Food porn (or foodporn) is a glamourized visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, blogs, cooking shows, and other visual media. [1] Its origins come from a restaurant review e-commerce platform called Foodporn. [2] Food porn often takes the form of food photography with styling that presents food provocatively, in a similar way to glamour photography or pornographic photography.
One of the earliest forms of the term can be found in an article by Alexander Cockburn, published in December 1977 in The New York Review of Books , in which Cockburn wrote, "True gastro-porn heightens the excitement and also the sense of the unattainable by proffering colored photographs of various completed recipes". [3] Michael F. Jacobson used the term food porn in a 1979 newsletter of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. [4] The term food porn was also used by the feminist critic Rosalind Coward in her 1984 book Female Desire, in which she wrote:
Cooking food and presenting it beautifully is an act of servitude. It is a way of expressing affection through a gift [...] That we should aspire to produce perfectly finished and presented food is a symbol of a willing and enjoyable participation in servicing others. Food pornography exactly sustains these meanings relating to the preparation of food. The kinds of picture used always repress the process of production of a meal. They are always beautifully lit, often touched up. [5]
The term food porn does not strictly deal with the connection between food and sexuality. In the United States, food porn is a term applied when "food manufacturers are capitalising on a backlash against low-calorie and diet foods by marketing treats that boast a high fat content and good artery-clogging potential". [6]
In the United Kingdom, the term became popular in the 1990s due to the TV cookery programme Two Fat Ladies , after the show's producer described the "pornographic joy" the pair took in using vast quantities of butter and cream. [7]
Taking a picture of food became one of the norms for the younger generation in the world as they tried to emulate Foodporn, [8] a site that popularized the concept of posting visually appealing videos and photos of food and drink across social media. [9] [10] Study from YPulse shows 63% of people between thirteen years old to thirty two years old posted their food picture while they are eating on social networking services. Moreover, 57% of people in the same age range posted information of the food they were eating at that time. [11] From the percentage, food and social media are starting to connect together as trend. People using the hashtag #foodporn helps the food industry to track audiences on social networking services.
The term food porn has shifted throughout its first appearances. Articles mentioned food porn as early as the late 1970s. The phrase was used in a literal manner, describing food that was unhealthy for human consumption, directly comparing it to pornography. Its use took on a new meaning in the early 2000s, when the term food porn began being used to describe food that was presented and prepared in a manner that was aesthetically appealing. [12] This desire for food has flooded the internet, having significant effects on social media sites that provide the ability to display such as Instagram, Flickr, Snapchat, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter. The popularity of displaying food in a physically appealing manner is driven by the users that create these communities. The use of hashtags that the users of these sites have adapted to, allow food porn to connect people in a way that documents anything about the food such as, foods that reflect cultures, calories, presentation, preparation, delicious taste, and anything else that adds to the authenticity of the meal.
The term food porn refers to images of food across various social media platforms such as TV, cooking magazines, online blogs, mobile apps, websites and social media platforms. The reason why food porn is strongly connecting with popular culture is due to the fact that people are exposed to food in their everyday lives. [13] Food porn is not specific to social media platforms and could also be part of the category on newspaper and online blog. Moreover, food porn is experienced globally. Language barriers that exist culturally can be bypassed by the usage of #foodporn. Food porn is used collectively by the online users and does not exclude or privilege one food over another.
Contemporary literature and cinema consistently connect food and sexuality. Scholars note historical links between eating and sex, such as male and female humans coming together throughout evolution around food and creating offspring—two essential needs for survival. [14] Today, a more obvious connection exists between the physical acts of eating and having sex in popular culture. In his book Food: The Key Concepts, Warren Belasco examines this particular resonance between kitchen and bedroom in modern-day vocabulary: "these intensely sexualized associations between eating and loving make it difficult to adopt the asceticism implied in eating responsibly. If pastry, sugar, fat, meat, and salt are so closely tied to life's most intimately pleasurable experiences, who would ever want to cut back on them?" [14] When Alexander Cockburn defined the term gastro porn, he used the words excitement and unattainable, [15] implying an element of fantasy that can be seen in both food porn and "traditional" pornography. With the rise of fad diets and exercise programs in the 1980s came a similar upward trend in food-related media and development of eating disorders. [16] As people continued to restrict calories, food-related media increased in popularity due to its ability to provide the consumer with a voyeuristic indulgence of their food fantasies, [17] similar to the voyeuristic indulgence that traditional pornography provides.
Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use any artistic form to depict erotic content, including painting, sculpture, drama, film or music. Erotic literature and erotic photography have become genres in their own right. Erotica also exists in a number of subgenres including gay, lesbian, women's, monster, tentacle erotica and bondage erotica.
Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Objectification is most commonly examined at the level of a society, but can also refer to the behavior of individuals and is a type of dehumanization.
Bukkake is a sex act in which one participant is ejaculated on by multiple participants. It is often portrayed in pornographic films.
Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom. They oppose legal or social efforts to control sexual activities between consenting adults, whether they are initiated by the government, other feminists, opponents of feminism, or any other institution. They embrace sexual minority groups, endorsing the value of coalition-building with marginalized groups. Sex-positive feminism is connected with the sex-positive movement. Sex-positive feminism brings together anti-censorship activists, LGBT activists, feminist scholars, producers of pornography and erotica, among others. Sex-positive feminists believe that prostitution can be a positive experience if workers are treated with respect, and agree that sex work should not be criminalized.
Marty Ralph Klein is an American sex therapist, author, educator and public policy analyst. Klein has spent his career supporting the healthy sexual expression of men, women and couples in a wide range of ways. He is critical of censorship, the concepts of sex addiction and porn addiction, as well as the anti-pornography movement. He believes that public policy relating to sexuality should be driven by scientific data rather than emotion, "tradition" or popular but untrue myths. He has been a participant in various state, federal and international court cases dealing with the First Amendment, obscenity, censorship and "harmful to minors" laws.
Alternative porn, a shortening of "alternative pornography," is a subgenre of pornography that is centered around alternative subcultures, such as goths, hipsters, emos, scenes, skaters or ravers, and is often produced by small and independent websites or filmmakers. It often features models with body modifications such as tattoos, piercings, or scarifications, or temporary modifications such as dyed hair or extreme makeup. The term indie porn is occasionally used, though this term is more generally used as a synonym for independent pornography, regardless of affinity with any kind of alternative subculture.
Reasons for opposition to pornography include religious objections and feminist concerns, as well as alleged harmful effects, such as pornography addiction and erectile dysfunction. Pornography addiction is not a condition recognized by the DSM-5, the ICD-11, or the DSM-5-TR. Anti-pornography movements have allied disparate social activists in opposition to pornography, from social conservatives to harm reduction advocates. The definition of "pornography" varies between countries and movements, and many make distinctions between pornography, which they oppose, and erotica, which they consider acceptable. Sometimes opposition will deem certain forms of pornography more or less harmful, while others draw no such distinctions.
The feminist sex wars, also known as the lesbian sex wars, sex wars or porn wars, are collective debates amongst feminists regarding a number of issues broadly relating to sexuality and sexual activity. Differences of opinion on matters of sexuality deeply polarized the feminist movement, particularly leading feminist thinkers, in the late 1970s and early 1980s and continue to influence debate amongst feminists to this day.
Pornography has been defined as sexual subject material such as a picture, video, text, or audio that is intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornography depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adult content is made classifying it as pornography or erotica.
Pornography in India is restricted and illegal in all form including print media, electronic media, and digital media (OTT). Hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating or sharing pornography is illegal in India.
Porn 2.0 is a term derived from "Web 2.0" that describes pornographic websites featuring amateur content and interactive social networking features, such as user-generated categorization, webcam hosting, blogs, and comment sections. This is in contrast to the static content offered by "Web 1.0" porn sites. Porn 2.0 sites may offer features similar to mainstream Web 2.0 services such as video communities, including Meta café, Vimeo, and YouTube, as well as social sites,, general blogging platforms, and photo hosting services.
Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is professionally made pornography that seeks to emulate the style of amateur pornography. Amateur pornography has been called one of the most profitable and long-lasting genres of pornography.
Shira Tarrant is an American writer on gender politics, feminism, sexuality, pop culture, and masculinity. Tarrant's books include When Sex Became Gender, Men and Feminism, Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, and Power, Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style, and the forthcoming New Views on Pornography. She is described as an "unconventional feminist" redefining gender rights, and is considered "a national leader in working with younger feminist men". She was identified in 2010 as an "extraordinarily accomplished thought leader" by the national Women's Media Center. In 2012, she was named a Glidden Visiting Professor at Ohio University.
Feminist views on pornography range from total condemnation of the medium as an inherent form of violence against women to an embracing of some forms as a medium of feminist expression. This debate reflects larger concerns surrounding feminist views on sexuality, and is closely related to those on prostitution, BDSM, and other issues. Pornography has been one of the most divisive issues in feminism, particularly in Anglophone (English-speaking) countries. This division was exemplified in the feminist sex wars of the 1980s, which pitted anti-pornography activists against pro-pornography ones.
Stop Porn Culture is an international feminist anti-porn organization with branches in the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom. It works as an advisory body, trains trainers, and builds public health educational materials based on empirical research. It has a network of volunteers and activists and collaborates with other organizations in the U.S. and Europe. Some of its work is grassroots activist work.
The rise of social media in the 21st century has led to restaurant patrons and home cooks taking a digital or smartphone photograph of a meal before eating it. Such food photographs are generally for personal use, such as keeping photographic food diaries, rather than for commercial purposes.
Food blogging is a feature of food journalism that interlinks a gourmet interest in food, blog writing, and food photography. Food blogs are generally written by food enthusiasts, often referred to as "foodies," and can be used commercially by the blogger to earn a profit. The first food blog launched in July 1997 as a running feature on the Chowhound website. Titled "What Jim Had for Dinner," Chowhound founder Jim Leff cataloged his daily eating.
Foodgasm is a neologism that indicates a pleasurable and euphoric feeling of satisfaction that occurs during the consumption of particularly amazing and delicious foods: this pleasure is sometimes accompanied by vocal noises and a variety of facial expressions.
Being overweight or obese has influence on the sexuality of people in various different aspects. It can include negative aspects such as stigmatization which can be an obstacle for romantic developments, sexual dysfunction and an increased chance of risky sexual behavior. It can also have positive aspects in the form of fat fetishism.
Zombie pornography is a subgenre of pornography involving zombies, a type of undead being with uncontrollable appetites but no personal desire. Films in the subgenre emerged during a surge in the 1980s Italian sexploitation industry and saw minor release in the United States the next decade, but their use of zombie sex was primarily to shock the viewer. Film-maker Bruce LaBruce released Otto; or, Up with Dead People (2008) and L.A. Zombie (2010), two prominent gay zombie porn films seen by scholars as subverting homophobic tropes about gay life; in the films, zombification is physically similar to AIDS, a disease typically associated with gay men. While zombie porn may be appealing to some because it breaks taboos related to necrophilia, and plays with male viewers' fear of castration, zombies are also ferocious creatures that can destroy their sexual partners. As a result, the genre has remained largely unappealing.
