MoSex
Although I enjoyed my first visit to the Museum of Sex, I wasn’t all that impressed by its curation. There were exciting, educational elements for sure, but I at times I had difficulty navigating the exhibitions. For example, the installation that was located in the hallway between the “Universe of Desire” room and the Permanent Collection, there was a lone screen with a bunch of green pixels and a shallow platform before it. There wasn’t an info card describing the installation but I was lucky enough to catch a museum employee walking by amidst my state of perplexity. When I asked what the installation was about, the employee said, “Yeah…I’ve never really understood this one but you can stand on the platform and then the screen changes…” “Oh cool!” I said, but when I got up there, it was really pretty boring. I wish I understood why it was isolated from the other exhibitions, why it was in the museum of sex to begin with, and what the artist’s intentions were with the piece. Alas. I had a similar experience in the next room showcasing the museum’s Permanent Collection. The panel to the left of the “Anti-Onanism Device” displayed a number of scary looking tools that I really wanted to the functions of. But again, no corresponding placard. This made me feel like some of the stuff that was in the museum was there purely for its shock value as opposed to its educational value, which is disappointing.
That said, I did learn a lot at the Museum of Sex! I learned what the “CMF” stands for in “CMF high heels” – “Come Fuck Me” (thanks to Nadia’s iPhone). I learned that the turquoise color of a Vervet Monkey’s scrotum lightens in shade if his status among the troop diminishes(!!). In general, The Sex Lives of Animals room was super intriguing. Mainly, I enjoyed reading about and watching animals besides humans that have sex for pleasure, and that have male-male and female-female sex and relationships! But of course, a dark shadow had to be cast by some jerk-o humans creating a ruckus around about a picture book based on the true story of two male penguins raising a chick together called And Tango Makes Three. Apparently, the book was successfully banned in a number of places.
Another funny experience I had happened as I was walking back through the exhibitions on my way out. My first time going through the “Universe of Desire” room I added my two cents to the chalkboard that invited guests to share “the one thing they would never Google.” I wrote, “Two Girls, One Cup,” because I have never seen it and never want to see it. On my way out I noticed someone had added a response with an arrow pointing to my post: “It’s really not that bad.” I thought that was really funny. Was it any of you?
March 12th, 2013 at 10:41 pm
That’s really funny about the chalkboard. I had noticed your comment, not knowing who wrote it, and thought, “who HASN”T seen two girls one cup?” Although I guess not everyone was a 16 year old boy at the time.
I enjoyed the animal exhibit as well, especially the parts about dolphins. How spinner dolphins wuzzle in groups, and how other dolphins have anal, vaginal, and blowhole penetration. The sex lives of animals also holds an interesting place in discourses on sexuality.
I was also confused about the unlabeled tools. I think that a few of them were for abortions and childbirth, but it would have been nice to have been given that information. I found myself continually questioning the museum’s intent to educate, as it often seemed like it only meant to shock, provoke (in a typical type of resistance still functioning within Scientia Sexualis), or simply entertain.
March 12th, 2013 at 11:02 pm
Sophia–it was me! Haha!
March 12th, 2013 at 11:38 pm
I was hoping it was one of us!! Awesome discovery.