Where is the line between erotica and porn?

In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain “hard-core” pornography, or what is obscene, by saying, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . but I know it when I see it . . . “

That discussion was about pornography in movie theaters. The courts don’t even bother with pornography in print. I started rolling this around in my head while reading the latest selection from my online Book Club. I won’t even give the title, because I don’t consider the book worthy of my endorsement, even a negative one.

The book was self-published by a writer who writes what he calls “erotic” literature. My personal assessment is that it is porn. I would venture to say that every person reading this will draw the line between erotic and porn in a different place. Maybe some of you have a good definition you can share. But, I’ll go with Justice Stewart in “I know it when I see it.”

For the book in question, I can give examples of where it crosses MY line. Geez, this book is so sleazy I have to hide it from hubster!!

	Erotica	Porn
Character portrayal	People I can identify with. I have to care enough about at least one character to continue reading.	Characters are defined by a tick list of body parts and sizes of those body parts. Pick your body parts from an assortment of mannequin parts and the personalities are all the same.
Plot line	Characters have interests, habits, and activities that don’t include sex. Conflicts arise from the depths of human experience	One sexual encounter after another. Cut and paste the dialog, but add some different toys for variety. The only conflict is who’s doing who.
Sex	Incidental to a bigger plot line. “The act” is described from the point of view of emotion and feeling. The woman’s emotion is not the same as the man’s. The words have no shock value.	“The act” is the only plot, described graphically in terms of body parts and part sizes. The dialog is intended for shock value, with no difference in choice of language between men and women. How many women refer to a man’s “package?”
Surrounding environment	Paint me a picture of a place I haven’t been before.	Right out of your favorite soap opera. Candles, flower petals and music by Maxwell.