Any self-respecting field of knowledge must clarify the key words of its specific terminology. In a previous article, I used the word "porneia," explaining my use of it and keeping it brief for the sake of overall agility, but I should have introduced it earlier, with space to explain it as I now want to do, dedicated to clarifying the foundations of what I call the study of pornoculture.
Pornoculture without pxrn: Porneia
Pornocultura sin p0rn0: Porneia
Todo pretendido campo de conocimiento debe dejar claras las palabras claves de su terminología concreta. En artículo anterior había usado la palabra 'porneia' explicando mi uso y siendo breve en pos de la agilidad del texto en general, pero tenía que haberla presentado anteriormente con espacio para explicarla como ahora quiero hacer, dedicada a clarificar bases de lo que llamo estudio de la pornocultura.
In the first season of my series of posts dedicated to the meaning of pornography, I told you that this word was coined in ancient times to describe writings that recorded conversations between prostitutes that (we assume, because they have not survived) were about sex. Pornés meant "prostitute," and grafos meant "to leave a record." The idea that "public women" were characters in books talking about sex, politics, and society was so popular that it continues to this day, as I mentioned on another occasion.
En la primera temporada de mi serie de publicaciones dedicadas al sentido de la pornografía, os dije que esta palabra se acuñó en la antigüedad para calificar los escritos que recogían charlas entre prostitutas que (suponemos, porque no se han conservado) iban sobre sexo. Pornés significaba 'prostituta', y grafos 'dejar registro'. El que 'mujeres públicas' fueran personajes de libros hablando de sexo, política y sociedad fue algo tan popular que llega a nuestros días, como conté en otra ocasión.
"Pornography" back then didn't have the meaning it has today, nor was it associated with legal limitations. This occurred centuries later when the term was revived to categorize archaeological remains that, by their very nature of 'displaying what should not be openly displayed,' should not be exhibited to the public. It then became even closer to our current meaning when it was used to refer to morally and/or legally objectionable reproductions. It wasn't just books then, and it wasn't just because of sex: subversive politics and anticlericalism were also considered pornography, but let's go back…
'Pornografía' entonces no tenía el sentido de ahora ni se relacionaba con limitaciones legales. Esto ocurre siglos después cuando el término se recupera para catalogar restos arqueológicos que por su naturaleza de 'mostrar lo que no debe ser mostrado abiertamente' no deben ser exhibidos al público. Entonces va acercándose a nuestro significado actual aún más cuando se denominan así a las reproducciones censurables moral y/o legalmente. No solo eran libros entonces y no era solo por el sexo: la política subversiva y el anticlericalismo eran considerados pornografía también, pero retomemos…
'Pornés' gave rise to more derivative words. 'Porneia' would therefore be the activity of prostitutes, but in the Greek Bible it's practically a euphemism for anything objectionable to God. I could tell you in which passages it is idolatry and in which verse it is used to describe incest, but in general (and to the headache of philologists) it is used to describe sexual activity that is inappropriate and punishable. Remember that sex without being married or that is done for pleasure and/or trying not to have children was already enough to be condemnable then (and even now for fanatics who, I quote Nietzsche, are against life).
'Pornés' dio lugar a más palabras derivadas. 'Porneia' sería pues la actividad de las prostitutas, pero en la biblia en griego es prácticamente un eufemismo con lo objetable para Dios. Podría citaros en que pasajes es idolatría y en cual versículo se usa para denominar al incesto, pero en general (y para dolor de cabeza de los filólogos) se usa para denominar a lo sexual que es inadecuado y castigable. Recordad que el sexo sin ser desposados o que se hace por gusto y/o procurando no tener hijos ya bastaba para ser condenable entonces (y aún ahora para personas fanáticas que, cito a Nietzsche, están en contra de la vida).
I use the term pornography in its modern sense, devoid of moral qualifications. I shorten it to 'Porno' as is usually done for convenience and consensus for audiovisual pornography, and I revive the term 'Porneia' for my writings to refer to what is recorded or sold in pornography. Now, I don't need a word foreign to my language to mention sex or nudity; I use it out of necessity in the field of porn culture, since everything that is marketed through the logic of porn (seeing what is not usually and should not be seen as a spectacle and is increasingly more and/or more real) is neither sex nor even has nudity.
Yo utilizo el término pornografía en su sentido moderno y desprovisto de calificaciones morales, apocopo en 'Porno' como se suele hacer por comodidad y consenso para la pornografía audiovisual y recupero para mis escritos el término 'Porneia' para referirme a lo que se registra o se vende en pornografía. Ahora bien, no necesito una palabra extraña a mi idioma para mencionar sexo o desnudez, la tomo por necesidad en la materia de la pornocultura ya que todo con lo que se comercia desde la lógica del porno (ver lo que no se suele ni debe como espectáculo y cada vez más y/o más real) no es ni sexo ni tiene siquiera desnudez.
The history of what has been objectionable on social media that has nothing to do with politics or nudity might give you some guidance. Years ago, Facebook had to ban exhibitionism involving self-harm and gore (which included film footage, but also accidents, deaths, and real corpses), and relatively recently, it had to deal with preventing the distribution by uninvolved users of "propaganda?" material from religious fundamentalist groups and drug cartels that proudly depicted executions. The first steps in low-cost artificial intelligence applied to social media are being taken to be able to recognize new copies uploaded from content it has previously banned and deleted. These criminal organizations uploaded them to show themselves strong and vengeful, transmitting that message and fear, but their great virality (and the problems in reducing the number of copies) came because unrelated third parties spread the material because it was shocking, real, morbid and transgressive.
La historia de lo que ha ido siendo censurable en redes sociales que no tenga que ver con política ni desnudez podría orientaros. Facebook hace años tuvo que vetar el exhibicionismo de autolesiones, el gore (que incluía material de películas, pero también accidentes, muertes y cadáveres reales) y hace relativamente poco tuvo que enfrentarse a evitar la distribución por parte de usuarios no implicados de material ¿propagandístico? de grupos fundamentalistas religiosos y cárteles de la droga que mostraba orgullosamente ejecuciones. Los primeros pasos en inteligencia artificial barata aplicada a redes sociales se hacen para poder reconocer al segundo nuevas copias subidas de contenidos que ya ha vetado y borrado anteriormente. Estas organizaciones criminales los subían para mostrarse fuertes y vengativos transmitiendo ese mensaje y miedo, pero su gran viralidad (y los problemas para segar eliminar la cantidad de copias) venían porque terceros no relacionados difundían el material por ser chocante, real, morboso y transgresor.
As I always say, I'm not interested in seeing this content, but rather in how morbidity, transgression, or some other reason makes this and other materials in demand. I'm interested in how it becomes interesting and even monetizable. In a world full of cameras and recordings of everything, anything never seen before is interesting practically for that reason alone; everything can be a spectacle (and business). All of this also happens in a logic exactly like that of porn: showing you what you don't usually see if you're not a participant, as real content, and the more in-depth and larger it is, the better.
Como siempre repito, no estoy interesada en estos contenidos ver, pero sí en como el morbo, el ser transgresor o alguna razón hacen a estos y otros materiales demandados. Me interesa como se vuelve de interés e incluso mercancía magnetizable. En un mundo repleto de cámaras y grabaciones de todo, lo nunca visto antes es interesante prácticamente solo por ello, todo puede ser espectáculo entonces (y negocio). Todo esto sucede además en una lógica exacta a la del porno: mostrarte lo que no se suele ver si no eres partícipe, siendo contenido real y cuanto más a fondo se vea y más grande sea, mejor.
All of this may seem crazy to you, but think about something. Practically during the same years that Sasha Grey made her career, offering and popularizing in the mainstream (in vanilla porn) the extremism that academic papers describe as "gonzo porn"… these were the years of greatest popularity for so-called reality shows. These programs sell cameras everywhere to observe the behavior of people cooking, sleeping, working, arguing… Everything is real, unprecedented, and increasingly unique, eye-catching, and even conflicting program concepts for their participants. But there's stiff competition to interest the public. That's why overweight people are locked up to put them on grueling diets, or a contestant who studied priesthood or a transgender woman is introduced into a cohabitation program where romances abound. They seek novelty in what is spectacled as much as reality… Or that it is sold as real, because the reality presumed in the montage of each program is modulated and falsified. Are some situations scripted? It is always suspicious, just as people talk about cosmetic surgery or Viagra in porn.
Puede pareceros una locura todo esto pero pensad en algo. Prácticamente en los mismos años en que hace carrera Sasha Grey ofreciendo y popularizando en mainstream (en porno vainilla) el extremismo que califican los papers académicos como 'porno gonzo'… son los años de mayor popularidad de los llamados reality shows. Estos venden poner cámaras en todos lados para poder observar el comportamiento de gente haciendo la comida, durmiendo, trabajando, discutiendo.. Todo real, lo nunca visto y cada vez conceptos de programa más singulares, llamativos e incluso conflictivos para sus participantes; pero es que hay dura competencia para interesar al público. Por eso se encierra a personas con sobrepeso para hacerles pasar durísimas dietas o se introduce un concursante que estudió sacerdocio o una mujer transgénero en uno de convivencia donde abundan los romances. Se busca la novedad en lo espectaculizado tanto como lo real… O que se venda como real, porque se modula y falsea esa realidad de la que se presume en el montaje de cada programa. ¿Algunas situaciones son guionizadas? siempre se sospecha tal como se habla de cirugia estética o Viagra en el porno.
For me, the logic they share means that, even though they sell a different product through different distribution channels, they're ALMOST the same thing in essence. Or at least their existence is part of the same phenomenon in a spectator society morbidly curious to see all intimacy. Studying this market logic, or this phenomenon, would be my field of expertise, and when I present cases or general traits, I needed a word to define THAT which is torn from intimacy to become a spectacle. Porneia, due to its etymology related to Porn, seems fine to me, as long as its correct use is clarified to encompass something not necessarily sexual. And that's what I just did in the text you've just read.
Para mi la lógica que comparten hace que, aunque vendan un producto distinto por canales de distribución distintos, sean CASI la misma cosa en esencia. O al menos su existencia es parte del mismo fenómeno en una sociedad espectadora que tiene curiosidad morbosa de ver toda intimidad. Estudiar esa lógica de mercado, o ese fenómeno, serían campo de mi materia, y cuando plantee casos o rasgos generales necesitaba una palabra para definir ESO que se arranca de la intimidad para convertirse en espectáculo. Porneia por su etimología relacionada con Porno me parece bien, siempre que sea aclarado su uso justo para abarcar algo no necesariamente sexual. Y eso acabo de hacer en el texto que tenéis leído.
My absolutely biggest guilty pleasure (as in the one I am the most ashamed of lol) is Paradise Hotel. It's a reality show originally from the US back in 2003, but only with three seasons in total. In Scandinavia, however, Paradise Hotel is insanely popular. The Danish version is at its 22nd season now and I must confess... I can't not watch it.
For the last couple of years, I tried to stay away from it – 1, because I can feel my braincells dying while watching and 2, there's too much partying, alcohol and sex and too little actual game.
However, now that my mom has moved in with me and she's an avid watcher, I've wound up watching it again.
And, for fuck's sakes, I feel my already too high blood pressure spike even higher. There are some truly exhausting people in this season.
Karl whose love for himself almost rivals Narcissus. Nadine who tells a girl she'd never even kiss that girl's partner and then 15 minutes later goes and has a threesome with that guy. Marius who tells a girl he's in love with her, but then goes and has a threesome with Nadine.
See a pattern?
It's exhausting seeing people like this, I genuinely get angry with some of them. And I honestly can't even explain why I still enjoy watching this braindead show. But I do.
And that, dudes, dudettes and dudles, is my guilty pleasure 😂
For Part I, click here.
The Cuffing Game by Lyla Lee (m/f YA)
Winging it With You by Chip Pons (m/m)
Winner Bakes All by Alexis Hall (mixed pairing series)
Love at 350 by Lisa Peers (f/f)
Hot Summer by Elle Everhart (f/f)
Bonus: Coming this spring/summer, check out Marooned by Ben Chalfin (m/m) and Good Luck, Babe! by Erin Baldwin (YA, f/f)
