Sex artifiacts displayed at educational exhibit

IU's Kinsey Institute demonstrates erotica with an exhibit of sex toys, masturbation pictures, illustrated births and photographs of sexual acts as part of their latest project to educate students about human sexuality. \nGarry Milius, assistant curator at Kinsey, said the taboo topic of sex and sexuality should be exhibited in a scientific and scholarly way, as Alfred Kinsey intended to do based on the principles of academic freedom in a University environment. Providing credible sex data, Kinsey and his team of scientists interviewed about 18,000 people from across the country as part of their sexuality research to benefit the health and well-being of both men and women.\n"We treat the Kinsey Institute's gallery as a museum," Milius said. "We have about 8,000 pieces of artwork and 75,000 photographs, ranging from novelty items to well known artists, such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse and Rembrandt. We are lucky to have an interesting selection of their works made in a much more private way for themselves or their friends. Everything (in the gallery) is by donation."\nAlso on exhibit in the Institute's gallery are Kinsey's personal artifacts, such as the microscope he used to study Gall Wasps. His primary academic research was devoted to the taxonomy -- collecting and classifying -- of Gall Wasps before he taught an IU course on marriage. \nFrustrated with not knowing how to address topics of normal sexual functioning with his students, Kinsey discovered a gap in the public's knowledge about human sexuality, Milius said. At the time, no comprehensive scientific studies had been performed on the sexual behavior of people. Having stumbled on the topic of sex as a reinvented academic career, Milius said Kinsey started the collection as a wonderful way to learn about sex from different centuries. \n"The Kinsey Institute is affiliated with the University, but separate at the same time. It is privately owned by trustees of the Institute. The primary mission of the artwork and the collection is for research purposes," Milius said. \nAmong the artifacts displayed throughout the exhibit, students can view a few 19th century Japanese Kama Sutra pillow books, a 19th century lambskin condom, an iron and a glass dildo, an early version of a penis pump wired to a car-sized battery, a photograph of a woman giving birth and anatomy illustrations with step-by-step instructions. \nLooking for love in all the right places, the exhibit will be running until Feb. 11 in Morrison Hall. Students and class groups can take a tour of the Kinsey Institute's resources by making reservations at 855-7686.\nJennifer Bass, head of information services for Kinsey, said the Institute encourages students to take advantage of Kinsey by visiting the library and gallery. \n"Last year in the summer, some of our research was challenged in Congress along with other researchers," Bass said. "Sexuality research seems to be involved in the culture war instead of seeing it as something that is a part of our lives." \nReminiscing on his perceived lack of sexual education in school, first-year Master in Business Administration student Jeremy Wise said he was shown highly conservative diagrams with few explaining words. \n"As an undergrad, I sat in on a human sexuality class; I thought it was interesting," Wise said. "It was a great opportunity to have someone focus on the animal behaviors of humans. Sex and sexuality are present in every culture."\nBass said she thinks Kinsey would be dismayed and shocked by the AIDS epidemic and discouraged that sex has become a political hot potato.\n"Our mission is to do research in sexual behavior," Bass said. "The Kinsey Institute is unique in that we are open to research from a broad and interdisciplinary approach -- understanding sexuality from all different perspectives. We are also conducting research about problems in sexual behavior today, everything from why people take risks with their health even when they know the consequences to how emotions and mood affect sexual decision-making."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.