I believe art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

People get turned on by the nude body. Whether an artist paints, sculpts, draws or otherwise creates an image of the nude body to titillate or simply because he thinks the nude body is beautiful does not make it porn. It is normal to be turned on by it, and it's healthy.

Men being turned on by depictions of nude women does not mean they view women solely as sexual objects. You can view a person sexually, be aroused by them physically and be attracted to them, want to have sex with them, and still see them as a person. You can respect their intelligence and enjoy being with them, while desiring them at the same time.

I feel the same way about homosexual art. That doesn't mean I think the Maplethorpe exhibit was art; I have never seen the paintings in person, and don't remember what I did see. Isn't one of the paintings of the Virgin Mary and has feces in it, or is that another artist I'm thinking of? That, to me, is not art...and it's not because I'm a fan of religious art or anything. I just think it's disgusting to use feces for art, and while I believe we can say whatever we want about religion or anything, I would be offended if I were Christian or Catholic.

I have no problem with nude art, erotic art (nude art, without sexual acts depicted, are generally not "erotic" art), hentai, and other sexual imagery.

It's another topic, but I looooove romance novels, and I love mainstream romance (which include erotic scenes) and erotic romance (which are much more sexual). I like adult fanfic, too, although I haven't read fanfic in a long time. I don't like the attitudes of some people in the fanfic community, but that's another topic altogether.