TIDBITS

                        EROTIC JEWELRY

Or is it pornographic jewelry? Which brings me to the rings you are all about to see. Are they erotic, or are they pornographic? And, as long as we’re at it, is there even a difference? I do believe that Oscar Wilde once said something to the effect that excellently rendered versus poorly rendered sexually arousing imagery differentiates one from the other in the area of pornography versus eroticism. This, of course, brings up the question as to who decides that this image over here, while arousing, is poorly rendered and is therefore pornography, while that image over there, excellently rendered, while also arousing, is erotic. As far as I’m concerned, it is a bit like potato, potahto. Cut them up and fry them, and they’re both still fried potatoes. And so it is with the two rings with three views you are all soon to see. The one with two views, on the right, was described as erotic, and the one on the left, with one view, was viewed, I believe, as pornographic. Just for your information, the word erotica comes from the Greek word erotikos, which is a word used to define lust. So, does a lustful image depict erotica, or does it depict pornography? Or is it simply back to potato, potahto?