Eroticism is associated with sexuality.
The Greeks used the word érōs to refer to passion applied to love and sensual desire . That feeling was also represented through the god Eros . In the Spanish language, the term eroticism connotes and denotes what is related to sexuality , both in relation to the mere sexual act of carnal development and its projections.
Eroticism is usually addressed in combination with libido , since it is everything that comes from the libido zone and is related to sex and love . However, there is a kind of opposition between erotic love and love that is considered marked by romanticism , since this has become the main association of love in general (which has an altruistic character and, it is believed, exalts the sensuality).
Eroticism and desire
In this way we could establish that today when talking about eroticism we are identifying it with what is sexual and sensual desire, while love is considered to be that which has to do with feelings, with the depths of the soul, what is more beyond the mere physical appearance.
However, although they are established as separate concepts, it is true that in the end they are complementary on many occasions. And in every relationship based on love, in the end, eroticism is present because sentimental love also gives way to carnal desire, to physical passion.
It is common for eroticism to be linked to the sensual.
The concept in religion
Although it may seem strange, eroticism is always present in religion and belief systems. In Catholicism , the mystical texts of Saint John of the Cross include rhetoric that overflows with eroticism attributed to the deity.
In other religions, on the other hand, there was a custom that could well be defined as prostitution of a sacred nature that extended to classical Greece . Nor can we fail to mention the popular book of the Kama Sutra , a sublimation of sexuality belonging to Hinduism .
eroticism in art
In this sense, we cannot ignore the fact that when we talk about eroticism we are also referring to what is the exaltation of physical love in the artistic field, be it literature, cinema, theater, painting or sculpture. In this way, among the many examples of eroticism that can exist in these fields, we could highlight films such as Basic Instinct (1992) or Nine and a Half Weeks (1986), paintings such as Goya's Naked Maja or Ingres' The Turkish Bath , or sculptures like The Kiss or The Bath of Venus , which both belong to Rodin.
As for eroticism in literature , one of its main exponents is the Marquis de Sade , who was condemned for carrying out acts of debauchery in public and for complementing his sexual interests with violent reactions.
And all this without forgetting that from said exponent to the present day there have been many and varied books that have dealt with the aforementioned eroticism. Among the masterpieces that encourage and promote it, for example, Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov or The Ages of Lulú (1989) by Almudena Grandes stand out.
Sexy and fetishism
It should be noted that the erotic motivations of an individual or the sexual interest that an object can generate in someone is usually described with the adjective sexy , a word from the English language.
Eroticism can also be confused with fetishism , which is understood as a direction of libido that is directed towards certain objects or body parts.