The Museum of Sex, on 233rd Street and 5th Ave. in Manhattan New York, has some of the most interesting and thought provoking exhibits. Since you have to be 18 in order to enter the museum and gift store due to its’ explicit content there was a staff member checking ID’s to ensure anyone entering the building was of age.
While entering the ticket purchasing stage of my trip to the museum, I had some confusion as to where I had to go in order to purchase a ticket. I had to go down a set of stairs where there was ample seating and a restroom available to patrons. During the transaction, which costs $18, one of the guests who was with me asked about the bouncy boob house that they normally run at the end of the museum tour. The ticket associate had told my guest that the bouncy boob house was currently not running for the day, where we later found out that it was up and running. To me it felt like there was a lack of communication on their end.
After the ticket was purchased I had to go back up the steps to the gift shop and across the way to the actual entrance of the museum. You could say I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be walking back up stairs. After getting my ticket scanned and walking through the doorway I had to walk up another two flights of stairs to get into the first exhibit. The first room was an exhibit about the history of sex. The room was filled with pictures and explanations of sex trends and traditions ranging all the way back to the era of Pompeii.
After going through the first room, I realized you had to go back and exit through the entrance to get to the next room, which then required another flight of stairs up. The next exhibit was more interactive and was considered the more of senses. The flow of this room was slightly better than the first, with having a separate exit from the entrance I found the room more conventional. But while leaving the current room and moving through to the next there was some traffic problems with a sign that kept drawing the attention of patrons, but then only ended up being a map of the room we were leaving. It was a very strange move on the museum's end.
(Above is a photo of one of the sensory interactives)
The next room was located ten feet over from the previous room and was very bright, that made it very different from the first two. It was all about the sex of animals. The room was very interesting in regards to the information given on all the creatures but I was a little disturbed by the fact that there was more history on animal sex than people sex.
(One of the sculptures in the animal sex exhibit)
When entering the next room, I had to take a steep flight of steps down.
This last exhibit was a very narrow room but had a decent flow due to the amount of pieces on the walls. This room was full of sex toys and famous sex objects. Just before the exit, the bouncy boob house was located on the right of the last room. Optional, but also cost three dollars in only credit or debit. If you had cash you had to go all the way back to the ticket office and purchase the pass to go on the bounce house. Which was also strange since the gentleman at the ticket booth said it was closed. To exit the museum I had to go down another flight of stairs (ugh) and go through the gift shop that we had entered through.
(The inflatable boob bouncy house)
I found the Museum of Sex very interesting in its content, but very ill structured. From what I gathered by the layout I would have to imagine the space was rented by the museum and that is why the rooms had such confusing layouts. Anyone with any sort of walking disability would have no chance of being able to enjoy themselves at the museum. But, I felt that my experience was worthwhile and the knowledge learned was valuable. Anyone looking for a good time with some good friends I suggest heading down to the Museum of Sex.
P.S. they also had a photo booth and that was fun.
