There was no need for Lori to apologise, particularly when her latest
message contained so many interesting ideas, some of which I disagreed with
but still felt that they really added to the discussion. It is impossible
to convey a tone of voice in an e-mail but my purpose in my original
message was to draw attention to the unrealised worth of (some) sex and
erotic art museums rather than have a bad-tempered moan at anyone. It is a
mistake to detect anger there. Indeed, how can anyone without a sense of
humour defend a museum such as the one in Japan where visitors can only
enter the museum galleries by sliding down a huge phallus. (I presume there
is an alternative entrance for disabled visitors). I would, however, remind
list members that every message that is posted currently goes directly to
more than 2900 other people across the world, including many countries
where there is no July 4 holiday! The problem with some postings is that
they lighten the tone to the exclusion of serious debate - and humour,
unlike sex, is not necessarily international.
As Secretary of the London Museums of Health and Medicine Group I naturally
approach this subject primarily from a public health perspective. Perhaps
my past experience as an historical adviser to university pathology labs
may also be an influence. (How many documentation officers have been
responsible for catalogue records that read 'one scrotum preserved in
spirit'?) Other listers may wish to take the debate down other routes such
as sexuality, the role and status of men and women etc. Maybe some costume
historians have something to say about sex and modes of dress? Since most
of us learned about reproduction from studying plants lets hear from some
botanists!
I have three further points to contribute.
1. All museums are bound by the legal restrictions relevant to their
country. Sex museums have a duty to record and study all aspects of human
sexual behaviour but equally must adhere strictly to regulations on decency
and be careful not to promote moral standpoints or appear to advocate
certain practices.
At the Venustemple, which I last visited in April 1998 they had an exhibit
on the nutritional value of semen. At an initial level this may well prove
shocking; I certainly found it so. On further investigation, however, it
proved to be a fascinating piece of interpretation. It is important to
stress that the exhibit was based on serious science and had only been made
possible through detailed long-term research and the input of various food
scientists. What, emphatically, the exhibit was not was any sort of
promotion of the act of oral sex. If it had been it would have strayed
beyond the remit of a museum and I would have happily joined the Pope,
Mayor Giuliani, the 'religious right' or Sir Cliff Richard in calling for
its closure.
2. Curators of sex museums are under just as much professional requirement
to treat their subject in a proper manner. Just as we wouldn't want a
military curator to get unhealthily obsessive about guns or a crime and
punishment museum curator to get too bloodthirsty, we wouldn't want a sex
museum to be staffed by perverts.
3. Any museum can discuss matters of sex if it thinks laterally.
At my own museum (which opens to the public in mid 2003 - please come, but
not prematurely!) there will be a stomach-churning exhibit showing what
happens to the human eye when a patient is suffering from venereal disease.
It consists of a model taken from an illustration in a respected text book
by Haab on diseases and conditions of the eye. Suffice to say the orbit is
surrounded by pus and other unpleasant matter. I take particular pleasure
in showing it to invited guests and I am sure the memory will linger in
many of their minds.
Perhaps if more museums had exhibits like this alongside their other
objects the demand for museums exclusively devoted to sex would decrease?
I can't offer any more on this because I'm about to go and see what Finland
has for the tourist. Whilst I'm away I will remember to unsubscribe from
the list so that people posting messages to the list don't get twenty or
more 'out of the office' auto-responses!
Neil Handley MA
Curator, British Optical Association Museum
The College of Optometrists,
42 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG
Tel: 020 7839 6000 Fax: 020 7839 6800
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
web-site: http://www.college-optometrists.org/college/museum
-----Original Message-----
From: Lori Allen [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 July 2001 17:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: I apologize.
Mr. Handley,
Periodically, someone points out one of my shortcomings and I am shocked I
could have been so blind as to my faults. Thank you for doing such
yesterday. After some very serious discussions over the past week, several
of my fellow Listers blew off a little steam and joked about the job
opening
posted for the Museum of Sex. I laughed hysterically for sometime. I
needed a good laugh after a week of continuous employment disappointments
and a sick child.
While, I never meant any disrespect, your comments pointed out something
which I had never thought of in regards to sex. I refuse to laugh when
others make sexist and / or racist jokes because I feel it concedes
acceptance of the underlying prejudice. I understand that to laugh at the
jokes is to tolerate the unfair practices aimed at women, minorities,
gays/lesbians, and Jews, to name a few. However, when laughing at the
jokes
about the Museum of Sex, it did not occur to me that I was condoning the
ignorant, puritanical views I so despise about my home country (and
others).
For years, I have loathed the attempts by a (seemingly majority) segment of
our population to limit birth control options to young /low income to
people, a woman's right to choose, sex education in schools, and to censor
art, books and media because of "sexual" content. The beliefs that all sex
is dirty, that nudity is profane, and, by extension, that our bodies are
dirty (especially women's) and should be hidden, are major underlying
reasons as to why we have unwanted pregnancies, unwanted children, babies
in
dumpsters, women and girls with low self-esteem (which contributes to the
afore-mentioned problems) and too many other societal ills to name here.
When society realizes that sex is normal, natural, and healthy and that
education, rather than limits to choice and information, is the solution to
the problem, many of the situations so highly despised by the "religious
right" will disappear. I once read where a statement that went something
like this: "100% of women who prevent pregnancy don't get abortions".
Funny, but sad that something so obvious must be pointed out.
So now I will no longer laugh at jokes such as those yesterday. I
apologize
for my ignorance and to anyone who was offended. I have long saluted the
attitudes held by the Scandinavian countries and there openness towards
human sexuality which seem to result in low abortion rates, low unwanted
pregnancy rates and general acceptance of the human body in its many shapes
and forms. Such issues and attitudes have become even more important to me
since the birth of my daughter, so thank you again for making me realize my
shortcomings.
Sincerely,
Lori Allen,
Graduate Student, UMSL
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