Psy 1703: Human Sexuality

PSY 1703: Human Sexuality

Analysis Paper 2: Exploring Sexual Diversity

On my way to Boston from Brussels during Spring Break, I made a small detour to visit Barcelona for half a day because of a flight layover. My friends and I had just tasted the most delicious food from the Boqueria Market and we were leaving when we looked up a building and saw a poster for the Museum of Eroticism. With the upcoming assignment in mind I was very happy with the lucky coincidence and happily paid my 10-euro entrance ticket while my friends rushed off to La Sagrada which was closing soon. Red rose petals lined the stairs leading up to the second level where the museum is located, and quotes about sex and eroticism accompanied by pictures were on either side as we climbed the stairs (I wrote down one quote in particular–“If you do something related to sex, it should at least be genuinely perverse” by Grant Morrison with a picture of a vulva and a chain around the hips and one hand). I was glad my friends had their itinerary planned and could not make a detour to the museum with me because it would have been difficult to truly immerse myself in the environment if I had to be actively discussing it with people around me–and this museum really gave people some food for thought.

The Museum (Museu de l’Erotica) traces the history of eroticism with different paintings, sculptures, black and white movies (including silent porn from the early 20th century), as well as different sex toys and artifacts from all around the world. With more than 800 pieces in 14 different rooms, each room represents a different era or region of eroticism (Oriental, Kama Sutra, Ancient Civilizations, Pin Up Culture, etc.). The Kama Sutra room was very interesting and featured sculptures and wood and stone carvings that showed some of the sex positions from the famous Hindu text (I can see how yoga was useful beyond meditation in this regard). The Fetishism and Sadomachism room with red walls featured what were supposed to be sex toys but instead looked like medieval torture devises (“The Pleasure Chair” seemed a bit of a misnomer). The museum featured a lot of photographs celebrating the human body, as well as phallic objects (from ancient phallic worship artifacts from Thailand to a giant wooden representation of a penis), and famous paintings (there is a collection of erotic Picasso paintings).