MoSex!
So after spending the past two days making very good friends over the phone with TimeWarner Cable’s customer service, I finally have internet in order to respond to our fascinating trip to the Museum of Sex!
I was struck by several things at the Museum. First off, I liked the unapologetic displays. Nothing was off limits or hidden. I was particularly mesmerized by the wall of the 100 most-searched porn subjects. I’m not sure if they were placed in order (I find it hard to believe that “cunnilingus” is below “clown” but you never know!), but I found it really intriguing that there were so many possible scenarios/fetishes/kinks/etc. that people feel compelled to put into their search bars. Another interesting exhibit was the messages between Anthony Weiner and Lisa Weiss. As Kwame pointed out at the time, the messages were no different than any other typical sext conversation, the only “controversy” being Weiner’s political position. It makes me wonder a bit about his situation. It wasn’t like he was Eliot Spitzer ordering high-class prostitutes. Instead he commits what I’d like to term a “scarlet crime” after The Scarlet Letter. Do you guys think people were to hard on Weiner? Or was stepping down from office the right response for his actions?
My favorite exhibit by far was the old Victorian-era pornographic photographs. To see men with well-groomed mustaches and women with classically beautiful faces engaged in the same sex positions that you see in most of today’s porn videos is sort of shocking, even though, as we’ve spent our classes learning, it shouldn’t be. Yet to accept the idea of Victorian-era sex is quite a bit easier than embracing the image of Victorian-era sex. But it solidifies the idea as truth.
What really struck me most about the museum visit were the other people walking around. There was a very apparent uncomfortable tension between strangers, and even some nervous giggling between friends and couples as they gazed at each exhibit. Whenever I made eye contact with a stranger, I found myself quickly looking away (with the exception of one young man whose outfit was definitely stare-worthy). It felt like there was this general consensus that we were all engaged in something “naughty.” Yet, when I looked at the exhibits, I didn’t feel that way. There was something about the relationship between me and the pieces that felt totally normal and natural, yet when I engaged in brief contact that wasn’t anyone from our class, I immediately felt uncomfortable. I’m really interested to read if other people felt similarly!
Tags: Museum of Sex
