Hello! Today we went to the Museum of Sex. YES, it is a museum dedicated to sex. And YES, we did watch pornography together. The museum was really interesting, but some exhibits had the potential to make some ASBers a bit uncomfortable. The first thing you see when you start walking through the museum is a room full of TV screens showing different kinds of pornography: gay/same sex, celebrity, movie sex scenes, etc. There were some interesting informational signs about the histories of the different flavors of porn too. After that room you could ascend some stairs to enter the next exhibit area. The first upstairs room was dedicated to information on various sexual fantasies, sexual toys, photography of sex, and past views of masturbation. The final room was an exhibit on HIV/AIDS, contraception, and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
So, you might ask: Why go to the Museum of Sex? Well, there is a reason other than to watch porn and look at rubber penises. There is a lot of stigma surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In general, people are not getting the sexual education that they need and there isn't really enough talk about the thing that LOTS of people are doing: sex. It's still a taboo topic in most places (even in the free speaking communities of the USA), so HIV/AIDS continues to spread because of people having no idea about safe(r) sex. The Museum of Sex is there at 233 Fifth avenue to say, "Yes, people are having sex - let's discuss."
After perusing the museum shop we were hungry so a group of us split off and went to the diner across the street for some grub. After that we went to 'Crumbs,' the awesome bakery across from the Public Library, and grabbed some cupcakes to go. Then we had free time until we met to reflect on the museum experience and discuss our hopes and fears for the coming week. After a good meeting we were off to Rivington House for game night.
We took a long subway ride down to Rivington House, which is a residential clinic for people who have HIV/AIDS. We played games with the residents- like Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Dominoes, and Pool. We all got to interact on a personal level with wonderful people who are daily battling the disease. It was a great night, and a good way to get warmed up for our next couple of days!
After volunteering we were all hungry so we stopped at a Whole Foods and then scrambled back to the hostel to warm up leftovers for dinner. By then it was getting late! So now we are off to bed...
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