Anka Radakovich's Sexplorations column originally ran in the August issue of AVN magazine. Click here for a link to the digital edition.
Above, an image from the James Bidgood show at the Museum of Sex. Pictured, Bidgood “mixing” at Club 82 as Carol Channing, 1950s.
Old-school museums have always been a place to admire the human form, but some institutions take a more modern and direct approach to elevating vaginas, penises and porn into museum-quality tourist attractions. Here are a few of the world’s prominent sex museums worth a visit the next time you find yourself in Las Vegas, New York City and London—or your next vacay in South Korea.
What Stays in Vegas
The Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas was founded in 2008 by sexologist Dr. Ted Mcllvenna and Golden Age porn distributor Harry Mohney. The museum’s ethos: “Sexual pleasure is an intrinsic aspect of human experience and celebrations of human sexuality should be made available to all.”
The massive museum’s collection includes the “world’s largest erotic bicycle” for four (somes) and an “auto erotic chair” for do-it-yourself sex. Their “wall of shame” display features vintage articles about politicians and celebrities connected to sex scandals, such as the 1988 prostitution sex scandal involving televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, who admitted, “I have sinned.”
Popular events at the museum include the “Freak Show” variety show, and a weekly “The Art of Naked Yoga” class. which, according to Dr. Victoria Hartman, who runs the museum, was “developed with the aim for each participant to reconnect with themselves and others in an open way. Removing your clothes can be unnerving at first, but is a liberating experience.” To keep it funny instead of creepy, instructors combine comedy and naked yoga. Porn stars have been known to show up to the classes, but cell phones are banned, so you don’t have to worry about someone posting a photo of your liberated, naked ass.
Past exhibitions have included “Sex in Space,” which explores how it all goes down, or up, in space—and reveals that it’s hard to get an erection in zero gravity. The museum has also showcased the work of various artists, including photographers Elizabeth A. Johnson and Alberto A. Navarro II and artists Bettina Hubby and Clare O. Hagan.
Most recently the museum featured the work of Marco Pallotti. A photographer, Pallotti started shooting a series of erotic photographs using multiple exposures to create a sense of motion within the frame. The results can be seen in an exhibit titled “Kinetic Frames.” For more information, visit EroticMuseumVegas.com.
Above, a photograph from Marco Pallotti's Kinetic Frames series and the Erotic Heritage Museum. Pictured, Amilia Onyx and Sean Michaels.
Well Hung Art
In Seoul, Korea, a walk in "Penis Park" is an especially stimulating stroll. The park consists of massive dick sculptures ranging from totem poles to penile park benches. There are 50 of them; some made from stone, others carved from wood, for the most humongous woodies you’ve ever seen.
The park is popular with people of all ages, which is interesting considering how sexually conservative South Korea is. But the long and short of it is that people in Korea enjoy sitting, looking at, and playing with gigantic schlongs. The "boner benches" look like the most fun, with people straddling them for selfies, to make it look like they have massive woodrows between their legs.
According to legend, Haesingdang Park was erected near the site where a woman was left by her fisherman boyfriend on a rock in the sea while he fished. He was unable to retrieve her and she drowned. After that, the village people were suddenly unable to catch any fish. One day, a fisherman urinated into the water and afterward, he was able to catch fish. So someone (with a penis) got the idea that exposing the deceased virgin to dongs would please her. To "soothe her spirit" further, the local village people made several phallic wooden carvings and held religious ceremonies on her behalf. After that, the fish returned and the fisherman were able to work again. The dongs did it!
There is also a small folk museum in the park called the "Village Folk Museum" displaying art objects by Korean artists devoted to "sex iconography" for "joy, spirituality, and sexuality." And the town of nearby Samcheok held a "Penis culture festival", featuring gigantic totem pole penises, which was no doubt a source of endless dick jokes. During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, the penis park was a popular tourist attraction for Olympians from around the world, who reportedly used 110,000 free condoms on their own totem poles.
Find Mo’ Sex in NYC
The mission of New York City’s Museum of Sex is to “preserve and present the history, evolution, and cultural significance of human sexuality.The museum is committed to “encouraging public enlightenment, discourse, and engagement.”
In a town with the greatest museums--including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Sex has endured since opening in 2002, and draws tourists from around the world to prove that sex and art are both important in people’s lives.
According to founder Daniel Gluck, “New York has tended to favor innovation, and learned to tolerate difference. But ‘only in New York’ could this particular Museum of Sex been born—in a city bold enough, bad enough, bizarre enough and brazen enough to have a sexual history unlike that of any other city. In investigating this history, we draw inspiration from those who have struggled in New York--whether as activists or hucksters, intellectuals or entrepreneurs, leaders or lovers--to transform sex in America.”
Current exhibitions include “Stag: The illicit Origins of Pornographic Film.” According to the exhibition’s curators “From the early 1900s until the late 1960s, pornographic films were predominantly short, black-and-white and anonymously produced--known as “stags.” Screenings of stag films, called “smokers” or “stag parties,” were clandestine events that attracted a heteronormative, white, male audience who would gather at American Legion halls, fraternities, or brothels. At these raucous events, audiences would drink, laugh, tease and nudge each other, jeer and cheer at the screen as the film’s protagonists pursued their conquests.”
“Jump for Joy” is a giant interactive room of bouncy breasts that visitors can jump on and a historical exhibition of James Bidgood, a 1950s drag queen who went on to design elaborate costumes for society balls. It’s an interesting exhibit and a glimpse into the history of queer art in New York City—as is an exhibit of photographs by Mariette Pathy Allen, who has been documenting gender expression since the 1970s.
Check out more at MuseumOfSex.com.
Girl Power
The new girl in town is the soon-to-open Vagina Museum in London. A mini version of the museum currently exists in Camden Market, but the ultimate plan is to build a permanent bricks-and-mortar museum that “takes a holistic view of vaginas, from science to history to their place in culture.” Plans include an event space and a gift shop for anything vag related. (A straight male friend says he can’t wait for it to open because “he’s dying to get in there.”)
Since vaginas rule and there “is no physical vagina museum anywhere in the world,” feminist founder Florence Schecter decided to “rectify the situation and make one.” Her crowdfunder campaign has raised more than 85,000 British pounds—the equivalent of $105,000.
The museum will address many women’s social issues, such as body acceptance. There has been a 500 percent increase in the number of labiaplasties since 2002, Schecter points out. Yet most men are just happy to see one.
Other issues in the sexual politics arena will include sexual consent, LGBT concerns, sex education, and the idea that “Not just vagina owners need to know about vaginas. Half of men wouldn’t feel comfortable chatting about gynecological issues with a female partner,” says Schecter, “and they still see the vagina as shrouded in mystery.” Help celebrate the “lady down there” at Crowdfunder.co.uk/vaginamuseum.
Anka Radakovich is a sex columnist who wrote a column for Details magazine. She is the author of three books, including her newest, The Wild Girls Club, Part 2. She is also a certified sexologist. Follow Anka Radakovich on Twitter: @ankarad.
