One of the most famous early erotic stories was Fanny Hill written in 1748. Let’s not forget the iconic Karma Sutra which first appeared around 400 BCE. Today you can find erotic literature almost anywhere from romance novels marketed towards women to the more obscure fanfiction online. If you can think of it then you can probably find a sexy story about it.
With the invention of the camera in 1816 people began taking photos of everything. From family portraits to landscapes, of course, people had the great idea to photograph each other naked. These images were viewed as more taboo but still wildly popular for the time.
When Thomas Edison invented the earliest model of the motion picture camera in 1888 the world was forever changed. Much like early photography people had the ability to record any aspects of life and historical events. I’m sure you can already guess that this leads to people filming performing sexual acts and nudity. The earliest porn on record was the French film Le Coucher de la Mariée (The Bedtime of the Bride) which was released in 1896. It depicts a newlywed couple on their wedding night and includes the bride performing a strip tease for her new husband.
The ‘90s was an iconic era and it brought with it the internet. Once the world got online people were able to share information with each other about almost anything, this led to people uploading porn to the internet, and the rest they say is history. 33 years later porn has never been more accessible, you can find almost anything to satisfy your wildest fantasies.
While researching this topic I was amazed to learn just how far back we can see porn and its evolution. Technology continues to advance every day so we can certainly expect porn to advance with it like virtual reality bringing you inside the scenes you love. I’m certain of one thing, that porn is here to stay. You can view our selection of vintage porn here. Images courtesy Wikipedia.