“These last one hundred years are just the beginning; a new era is coming into view.”
— ÉVA GOICOCHEA, FOUNDER, CEO, CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF MAUDE
Overview
About
Credits
Over the past century, cultural values and debates around obscenity have challenged and invigorated the design, marketing, and circulation of sexual health products in the United States. From the coded advertisements for “feminine hygiene” douches in the 1920s to the conspicuous yet cutesy design of the Rabbit vibrator in the 1980s, Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency displays objects, archival materials, and media that illustrate how the classification of health and the medicalization of intimacy, as reflected by the products on view, have transformed over time.
As an experiential retrospective, this exhibition presents the dynamic cultural transition that has taken place. As erotic media and education have become more accessible—shifting from advice books, to television, to the smartphone—an emergent cultural understanding of sexual health developed and gradually moved from private to public spheres. In response, an innovative and commercial sexual wellness movement followed, intending to advertise to a broad audience. Today, “sexpert” podcasts stream on mainstream services and high-tech pleasure products are distributed and advertised in popular chain stores, despite ongoing censorship and legal regulation.
In 2015, Éva Goicochea converged her passion for healthcare and brand to begin the development for maude, a modern sexual wellness company built to challenge a legacy industry and serve the customer through quality, simplicity, and inclusivity. In 2020, Dakota Johnson joined as co-creative director and investor. Through a holistic approach to intimacy, maude creates body-safe and mood-setting essentials for before, during, and after sex. To further their mission of making sexual wellness accessible for all people, maude works closely with Peer Health Exchange, Advocates for Youth, and SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States).
MAUDE CURATORIAL TEAM Éva Goicochea, Co-Curator and Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of maude Dakota Johnson, Co-Curator and Co-Creative Director of maude
MUSEUM OF SEX CURATORIAL TEAM Emily Shoyer, Curator at Large Kayla Janaé Smith, Lead Researcher and Curatorial Project Assistant Laura Metzler, Exhibitions and Curatorial Manager Alex Bateman, Former Curatorial Intern Eve Arballo, Former Assistant Curator and Exhibitions Manager Xavi Danto, Former Researcher and Collections Assistant
ADVISORY BOARD Lynn Comella, PhD, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rachel Maines, PhD, Historian of Technology Carol Queen, PhD, Staff Sexologist, Company Historian, and Curator of the Antique Vibrator Museum at Good Vibrations Shelly Ronen, PhD, Sociologist of Gender, Sexuality, Labor, and Culture
EXHIBITION DESIGN Eunice Yunjeong Lee
EXHIBITION PRODUCTION Cletis Chatterton
TECHNOLOGY TEAM Winston Forgenie Jr. Edgar Samudio
INSTALLATION & CONSTRUCTION TEAM Melissa Guillen, Graphic Design Assistant
EXHIBITION SUPPORT Kit Richardson, Lead Product Manager
LENDERS Antique Vibrator Museum Betony Vernon Global Protection Corp. Hallie Lieberman Leather Archives and Museum Lovehoney Group The Kinsey Institute & Library, Indiana University Bloomington
