  eroticism (from the greek á¼ÏÏÏ, erosâ"desire") is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love. that quality may be found in any form of art, including painting, sculpture, photography, drama, film, music or literature. it may also be found in advertising. the term may also refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such â an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts. as french novelist honorÃ© de balzac stated, eroticism is dependent not just upon an individual's sexual morality, but also the culture and time in which an individual resides.balzac, "the physiology of marriage" (1826), trans. sharon marcus (1997), aphorism xxvi, 65grande, l., "laws and attitudes towards homosexuality from antiquity to the modern era", ponte 43:4-5 (1987), pp. 122-129gauthier, albert, "la sodomie dans le droit canonique medieval" in l'erotisme au moyen age: etudes presentees au iie colloque de l'institut d'etudes medievales, 3-4 avril 1976, ed. roy, bruno (montreal: ed. aurore, 1977), pp. 109-122 ==definitions== because the nature of what is erotic is fluid,evans, david t., sexual citizenship: the material construction of sexualities, (new york: routledge, 1993) early definitions of the term attempted to conceive eroticism as some form of sensual or romantic love or as the human sex drive (libido); for example, the encyclopÃ©die of 1755 states that the erotic "is an epithet ork: 1972) critics have often confused eroticism with pornography, going so far as to say: "[eroticism] is simply high-class pornography; better produced, better conceived, better executed, better packaged, designed for a better class of consumer."andrea dworkin. (n.d.). brainyquote.com. retrieved august 18, 2011, from brainyquote.com <!-- web site: http://www.braiwhich is applied to everything with a connection to the love of the sexes; one employs it particularly to characterize...a dissoluteness, an excess".encyclopÃ©die (1755), quoted in lynn hunt ed., eroticism and the body politic (london 1991) p. 90 --> however, because eroticism is wholly dependent on the viewer's culture and personal tastes pertaining to what, exactly, defines the erotic,foster. jeannette h., sex variant women in literature: a historical and quantitative survey 2nd ed., (new york: vantage press, 1956) (repr. baltimore: dia
Concepts_in_aesthetics Human_sexuality