When someone mentions the word “porn,” most of us instantly think of gross fetishes, the shoddy camerawork and the thespians who are in these films as horny or perverted.

Although this is usually toward the adult videos that seem to be hidden near an alley the darkest of nights, we often catch ourselves calling the human body pornographic if it is lacking of any or all clothing.

The human body is not pornography. We should not criticize it in adult movies and erotic books.

The human body is a work of art and should be treated that way because it is a part of what makes us humans unique.

In adult films and erotic books, a person expresses lust and arousal by using their body.

If you were to look at the statue of David by Michelangelo, would you consider that as pornography because it shows a penis? No. In fact, one would call it art.

Now if a man were to pose similar to the statue of David naked, would it be considered pornography or art? For many, pornography.

Now think about Frida Kahlo’s painting “Frida and the Cesarean Operation” and a woman appearing and posing the same way as Kahlo. Is that considered art or pornography? Again, pornography.

What makes these scenarios different?

Comparing the basics of these two mediums, it shows that pornography is just another form of art that focuses on the sex and how arousing the human body can be.

Art is classified as a medium where emotions and thoughts are expressed in a creative manner. It often encourages to take risks and to think outside of the box.

Pornography is a medium that expresses the emotion of lust and arousal in an exaggerated and sexual way that takes risks on how the content is presented.

It encourages to find solutions one were to face such as giving people a sense of liberation from stress and depression.

Porn can also bring erotic stimulation to the relationship, bringing a plethora of ideas on ways to taking their intimacy to the next level. It takes risks by using “lewd acts” in order to incorporate the message they try to convey.

So before you judge the XXX neon sign, consider this: Pornography is art, not a sin.