Sexuality and American Culture

I don't know if it is my imagination, but it seems that after the A appears in the sky in Chapter 12, Hawthorne lets the A-words fly.  The title of Chapter 13 in fact begins with an A---another. 

Here are more:  abased action aid accustomed apt air appeal affection attribute assumed ann attempting amiss among anew advantage appeared attainment accurately across allowing auspicious aqcuiescing alternative.

And that's just Chapter 13...

The Scarlet Letter, as a scathing condemnation of the sexual policing in Puritan New England and, perhaps, also a call for relaxed sexual mores in the author's own time, is a novel clearly very far ahead of its mid-nineteenth century Victorian time. Hawthorne's tale, audacious in its mere subject matter alone, goes as far as to not only cast Hester Prynne, a "fallen," adulterous woman, as its protagonist, but to actually sympathize with her and to celebrate her strength and fortitude.

It's taken me about a week to absorb the exhibits we saw last Thursday. I guess that to sum up what I thought, I felt that the information presented was surprisingly tasteful. A little awkward at times yes, but very informative and nicely organized. I don't really know how else to describe it. I was uncomfortable and at the same time enlightened.

Here's a clip from classic car commerical with not-so-subtle sexual innuendo:

www.youtube.com/watch

Enjoy!

The Museum of Sex successfully showcases various “local centers of power” or sources of “resistance” in the power relations that constitute sexuality.  Though not quite as Foucault discusses them, we can break the resistances represented in the museum into two categories:  Scientia sexualis and Ars erotica, or just science and art. 

Or, rather, the truths it didn't.

I can say with conviction that Thursday's excursion to the New York City "Museum of Sex" was the first and most likely the only time that I will have ever received porn as an academic assignment.

Not surprisingly, it was a fairly pleasurable experience.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the sophistication of the exhibits at the museum. I had expected more of a "Ripley's believe it or not" type of experience, however, the exhibits engaged in some really crucial issues. One thing I found particularly interesting was in the exhibition on the sex lives of animals, the discussion of "Panda Porn" and the sexuality of animals observed in the wild vs. that of animals observed in captivity.

Hi everyone,