# ? about art museums and kids, paging museum employees past and present **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649 "2007-09-10T04:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/21 "2007-09-11T11:48:26Z")
Kids just do stuff like that and parents are sometimes embarrased, when maybe they needn’t be. My son was in church and getting squirmy as 4 year olds will do. His mother was trying to use intimidation to shush him and whispered that he had to be quiet in God’s house. He responded, in a voice sufficiently loud to be heard for several pews, “But where’s God?”. There were a number of understanding smiles directed at her, but her faces still turned a bright red. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/22 "2007-09-12T03:44:39Z")
[QUOTE=Harriet the Spry] When I saw Body Worlds in Chicago, they had some of the exhibits separated with a notice that some people might find them disturbing. This was mainly in reference to a the preserved body of a pregnant woman (who had died of natural causes, a terminal illness) and donated her body to this art/science project. So just another data point that this happens sometimes. [/QUOTE] Wait-are you talking about [this](http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/bodies/)? We’re getting that here at the science center, as you can see. While I can see that it might be a little much for small children, it IS sectioned off in its own gallery. (As much to “protect the CHILDREN!!!” as it is to keep people who haven’t paid the extra fee from checking it out!) However, warnings about “racist antiques?” Would you shield them from every aspect of history that wasn’t pretty or pleasant? If anything, they can learn even more from such things. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/23 "2007-09-12T11:41:08Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Wait-are you talking about [this](http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/bodies/)? We’re getting that here at the science center, as you can see. While I can see that it might be a little much for small children, it IS sectioned off in its own gallery. (As much to “protect the CHILDREN!!!” as it is to keep people who haven’t paid the extra fee from checking it out!) [/QUOTE] That’s it - but the reference was to the fact that within the separate Body Worlds exhibit, there’s a sectioned-off area with a warning sign outside. I went to Body Worlds 2 and it had a pregnant woman and a series of fetal development stages as well. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/24 "2007-09-12T15:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] That’s it - but the reference was to the fact that within the separate Body Worlds exhibit, there’s a sectioned-off area with a warning sign outside. I went to Body Worlds 2 and it had a pregnant woman and a series of fetal development stages as well. [/QUOTE] Yep, we’ve already been informed of that. Our main concern about that is having protesters outside the building. I already had one woman come in with her kids, wearing a shirt saying, “Abortion is Mean,” who asked me about it. As for kids giggling, meh. I remember my friends and I giggling over the pictures of Adam and Eve in our children’s Bible at recess. (This was a Catholic school) That’s what kids do. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/25 "2007-09-12T15:36:57Z")
I took my cousin’s five-year-old to an art gallery. When it came to stuff that was a bit “harsh” we discussed the piece. Eg/ This is shocking. Why is it shocking? Is it meant to be shocking? What does it say about people? Etc. Granted, I had to discuss it at a level suitable for a five-year-old. I certainly wouldn’t take him to exhibits that I know would be utterly inappropriate (such as a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit). I saw no need to shield him from anything (and his parents were okay with me using my own discretion) and we had pretty good discussions about a lot of “shocking” pieces. He was creeped out by Frida Kahlo and [this portrait](http://www.ago.net/www/picture.two/dix.jpg) by Otto Dix. Sex and violence he took in stride, but the creepy eyeballs of “Dr. Stadelmann” gave him the heebie-jeebies. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/26 "2007-09-12T15:45:54Z")
[QUOTE=Harriet the Spry] When I saw Body Worlds in Chicago, they had some of the exhibits separated with a notice that some people might find them disturbing. This was mainly in reference to a the preserved body of a pregnant woman (who had died of natural causes, a terminal illness) and donated her body to this art/science project. So just another data point that this happens sometimes. [/QUOTE] There were tons of children at the Body Worlds 2 exhibit in Toronto. And yes, the only thing behind a curtain was a woman who had been late in her second trimester (or start of her third) and had been killed in a car accident. That wasn’t shielded specifically to protect young visitors, but _anyone_ who would be sensitive to such a thing. Her abdomen and uterus were opened up so that you could see the baby in the womb. It was actually _very_ interesting, but would certainly be upsetting for some people. None of the children I saw at the exhibit appeared frightened or upset. It was all very clinical. There were _many_ families there. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/27 "2007-09-12T15:56:16Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] That wasn’t shielded specifically to protect young visitors, but _anyone_ who would be sensitive to such a thing. [/QUOTE] Right. I didn’t find it offensive in any way, but certainly sad. There are probably some days I’d choose not to visit an exhibit like that, just like there are days I’d skip Goya’s dark paintings. OTOH, the warning and barrier would also be a clue to skip that part of Body Worlds with young children who didn’t know babies grow in mommy’s tummy, if you didn’t want to have that conversation right there in the museum. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/28 "2007-09-12T17:30:26Z")
I think the movies from Disney are a LOT more upsetting than any painting could be – did you realize Nemo’s dad dies? Same thing in the Lion King - and Simba is told that he’s responsible! We all know Bambi’s mom gets offed (I’ve never managed to watch that one). Snow White’s stepmother wants her heart in a box! Shoot, I picked up _The Five Chinese Brothers_ from the library, it’s one I remember from my childhood. _The whole book’s about the villagers trying to kill them!_ The world is a scary place, my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/29 "2007-09-12T17:33:46Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] He was creeped out by Frida Kahlo and [this portrait](http://www.ago.net/www/picture.two/dix.jpg) by Otto Dix. Sex and violence he took in stride, but the creepy eyeballs of “Dr. Stadelmann” gave him the heebie-jeebies. [/QUOTE] Frankly, that’s creeping ME out and I’m 41. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/30 "2007-09-12T17:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] There were tons of children at the Body Worlds 2 exhibit in Toronto. And yes, the only thing behind a curtain was a woman who had been late in her second trimester (or start of her third) and had been killed in a car accident. That wasn’t shielded specifically to protect young visitors, but _anyone_ who would be sensitive to such a thing. [/QUOTE] There are a couple of gravid bodies travelling with the various BodyWorlds exhibits. I’ve seen the car accident one you mention, as well as one mother who had an unspecified illness who knew she wasn’t likely to survive the pregnancy. IIRC, she’s only a few weeks away from full term. They’re all pretty amazing. In Chicago, they also showed some long-ago solvent preserved embryos floating in tubes - not part of whatsisname’s plastinization process. They’re very explicitly clear that these were all “collected” over 50 years ago and none of them obtained through assisted abortions. One of the guards (gun and everything) told me that they were standing outside the door to that part (next to the warning sign) because they had gotten word that some anti-abortion groups were planning on stealing the embryos for demonstration purposes. I don’t know if they ever did or not. Frankly, the Museum of Science and Industries own fetal development exhibit is a lot better than the BodyWorlds one, with the exception of the pregnant body itself. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649/31 "2007-09-12T17:54:46Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] I think the movies from Disney are a LOT more upsetting than any painting could be – did you realize Nemo’s dad dies? Same thing in the Lion King - and Simba is told that he’s responsible! We all know Bambi’s mom gets offed (I’ve never managed to watch that one). Snow White’s stepmother wants her heart in a box! Shoot, I picked up _The Five Chinese Brothers_ from the library, it’s one I remember from my childhood. _The whole book’s about the villagers trying to kill them!_ The world is a scary place, my friends. [/QUOTE] Nemo’s mom and all his brothers and sisters (he is the only egg left). His dad survives. But the tradition of non-intact families and death in children’s stories predates Disney - its a standard of Grimm and goes back into the dawn of history. Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are all parentless. Maud Hart Lovelace kills off Tacy’s baby sister in the first Betsy-Tacy book. Beth dies in Little Women. They shoot Old Yeller. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-art-museums-and-kids-paging-museum-employees-past-and-present/418649.md?page=1)