"food porn"って何のこと？ ― food porn

唐突ですが、"food porn"という言葉をご存知ですか？


Food Porn is new to me.

I heard of it only recently, but since then I have been hearing it a lot. Articles in the press, websites, blogs, advertisements. Chefs who fight against it. Chefs who defend it. Lawyers who say it’s legal. Lawyers who say it isn’t.

Food Porn seems to be "in," if we're to believe social media and the thousands of food photos uploaded daily to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and others for millions of Food Porn addicts to salivate over. Then there are the countless web sites and blogs devoted to Food Porn and to uploaded photos from the food-obsessed.

It's certainly not porn as we know it (not that I really know porn).

Rather, it relates to posting pictures of food on the Internet. Appealing, provocative, sensual pictures of "exotic dishes that arouse a desire to eat, or the glorificaiton of food as a substitute for sex," according to Wikipedia, which helpfully advises not to confuse food porn with food and sexuality.
(Cecilia Rodriguez. Food Porn: Are You Ready To Take A Stand? Forbes. March 10, 2014.)



"porn"（ポルノ）というと後ろ暗い感じがしますが、食べ物（food）のポルノって一体？？

“ポルノ”は言ってみればそれを見る人の性欲を刺激するもの。"food"のポルノとは、性欲ではなく食欲を刺激するもの、というのが定義のようです。

この表現の隆盛には、フェースブックなどのソーシャルメディアの流行が要因としてあるようです。つまり、ソーシャルメディアを通して共有される様々な"food"の写真こそが、それを見る人々の食欲を刺激しているのです。

辞書に掲載される日も近いかもしれません。