Last week, I had the opportunity to go to the iconic museum of sex in New York City. Before attending, I honestly thought that the museum would appear more as a tourist attraction, rather than something that would provide visitors with the opportunity to educate themselves. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the plethora of information and effective layout of the museum. I would honestly recommend any student of the appropriate age to visit the museum because I think anyone can see how women have been used for their bodies throughout history. Along with this, a lot of people who have not visited the museum look down upon its content. However, I personally hold this museum at the same value as any other museum because, at the end of the day, this type of material needs to be studied and is not a joke.
After purchasing my ticket, my friend and I had entered the museum. The first room provided us with a general synopsis of what would come. There was a gift shop, a bar, and general information on the purpose of the museum. It was refreshing to see that none of the fellow visitors were mocking the purpose of this museum. To be blunt, do not visit the museum unless you are honestly mature enough to handle the content. From there, we decided to go up to the second floor of the museum where the bulk of the exhibits began. The second floor consisted of the history of different sex toys and hinted at the dark nature of the past. Clearly, visitors will see the sexual exploitation of women throughout the whole museum, which can be triggering to some.
The third exhibit had changed subjects to the history of animal sex. Before I proceed with a description of this floor, I want to make it clear that no this exhibit was not disturbing because it was taken from a clear biological, research and science-based standpoint. Furthering my point, that this museum should not be seen as a tourist attraction, but rather an educational tool. I can honestly say that I was shocked by this exhibit because I was not expecting the museum to include this information. Due to the rumors and speculation about the museum that I heard prior to attending, I was not expecting to see this amount of thorough, serious, valid, and biological research on the behavior of animals.
From there, the content of the museum takes a darker turn. The fourth exhibit that I went to was about more violence based sex and BDSM. It was honestly disgusting to see the amount of archaic and abusive pornographic depictions of women that were traded on the black market. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about how women were forced into sex by men, how cartoonists exploited their bodies, the lack of rights that women had to express their own sexual desires and the cultural and societal submissive perception of women. This exhibit was honestly depressing, emotional and extremely graphic. Contrary to the juvenile perception of this museum, this exhibit provides anyone studying women, gender, psychology, sociology, culture or sexuality the opportunity to find valid information that can help further research.
The last exhibit reflected the perception of sex through a more artistic and spiritual nature. Out of all the exhibits that I attended, this was one of the most insightful, but also mind challenging exhibits because a lot of the content is from psychiatric centers. I would advise visitors that before entering this exhibit they continue to have an open perspective and not to judge who created these works of art. Also, be prepared to see some disturbing images.
