Mission Statement:

To develop Erotimania.com as a venue to explore the politics, psychology, and culture behind the erotic, behind sexuality, and to view the concept of the erotic from as many sex-positive perspectives and facets as we can.  Erotimania.com will explore the VAST array of diversity in human sexuality and what is erotic in a venue that is accepting, positive, educational, growth oriented, and empowering.

Synopsis:

Culturally, we've had what history calls a sexual revolution.  Perhaps what the world needs now is an erotic revolution, a love revolution, a diversity revolution, a kink revolution, an acceptance revolution.  

Yes, we've come a long way. Women today have the freedom to work any job and wear slacks, and not be labeled as freakish, lesbian, perverse, and psychologically sick. Women who would engage in that 'behavior' just over a century ago would have been labeled such and ostracized by society.  Bravo for us.  Yet still out of fear, or ignorance, or a lack of cultural growth we still label many forms of dress and behavior, sexual, erotic,  or otherwise, as freakish, perverse and psychologically sick.

For example, in today's world, a woman could enter any men's department store and purchase and wear any item of clothing sold there and not suffer abuse.  The same cannot be said for men.  A man cannot enter a woman's department store, purchase, and wear any item of clothing sold there and not suffer abuse.  If we saw a woman walking down the street in a tuxedo we may take a second look and we may speculate about her but we probably wouldn't make any firm assumptions, particularly highly judgmental ones.  However, a man walking down the street in traditional female formal wear, say a pink taffeta gown, would get more than just a second look.  Why? Never mind all those people who do not identify as classically one gender or another, or who are transgendered or intersex.

The sexual and gender evolutions of the past century and the sexual revolution mid century made it 'normal' for women to engage in certain activities and wear clothes that were once seen as gender specific.  This has definitely not always been the norm.  Our current norm has much stricter gender boundaries for men's dress and behavior, often resulting in not only in non-acceptance, but hate crimes, beatings, and rejection from family, friends, and work. Again, as a culture we barely even have a classification for those who don't traditionally gender identify as their chromosomal designation.

I bring this up only as an example of one of the many forms of discrimination that is seen as a cultural norm when it comes to gender/sexuality/eroticism.  We have many many other cultural 'taboos', or ideas around what is appropriate, normal and acceptable behavior. With many of us not fitting nicely into any of the accepted cultural norms in regards to sexuality and/or gender.

Erotimania's mission is not to just focus on gender inequities or gender issues, but the above serves as an example to show how culturally, our ideas of what is acceptable behavior, or deviant behavior, evolves. It's not a static thing.  It varies from cultural era or cultural location.  In some parts of the world men walking hand in hand down the street is commonplace and no one would associate it with any form of sexuality, yet the woman walking ten paces behind them would be assumed to be in a sexual/familial relationship with one them.  In North American culture, we might find that particular pattern of behavior offensive.  What then is 'normal'? What is 'acceptable'?   Should it be based on the majority of cultural bias based on the time in history and the location in the world? Or should it be based on something else entirely?  

Erotimania's current mission is to explore the VAST array of diversity in human sexuality, gender, behavior and what is deemed erotic and to do so in a venue that is hopefully accepting, positive, educational and empowering. To explore the erotic in both conventional and unconventional forms.  

There is a concept of humanity as sub species aeternitatis - a member of a whole stream of evolutionary man (my 'personal' use of the word 'man' ALWAYS includes ALL genders, traditional and otherwise, as a bio-female/g-girl, I embrace the word man as inclusive, not exclusive, of myself, my gender, and the gender identities of others) The concept then of sub species aeternitatis is that each of us is a link in an evolutionary stream, that each of us springs from the generation that has come before, and likewise, prepares the way for generations to come.  We're all part of a larger social organization that embraces and defines the evolution of humanity.  We're powerful as a generation, as a cultural group, and as individuals.  The ways YOU choose to see the world, sexuality, gender, behavior, choice, etc, and act on it, affects those around you, and affects the evolutionary socio-cultural stream of mankind.  The background image on this page is inspired from that concept.  How our thoughts and behaviors are intertwined, and impact those around us. 

If this site changes just one persons attitudes or behaviors to be more tolerant, accepting, loving, or informed about any aspect of the realm of sexuality, then I'll have considered our mission to have been a success.  Learn a little, grow a little, and then pass it on.

We don't and won't have all the answers. We'll try and gather information and put together ideas using the wisdom of others, professionals in each of the areas we explore, and make sure we give credit where it is due.  We will admit that everything presented in the site is going to be highly biased towards an ethic of tolerance and the celebration of human diversity. 

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Erotimania's Past:

The concept of Erotimania started for us as an erotic photography site.  It branched out to include a number of fetish photography sites related to our personal interests and experiences.  Our previous motivation was mostly one of personal exploration through photographic medium; we wanted to produce 'pornography'.  

Pornography is a word that has a negative connotation in society today, but we have different ideas about the meaning of pornography that does not exclude erotic photography, and art photography, but rather embraces those concepts and acknowledges, accepts, and celebrates, that  images of nudity, sex, sexuality, and fetish are erotically charged and that they have a sexual, pleasurable and arousing impact on viewers, and that this is not a shameful thing, but something to be enjoyed.  The celebration of the erotic through erotic photography, fetish photography, PORNOGRAPHY (claiming the word in a positive shame-free way) will continue to be a part of Erotimania.

Leila Raven
(aka Katt)