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luzulaThe Memoirs of Fanny Hill by John Cleland (1749)
So I was curious to see what 18th century pornography was like. It was interesting, though not to my taste, as porn goes. I only read a third of it, and then checked out the plot summary on Wikipedia. Here's some vocabulary:
Words for penis: machine, engine, instrument, weapon, truncheon, affair, champion. (I've seen the 18th century word 'yard' in other places, but it doesn't appear here.)
Words for vulva: cleft, slit, lips, wound.
The metaphors are often martial and violent, even when the sex is consensual (which it often is not). 'Weapon' is commonly used for 'penis', paired with 'wound' for 'vulva' (ugh!). Other examples: 'tender hostilities', 'bury himself to the hilt', 'a last dispatching thrust', 'assault', 'sally'. Secondarily, there's a fair amount of horse-related metaphors, such as referring to women as 'fillies', 'mounting/dismounting', 'breaking in', etc. Thirdly, I suppose the words 'machine/engine/instrument' might have to do with growing industrialism?
Some years ago, I read some 19th century porn: The Life and Amours of the Beautiful, Gay and Dashing Kate Percival (1864). There are similarities: both have a female main character, and both have f/f as her first sexual encounter. Both also have happy endings for the main character. Otherwise they're quite different.
- Fanny Hill has the typical circumlocutious 18th century language, but I wouldn't call it purple prose, which Kate Percival is full of. 'Two globes of alabaster reposing on a field of snow', anyone? But sometimes it's also just hilariously straightforward: '"Now I am going to titillate your clitoris with my tongue," said Herbert.' I would say that Fanny Hill has better writing, on the whole, and it's also more of an actual novel, while Kate Percival is more of a bunch of sex scenes strung together (although Fanny Hill has its fair share of that).
- Kate Percival is very focused on the clitoris (which is called exactly that), and pretty much all of the m/f sex has the man stimulating the woman's clitoris, with fingers or mouth. The clitoris very much corresponds to the penis, with references to it being erect, admiration for women with a large and well-formed clitoris, etc. It might as well not exist in Fanny Hill, which is very focused on penis-in-vagina sex (with the man occasionally receiving brief oral as preliminary--the parts I read never had the woman receive oral sex).
- In Fanny Hill, the f/f is clearly only a preliminary, and once she's had 'real' m/f sex, she quits having sex with women (at least in the parts I read). In Kate Percival, the main character continues to also enjoy sex with women.
- Fanny Hill has a bloody and painful deflowering scene which is dwelt on at length (though it's not non-con), while in Kate Percival, there's no pain, because the main character has already had f/f sex with a dildo before she has penetrative sex with a man (well, it's not on the page, but it's strongly implied). In general, Kate Percival has more consensual sex, and Fanny Hill more non-consensual sex and paid sex (at least the parts I read).
- Weirdly, in Kate Percival, all women seem to ejaculate copiously when they come.
- Fanny Hill has an m/m scene where the main character watches through a keyhole as one man fucks another. The characters condemn it and are disgusted by it.
Of course, both of these books are a sample of one, so I can't tell how much of the content and style reflects the different time periods, and how much it's just the taste of the individual writer.
So I was curious to see what 18th century pornography was like. It was interesting, though not to my taste, as porn goes. I only read a third of it, and then checked out the plot summary on Wikipedia. Here's some vocabulary:
Words for penis: machine, engine, instrument, weapon, truncheon, affair, champion. (I've seen the 18th century word 'yard' in other places, but it doesn't appear here.)
Words for vulva: cleft, slit, lips, wound.
The metaphors are often martial and violent, even when the sex is consensual (which it often is not). 'Weapon' is commonly used for 'penis', paired with 'wound' for 'vulva' (ugh!). Other examples: 'tender hostilities', 'bury himself to the hilt', 'a last dispatching thrust', 'assault', 'sally'. Secondarily, there's a fair amount of horse-related metaphors, such as referring to women as 'fillies', 'mounting/dismounting', 'breaking in', etc. Thirdly, I suppose the words 'machine/engine/instrument' might have to do with growing industrialism?
Some years ago, I read some 19th century porn: The Life and Amours of the Beautiful, Gay and Dashing Kate Percival (1864). There are similarities: both have a female main character, and both have f/f as her first sexual encounter. Both also have happy endings for the main character. Otherwise they're quite different.
- Fanny Hill has the typical circumlocutious 18th century language, but I wouldn't call it purple prose, which Kate Percival is full of. 'Two globes of alabaster reposing on a field of snow', anyone? But sometimes it's also just hilariously straightforward: '"Now I am going to titillate your clitoris with my tongue," said Herbert.' I would say that Fanny Hill has better writing, on the whole, and it's also more of an actual novel, while Kate Percival is more of a bunch of sex scenes strung together (although Fanny Hill has its fair share of that).
- Kate Percival is very focused on the clitoris (which is called exactly that), and pretty much all of the m/f sex has the man stimulating the woman's clitoris, with fingers or mouth. The clitoris very much corresponds to the penis, with references to it being erect, admiration for women with a large and well-formed clitoris, etc. It might as well not exist in Fanny Hill, which is very focused on penis-in-vagina sex (with the man occasionally receiving brief oral as preliminary--the parts I read never had the woman receive oral sex).
- In Fanny Hill, the f/f is clearly only a preliminary, and once she's had 'real' m/f sex, she quits having sex with women (at least in the parts I read). In Kate Percival, the main character continues to also enjoy sex with women.
- Fanny Hill has a bloody and painful deflowering scene which is dwelt on at length (though it's not non-con), while in Kate Percival, there's no pain, because the main character has already had f/f sex with a dildo before she has penetrative sex with a man (well, it's not on the page, but it's strongly implied). In general, Kate Percival has more consensual sex, and Fanny Hill more non-consensual sex and paid sex (at least the parts I read).
- Weirdly, in Kate Percival, all women seem to ejaculate copiously when they come.
- Fanny Hill has an m/m scene where the main character watches through a keyhole as one man fucks another. The characters condemn it and are disgusted by it.
Of course, both of these books are a sample of one, so I can't tell how much of the content and style reflects the different time periods, and how much it's just the taste of the individual writer.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:30 pm (UTC)Kate Percival would appear to be US-based and produced - not sure how it would map to British Victporn - hesitate to say much on this as there is important new work under way which may upset all preconceived notions! But there is also some evidence that popular texts like penny dreadfuls, so maybe porn as well, were plagiarised, with local references swapped in, transatlantically.
I posted some while ago on the famous Sins of the Cities of the Plain, which is usually cited as being homoerotic, but it's pretty pansexual, actually.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:47 pm (UTC)Hmm, now I'm curious if there was 18th century porn that did feature the clitoris.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:34 pm (UTC)Tbh, I wouldn't have expected 1860s era porn to mention clitorises.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 09:01 pm (UTC)/sniggers like a 4 year old.
More seriously, fascinating report!
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-19 08:55 am (UTC)It's interesting that, although C19th editions of Aristotle's Masterpiece seem to have dropped the passages about titillating the clitoris in conjugal sex (largely because it was supposed to increase the chance of conception) the subject continued to, er, flourish in porn.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-20 11:52 am (UTC)It's interesting that, although C19th editions of Aristotle's Masterpiece seem to have dropped the passages about titillating the clitoris in conjugal sex (largely because it was supposed to increase the chance of conception) the subject continued to, er, flourish in porn.
Well, it sounds like something that would be to women's benefit, anyway. : )
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 08:52 pm (UTC)"Slit" is cool though because it sounds like it might be some weird xeno porn. :D
Hee. And I guess "machine/engine" sounds a bit like robot porn?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 09:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 09:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-18 09:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-19 04:47 am (UTC)Words for penis: machine, engine, instrument, weapon, truncheon, affair, champion.
A valuable source for fic vocabulary, no doubt :D
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-19 09:00 am (UTC)Or nuns (according to Peakman, a lot of stuff that was written as anti-religious satire in France got translated and read as straight smut in British context - lesbian or slutty nuns, kinky flagellating priests, etc).
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-19 04:47 pm (UTC)a lot of stuff that was written as anti-religious satire in France got translated and read as straight smut in British context - lesbian or slutty nuns, kinky flagellating priests, etc
lol :D
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-19 11:23 am (UTC)Ugh, no. I think I just saw one phrase in Fanny Hill that made me go, hmm, I like that, and I'm probably going to use it someday.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-20 05:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-20 11:49 am (UTC)Also, I don't actually want my sex scenes to read like something out of this book! But it's interesting nonetheless to do a bit of research. I think there was one phrase I came across which I did like, and intend to use sometime.