A New Position

Valentine's Day 2001. This could be it, folks. The last Valentine's Day officially celebrated in the United States of America before George Dubya and the Christian Right contingency contingent cut off any expression that could lead to immorality. You know, the s-word.

A rash of Puritanism seems to be sweeping the country, even in Sin City. Giuliani threatened to revoke funding from a major New York art institution, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, because his personal morality was affronted by some of the pieces included in the sensational Sensation exhibition of Young British Artists. Disney bought Times Square, and the strip joints and porn shops were chased to the edges of New York City's outer boroughs. "Conservative" is a generously moderate word to describe the confirmed Attorney General of the United States. In response to this alarming (or, to some, no doubt, reassuring) trend, the editors of The Position say: "kiss my Ashcroft."

The Position (http://www.theposition.com) is the weekly online magazine of the forthcoming Museum of Sex. Not only was Ashcroft the target of this week's "Taking Positions" editorial, but he also made it to The Position's "Top 100 Enemies of Sex" list, along with the entire Republican Party Platform 2000, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Pope John Paul II, Wal-Mart (which sells shotguns but not CDs that have a parental advisory warning sticker), the Boy Scouts of America, and the state of Alabama, whose state legislature criminalized the sale of vibrators--plus 93 others. The Position is indubitably a liberal publication.

The irreverence and sexual liberalism that The Position demonstrates has more to do with cultural issues than with art, even though a museum technically publishes the magazine. The Feb. 5 cover story, "Kant Died a Virgin: a handy guide to man's best friend" does not discuss the merits of neutering one's beloved canine, but instead is a composite list of trivia pertaining to man's other best friend. My Contemporary Civilizations professor certainly did not mention that Kant, the philosopher who based his thinking on empiricism--knowledge through experience--had not experienced certain things before his death at age 80.

Despite the entertaining nature of such articles, The Position addresses important contemporary issues such as the concern over Bush's actions against International Family Planning organizations. They also distribute the "Sexual Sanity Awards" to people or organizations that "challenge sex-fear, unrealistic expectations, and government hypocrisy that undermines love, sex, and relationship--and political freedom--today." Doctors, journalists, and former porn stars write the articles.

The wide variety of The Position's contributors and subject matter will most certainly be reflected in the actual museum itself. The Museum of Sex, which will be completed in 2004 (incidentally, the year of the next Presidential election), has a star-studded board of directors. Alison Maddox and Daniel Gluck (the former software entrepreneur) conceived of the museum. Controversial yet respected feminist Camille Paglia, actress Sandra Bernhard, and fashion designer Todd Oldham are on the board of directors; former porn stars such as Candida Royalle and Annie Sprinkle serve in an advisory capacity.

As a for-profit business, The Museum of Sex will be protected from conservative pressure and therefore immune to the Mayor's moral consciousness--a smart move, considering Giuliani's track record in regards to controversial art.

The museum will be the first of its kind in the country and is taking itself very seriously. In a New York Times article last January, Gluck was quoted as saying he wanted the museum to be a "Smithsonian of sex" that shows the "history and evolution of human sexuality." This will certainly be a different approach than the other sex museums that exist. Most of them are located in virtual reality and overreach any artistic aspirations by calling themselves a museum. "Porn sites" would be a more appropriate moniker.

The Museum of Sex promises to be a truly intriguing study of sexuality rather than a titillating compilation collection of pornography. In the same New York Times article, Gluck mentions several objects of sex that will be included in the exhibitions, such as anti-masturbation devices employed in Victorian era mental institutions or beds that kept couples from sexual contact in Puritan times. What Gluck desires most for the Museum of Sex's collection is Monica Lewinsky's famed dress. From these examples, the museum certainly sounds like it is patterned after a Smithsonian-like organization rather than sensationalism or shock value.

The first online exhibition, Sex and Censorship, will address sexuality's role in society, rather than sex itself. The Museum of Sex does not sound like a home for fetish photography or porn star dedications but rather for historical study. Yet in trying to receive acceptance and respect for their endeavor, will the directors of the Museum of Sex forget the sexuality behind the history of sex? Treating the subject in an entirely academic manner will somehow betray the essence of the subject matter. In three years, we will find out.

Until then, the art of sexuality is coming to the foreground as an accepted discipline and study, despite the remaining bulwarks of cultural conservatism. The Royal Ontario Museum is showing an x-rated display of ancient erotica for Valentine's Day called Love and Lust Throughout the Ages.

The museum staff, however, remains tentative about the exhibit and worried about negative reactions to it, showing that sex still cannot be perceived without assigning moralistic judgments. The exhibit will only be open on Saturdays for three hours--no children allowed.

Even though sex and sexuality are integral parts of humanty life, they still cause controversy and discomfort. New York's Museum of Sex hopes to relieve some of the stigma and negativity surrounding sex.

Although the actual building for the Museum of Sex has not yet been erected, one can view the plans online. The firm hired to design the building, SHoP (Sharples, Holden, Pasquarelli), has chosen to reflect the organic nature of the human body, the vessel for sexuality, within their designs. A wall of undulating panels recall the soft curves of torsos; there is no geometric rigidity to take away from the organic nature of the building or the subject that will be contained within. The building itself will be a work of art that addresses sexuality.

So in the spirit of Valentine's Day, here's hoping that the forthcoming Museum of Sex will be loved and embraced by New York City. For if there cannot be an educated discussion in New York City, of all places, about something integral to human nature and even necessary to the future of humanity, then such dialogues might forever be hidden amid midnight Internet rendezvous and adult-humor greeting cards.

The Museum of Sex, scheduled to be completed in 2004, will be located at 27th Street and Fifth Avenue. Visit www.museum ofsex.org or www.dingaling.net/Boot/ shop/mosex1.htm for the architectural designs.