The+Museum+of+Sex

Laura Wickstrom **The Museum of Sex**

Daniel Cluck decided to open a sex museum dedicated to “the history, evolution, and cultural significance of human sexuality,” (The Museum of Sex). The Museum of Sex, also referred to as MoSex, first opened on October 5, 2002 on Fifth Avenue in New York City, New York (The Museum of Sex). It was the first museum of its kind, with the mission of the Museum of Sex being “to preserve and present the history, evolution and cultural significance of human sexuality,” (The Museum of Sex). Through its exhibitions, programs and publications about sex and sexuality, the Museum of Sex is “committed to opening discourse and exchange and to bringing to the public the best in current scholarship,” (The Museum of Sex). Although it is a valid and comprehensive collection and display of the vast history of all things related to sex and sexual activity, the opening of the museum brought about a lot of criticism and controversy with it. Regardless, it has remained a historical and important fixture in New York City. A lot of the criticism came from religious institutions, one piece in particular being from William Donohue, the Catholic League President, who considered the Museum of Sex to be ''a death chamber that would acknowledge all the wretched diseases that promiscuity has caused,” (Blumenthal). The museum has many supporters and contributors, some of which are the Library of Congress, the New York Academy of Medicine, Playboy Enterprises, Aids Service Center, SOAR (Speaking Out About Rape), and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (The Museum of Sex). The Museum of Sex stands as a presentation of human sexuality in the United States. It communicates the history of sexuality in the United States and encompasses a broad array of topics. It provides insight into the evolution of sex in America beginning in the 1800s and leading up to today. It is the epitome of sexual communications in the United States and across the world because it teaches where every part of sex and sexuality that we know of today derived from, and it provides an immense amount of visuals as well as textual information about how sexual communication has changed and progressed worldwide. The first exhibit displayed in the museum was entitled //NYCSEX, How New York Transformed Sex in America//, and it showcased the history of sex from the gay resorts of the 1800s, to the anti-sex movement headed by Anthony Comstock, to the AIDS epidemic, to Wonder Woman, and beyond (Blumenthal). Anything historically significant that relates to sex is included in the museum, and Gluck wants it to be a thorough history and explanation of the evolution of sex. The exhibit includes biographies of the founder of the most reliable condoms, Julius Schmid; the advocate of birth control, Margaret Sanger; pornography movie stars, and the prostitute whose murder uncovered the early sex industry in 1836, among others (Blumenthal). These are important pieces of history because they have helped to shape beliefs and actions regarding sexual activity and the progression of how sex is viewed in America, as well as the many struggles that came with it. After the success of the //NYCSEX, How New York Transformed Sex in America// exhibit, the Museum of Sex decided to create a board of advisors, which helps with research for exhibits and adds to the museum’s overall collection as well as credibility (The Museum of Sex). The advisory board includes the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, New York University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and the Director Emeritus of The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, to name a few (The Museum of Sex).
 * History of the Museum of Sex**

Originally the museum was going to be a tribute to sex in New York, but it expanded and includes various exhibits that educate about sexuality in other countries as well as sexuality of other species, for example a //Sex Lives of Animals// exhibit (The Museum of Sex).

Located in New York City, New York on Fifth Avenue, the Museum of Sex is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm (The Museum of Sex). Tickets cost $16.75 plus tax for adults age 18 and over, and $15.25 plus tax for students and seniors with a valid ID (The Museum of Sex). Anyone under age 18 is not permitted to enter the museum. Exhibitions range from //Peeping, Probing, and Porn,// to //Sex Lives of Robots,// to //Disability and Sexuality: Intimate Encounters//, and are generally on view from five to seven months (The Museum of Sex). Membership is available for $35 a year, which includes one year admission to the museum, a personalized membership card, advance e-notice for all museum events, discounted prices for events, lectures, tours, and to the Museum of Sex Store (The Museum of Sex). The museum also has its own café, called the Oralfix Aphrodisiac Café, which serves sexually themed alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well as appetizer-type foods and snacks that are made from aphrodisiacs and meant to enhance sexual vitality (Oralfix). The Museum of Sex offers exhibits, lecture series, events, and publications to openly communicate an accurate and rich history of sex and sexuality to society, and its webpage, museumofsex.com, is very informative for future and returning visitors alike.
 * Visiting the Museum of Sex**

The Museum of Sex has a permanent collection that includes many different parts. One segment of the permanent collection is the research library, which is comprised of a collection of books on Sexology, historically relevant texts, art and fiction (The Museum of Sex). The permanent collection also includes a media library, which works to show how beliefs and attitudes about sex and sexuality were shaped, as well as helps to explain behaviors, beginning with the moving pictures of the early 1800s and extending to modern pornography (The Museum of Sex). The media library has 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, BETA, VHS, and DVDs in its collection, making it a relevant source (The Museum of Sex). Over 15,000 pieces make up the artifact collection, which includes an array of objects like photography, art, technological inventions, and other historical memorabilia (The Museum of Sex). The permanent collection also hosts pieces of art from the Lannan Foundation Art Program, which works to spread the discourse of outstanding contemporary artists and their work (About Lannan Foundation). They donated nineteen pieces of art to the Museum of Sex in May of 2000. Ralph Whittington, retired librarian of the Library of Congress, donated his vast collection of pornography that he started collecting in the 1970s, which also resides in the permanent collection and is so thorough that it is a collection “you could not make now,” according to Executive Curator of the Museum of Sex Grady Turner (Carlson). Finally, the permanent collection hosts memorabilia such as costumes and signs from the Harmony Theatre, an old burlesque club located in Times Square known for featuring nude porn stars as performers (The Museum of Sex). The museum also has rotating exhibits that cover a wide range of topics in order to fully communicate every aspect of sex to the audience. There are five different exhibits at a time and they change every few months (The Museum of Sex).
 * Inside the Museum of Sex**

About Lannan Foundation. (2011). Lannan Foundation. Retrieved from .
 * References**

Blumenthal, Ralph. (2002 September 19). Sex museum says it is here to educate. The New York Times. Retrieved from .

Carlson, Peter. (2002 August 24). ‘King of porn’ empties out his castle. The Washington Post. Retrieved from .

Farrington, Darren. (2009 September 16). An adult vacation: New York City’s Museum of Sex. Retrieved from .

Oralfix Café. (2010). Museum of Sex. Retrieved from .

The Museum of Sex. (2010). Museum of Sex. Retrieved from .