While sexually-explicit images have been produced as long as humans could make pictures, the category of pornography is a much more modern invention. It was introduced in the 1800s as a way to classify images deemed obscene and thought to corrupt morals. In this talk Dr João Florêncio will take us on a journey through that history. Discover how sex, morality, and visual culture intersect to tell a story about our societal fears, anxieties, and sense of propriety.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr João Florêncio is senior lecturer in history of modern and contemporary art and visual culture at the University of Exeter, where he researches queer visual histories of the body, sexuality, and sexual subcultures. He is the author of Bareback Porn, Porous Masculinities, Queer Futures: The Ethics of Becoming-Pig (Routledge, 2020).