Only in New York could someone dream up a museum which turns sex into an exhibition of academic pursuits and historical insights. The New York Musuem of Sex (http://museumofsex.com/), is one such bone-headed venture which, nevertheless, is generating quite a bit of enthusiasm with its colorful exhibitions among history buffs, tourists and just plain old kinky New Yorkers looking for a kick. The museum hosts ’sexhibitions’ based on themes such as the ‘underground evolution of early sex films’, ‘Vamps & Virgins: The Evolution of the American Pinup 1860-1960′, ‘Come whet your appetite and encounter the pleasures of Bacchanalia…’.  

For the record (yes, I googled it), the bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Roman and Greek god Bacchus. Funnies aside, this musuem is actually a release valve for America and New York’s pent-up prudishness. Why all the big hoopla about sex? The French don’t give two hoots about their recently elected President getting divorced, and both him and his wife getting re-married before their electoral honeymoon is over. The Swedes take pride in their openness about sex and nude camps. New Yorkers take pride in having ousted a Governor who paid for extra-marital sex, even as hookers are servicing clients in family friendly hotels in New York. If the museum manages to raise the curtain on some of the hypocrisy and double-standards which prusidhness leads to, it might actually be beneficial, than just a place you visit for entertainment value.

So yes, this museum does have some significance, and if they don’t cross the line (which is going to be a tad bit difficult considering it’s New York), it might actually help liberate New York’s culture and views about sex and end up changing the future, rather than be a bunch of pictures and artifacts cataloguing the past.

Besides, the museum isn’t as debauched as it may sound from this post. It’s actually more art than explicit portrayal, and some of it, such as the current exhibition ‘Sex in Design/Design in Sex’, is actually quite stimulating (not in that sense) and inspiring if you’re an artist or a designer. And some exhibitions are a testament to American ingenuity, such as the ‘US Patent Office Sex Inventions’ which focuses on technological innovations and the way these new inventions intermingle and fit in with changing perceptions about sex and conventional thought.

Info: 233 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10016; (212) 689-6337. Open Sunday to Friday from 11:00am – 6:30pm and on Saturdays from 11:00am – 8:00pm. Tickets - Adults $14.50 + tax  and a dollar less for students and seniors. You can get a $3 discount if you print out a coupon and from their website and take it along when you go to the museum. Further group discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Transportation: Subway: N, R to 28th Street (Broadway); 6 to 28th Street (Park Avenue). Bus:
M2,M3,M5 going downtown on Fifth Avenue; M6,M7 going downtown on Broadway; M2,M3 going uptown on Madison Avenue.