Hardcore porn

Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often in magazines, or films but it may also appear as a cartoon. Since the 1990s it has been distributed widely over the Internet.

Hardcore pornography was widely prohibited in many countries until the second half of the 20th century when many of the world's liberal democracies, experiencing a change in sexual norms, began to allow limited access. Supply is usually regulated by a combination of a classification system and regulation of points of sale, although today hardcore pornography can be easily downloaded from many Internet sites with little regulation. Public display and advertising is often prohibited. Supply to minors is usually prohibited.

Since 1969, most of the world's liberal democracies have taken steps to legalize hardcore pornography, or they increasingly fail to enforce legislation to prohibit it resulting in de facto legalisation. There is often vigorous opposition to legalisation - see anti-pornography movement. The years that hardcore pornography was legalised are roughly as follows:

• Denmark in 1969
• Sweden in 1970
• West Germany in 1973. (East Germany, which never legalized hardcore pornography, was unified with West Germany in 1990.)
• United Kingdom in 2000
• Norway in 2006

In the U.S., legal interpretations of pornography in relation to the constitutional right to free speech differ from state to state.

Sexually explicit material (video, photography, creative writing) presents sexual content without deliberately obscuring or censoring it. The term sexually explicit media is often used as euphemism for pornography. It includes unsimulated sex acts, sexual intercourse and uncovered genitalia.

The term is not very specific, and what is or is not sexually explicit varies from culture to culture. Visual exposure of female breasts are considered mildly explicit, the penis or vulva and surrounding pubic hair are widely considered sexually explicit, and unobscured sexual intercourse universally so. Some also consider certain language or writing (authentic reports or fiction) to be sexually explicit.

Sexually explicit material usually have age ratings on them to ensure that unsuitable viewers are not exposed to them.

While some observers often label all sexually explicit material as pornography, this is not generally accepted, as it does not examine the intent behind the material. For example, sexual intercourse may be shown to illustrate principles of safe sex and as such be a component of sex education, or in a film it may be part of a complex story and be viewed to contribute to overall plot development. An explicit rape scene may in fact have the purpose of negative conditioning, and vivid imagery of infected genitalia is often used as part of abstinence-based sex education programs.