Loooleeta On My Mind
Lolita, Lo-lee-ta, Lo. Lee. Ta. I love it—I love this book! Vladamir Nabokov gets into your head and leaves behind Lolita, Lolita, Lolita. What a magnificent novel to read, especially in light of Foucault, and refreshing after the more restrained The Scarlet Letter. And yet, after visiting The Museum of Sex, there is no way I can judge Humbert Humbert too harshly.
First, a bit on MoSex: it was more tastefully done than one might imagine, and which I was glad to see. I liked the first floor of the core exhibit (the 2nd floor), and how much of the material was familiar after the reading documents and essays from Kathy Peiss’s book. One new fact I learned was that early vibrators were given to “hysteric” women. It makes sense—what better way to calm down and let off some steam then with an orgasm? The “Sylvester Graham Lectures Young Men on Self-Restraint, 1839” document came to mind when I saw a device—like the male version of a chastity belt—to prevent men from masturbating. I did not realize how serious masturbating was considered, although the device may not have been very popular.
I was not expecting there to be a floor devoted to animal sex. The part that discussed how some species have multiple sexes and can change sex (so interesting!) applies to the Jonathan Ned Katz reading from this week. Katz posits that hetero and homosexuality are socially constructed identities that appeared in the late 19th century. If they were “invented,” as Katz puts it, then perhaps humans, like some other species, have more than two sexes. Such recognition is currently seen with more people identifying as transgender, gender queer, or asexual.
I became unable to critically judge Humbert after viewing the Internet exhibit at MoSex. The thirty most popular searches for porn were all quite different from one another. It’s hard to think Humbert is a sick man if plenty of other people find granny porn arousing.
And I don’t find Humbert Humbert disgusting. Maybe it’s because this class has made me more open, or perhaps its Nabokov’s way of creating a human, sympathetic character. Whatever the reason, I am not turned off the way I thought I would be. I like Humbert’s honesty, and the way in which he is aware of his desires. Reading his thoughts is also addictive. I feel sucked in when I read Lolita, and I want to re-read Part One because I read it in a hurry just to know what happened next.
The most shocking aspect of Lolita is Lo’s sexual experience. It upsets me that a twelve-year-old girl willingly had sex. I find it hard to imagine that someone her age could be in command of her body well enough to know what pleases her. The documents in this week’s reading explain some of Lo’s actions. She is influenced by the movies, and indeed, this is repeated in real-life accounts. In the document, “Henry James Forman Considers the Movies’ Influence on Sexual Behavior, 1933,” a teenage girl says, “‘Movies…taught me a lot pertaining to men…how I should go about loving a fellow…he is expected…to make passionate love to her, and she is expected to show him a good time as he shows her’” (342). The deployment of sexuality seems to be thriving during the time Lolita takes place, and in which the documents were written. Sex is everywhere: the movies, newspapers, and talk amongst girlfriends. I look forward to discussing the novel with everyone this Tuesday!
Tags: Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Lolita, Museum of Sex, The Deployment of Sexuality
