Women's erotica is anyerotic material that caters specifically towomentarget-demographic of varioussexual preferences. When erotica is specifically directed atlesbians, it is referred to aslesbian erotica. Women's erotica is available from a variety of media includingvideo games,websites,books,comics,short stories,films,photography,magazines,hentai and audio. The content may cover many aspects ofsexuality, fromrelationships tofetishes; the main idea being to conveysex-positivism from a woman's perspective, or to feature femaleempowerment andsexual fantasies.
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.[1] 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.Sssh.com, a similar subscription site that features original movies and photographic content, was launched in 1999 by Angie Rowntree, who was later inducted into theAdult Video News Hall of Fame, Internet Founders Division, in recognition of her efforts to help establish and grow an online market for women's erotica.[2] In 2015, Sssh.com became the first porn-for-women site to win theXBIZ Award for Best Alternative Site. 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.
Audio erotica targeted vision-impaired people for many years and became more popular around the late 2010s. However, it commenced much earlier; in the late 20th century, phone sex emerged, where listeners would call in and imagine themselves as a participant, which tends to be the earliest form of pornographic sound.[3] As time went on, more work emerged and audio erotica became a small market in pornography that offered audio-described porn, explicit content in podcasting, erotic ASMR videos, music soundtracks in porn videos, gendering of orgasmic sounds in porn and orgasmic vocal performances in popular music.[3] Nowadays, the most popular phone apps for audio erotica are Quinn and Dipsea, which were founded by women and tended to market to women since they wanted it to be for the founders, friends, and all women who enjoy erotica.[3] Its most popular genre is the male-for-female (M4F) boyfriend experience (BFE).[3]
Erotic literature for women has seen explosive growth in the period of 2010–2015. Publishers report that women's erotica novels consistently sell well.[4]
The first publishing imprint of erotic fiction for women wasBlack 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 publishersHarlequin,Kensington and Avon, who have released their own "black label" lines for female readers.
The first series of books to feature eroticshort stories for women wasHerotica, first published byDown There Press in 1996. Author and sex activistSusie Bright founded the series and edited the first three volumes. A similar series isBest Women's Erotica fromCleis Press which has appeared annually since 2001.
Internet-based publisherEllora's Cave produces what it calls "romantica" - romance novels with explicit sex scenes. The company originally producede-books but has now moved into printed publishing.
Eroticfan fiction can also be a form of women's erotica.[5]
Women were not acknowledged as a potential audience bypornographic filmmakers until 1985 when former adult starCandida Royalle 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, Royalle was the sole producer of erotic films for women. In 1997,Oscar-nominated directorLars von Trier started the companyPuzzy Power, and together withLene Børglum started producing pornographic films for women, starting withConstance (1998) andPink Prison (1999). In July 2009, women's magazineCosmopolitan (German edition) rankedPink Prison as #1 in its Top Five ofDie Besten Frauenpornos (best women's porn), calling it the "Vorbild für die neue Porno-Generation" (role model for the new porn-generation).[6]
In the 21st century, a number of other women have stepped in and created their own vision of women's erotica. These include:
In 2006Playgirl in partnership with adult companyWicked produced and released their own line of adult films for women.
In 2009,Dusk! TV started in theNetherlands with a 24-hour linear television channel with onlyerotica and female-friendly porn. All the above-mentioned films are broadcast. More women are starting to produce erotic films; mostly small, independent products and usually from a sense of dissatisfaction with mainstream porn. The content of thetelevision channel is judged and chosen by female audience via Dusk! panel website.[7][8][9][10]
Cosmopolitan was the first magazine to include a nude malecentrefold –Burt Reynolds in April 1972. Australia'sCleo magazine followed suit in November 1972 with a spread of actorJack Thompson.
Playgirl magazine, an answer toHugh Hefner'sPlayboy, first appeared in 1973 and offered a full-nude centerfold with its second issue. The magazine regularly features nude male models, erotic fiction and sex advice. While the magazine is ostensibly aimed at women, former editor Michelle Zipp has said that around 80% of the readership is gay men.[11]However, feminist and sex journalist Megan Hussey contests the claim thatPlaygirl was a gay magazine, saying that she ledPlaygirl's Playgirl Posse fan club, which had a 95 percent female membership.[12]Women's erotica magazines include:
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