Silicone Genitalia

There was something too flash about my visit to the Museum of Sex today. Perhaps I’m still exhausted from midterms, but I was unnerved by the awkward reactions people had–myself included. I walked by three women who were fascinated by the human models we could touch. One asks the other two, “You’d this would be a good photo-op?” while grabbing the penis of the male model. Amused I giggled and startled the woman. She whisked around and quickly looked embarrassed  I thought to myself that it was amazing how easily people get embarrassed the expression of sexuality. Periodically, a group of Middle Eastern men tripped over themselves, pointing fingers and giggling excitedly at the diagrams, pictures and exhibits we saw. I tried to smile to show that I enjoyed their gaiety, but I felt something was at a loss at the museum.

It’s featured exhibitions, although many contain elements of eroticism and sensuality, have this sense of exhibitionism for pure entertainment value (for me, at least). I don’t say that I’m an expert on American sexuality (I’ve only reached the first half of the course!). But I wanted a deeper analysis of human and animal sex as they relate to our senses of intimacy, fear and sexuality. Some part of me wanted a Foucauldian analysis of the museum, a thorough understanding of our deployment of sexuality. I found myself making conclusions and rationalizing our collective choices in which discourses survive in our context, but I wish the museum had provided that for me. I generally ask for too much, but all in all, I hope to inspire more conversations on the museum beyond the references to “Come Fuck Me Heels” and Cock and Ball Torture.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 at 11:01 pm and is filed under Kwame K. Ocran, March 12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.