Twitter Thread on the Mutter Museum

Bit of a different style of blog post today! A lot of academics have been finding a particular thread of mine helpful, so for the sake of austerity, I’m copy-pasting it and putting it up here! However, because of that, this post may seem disjointed. That would be because writing an effective twitter thread is very different from writing blog posts! Blog posts tend to flow from one paragraph to the next, while twitter threads tend to be written in a way where it all connects but each individual tweet could be read on its own.

With all that said, here’s my thread on the Mutter Museum, initially posted at 5:36pm on June 7th 2023!

Okay, let's talk about this thread and the Mutter Museum, because there's a LOT of fearmongering going on here.

OP's thread is vague, and acts as though criticizing goths is an extreme offense. It also ignores WHY collections are being reviewed. So let's discuss.

As someone who loves the goth aesthetic, and owns a LOT of black, I can see why the current director might be critical of some patrons.

The Mutter museum contains human bodies. Skeletons, preserved organs, the like. Many of which were procured via dubious means.

Bodies of indigenious people, of enslaved people, etc. Skulls displayed with the purpose of showcasing phrenology. Phrenology btw is a pseudoscience meant to claim that white people are smarter because skull shape said so.

Funnily enough, when I looked up "mutter museum director goth" I didn't see any statements from the director (though I might not have looked at enough results) but did find a blog post with an attitude similar to OP's and many of the people agreeing.

Link to the blog post though CW for human body parts and "freakshow" esque posing of the body parts.

It's all about the aesthetic. "Wow skulls!" "Wow, groundbreaking medicine!"

Only there's no recognition of the people behind them, of the racism inherent in much of it, and just. "Isn't this disfigurement so cool?" is disturbing to me.

It's this attitude that disfigurements, strange diseases, and human bodies are part of the strange to find beauty in without considering WHY they're strange.

Maybe people with disfigurements are just people, and not part of some goth aesthetic.

And as recently as LAST YEAR, there was a Halloween Party at the "medical curiosity" museum. A costume party centered around human remains many of which should not be there.

Incidentally, that's WHY the director is TEMPORARILY removing videos and exhibits while they go under ethical review. There's a lot of remains btw to go through, which is part of why it's taking awhile.

The other part is just, it can take TIME to find the right people to talk to, to discuss, to make decisions, for each individual remain and exhibit.

They have to consider where the remains come from, what purpose do they serve, are they aiding in learning or just aesthetic?

People say the museum is educational, and for some it may be. Articles about it laud some scientific discoveries made from remains.

But personally? I'm not seeing much learning. What I'm seeing are people ignoring context and implications.

The museum was started in an era where being part of a "freakshow" was the only way some people with disfigurements could get by. In an era where enslaved people were used in disgusting medical experiments. Where mass graves of indigenous children were made by schools.

If it wants to continue, then yes, many bodies need to be repatriated, and existing exhibits have to be reframed and recontextualized so people understand the people who lived in the bodies given with consent.

Disabled people are not to be gawked at.
Disabled people are not part of some morbid aesthetic.
Criticizing those who do not consider the intersections of race and disability when going to the museum is not bad.

I'd also recommend reading this article by @DisabilityStor1 about how Indian bodies were used by the British and connecting it to how the Mutter Museum presents human bodies.

(Also they have a lot of great threads and tweets about this subject and are in fact how I've learned about all this.)

Also for folks who like podcasts, @_RespectTheDead has an episode on PT Barnum which actually covers a lot of what I mentioned and just, how fucked up it is to exploit people and their remains in this way.

I don't always turn my frustration into semi edumacational threads, but when I do I certainly don't mind tips!

Oh! I should probably clarify that:
1. I actually don't agree with displaying human remains at all
2. I'm actually fine with the Mutter museum closing.
BUT...
3. If its to continue, then yes, changes must be made through a lens reconsidering a LOT of things.

So yes, I am biased within this argument. I don't have the nostalgia that many of those arguing for it to remain the same have. But that also allows me to look at the museum through a more critical lens, one the current director seems to be using.

End Thread.

Additional Notes:

1.       I just want to be super clear, I’m not an expert in history, museums, racial justice, or disability justice. I’m simply a white disabled game dev who cares a lot about people, and tries to consider intersectionality as well as racial justice, and disability justice when it comes to topics like this.

2.       Some of the negative comments are right, I’ve never been to the Mutter. I personally do not see going to the museum as a prerequisite for criticizing it.

3.       I admittedly only used a handful of sources for this, so some information may be off. While I’m pleased with how popular it’s become, I mostly just wrote it out of frustration.

4.       I won’t be posting comments and responses as those do involve other people’s words, plus there may be more in the future who knows. I mostly reiterate the points in the thread but in slightly different wording if I’m being honest.

If you want to help support future writings, whether they be long form blog posts or copy pasting of old twitter threads, you can support me either at ko-fi, or by visiting my throne where I have both a storefront you can shop at and a wishlist you can use to safely buy me a giftie!

Update 7/29/2023:

On the 27th of July, a Washington Post article was released talking about the museum. I actually was interviewed by the author for this piece! But unfortunately, the article did not use the interview. Either due to time, or, well, the article displayed a bias opposite mine. For this reason, I created a follow up thread which I’ll include here! Again, this will be odd to read as this is coming straight from twitter, as this is an attempt to preserve a primary source on this blog, and blog writing is different from twitter thread writing.

Without further ado, the thread!

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Because of a washington post article, which did not include any quotes from an interview I did, and seemed to side more with OP, I want to make some additions based on what was discussed and the article itself.

This is the article, for anyone curious. It does quote Aparna which I'm glad for! And it is interesting to hear more about the employees take. But there's not many comments from those on the opposing side.

Which is unfortunate, as there is a LOT more nuance here than simply being uncomfortable with human remains. @DisabilityStor1 has amazing papers on this, and does talk about it from time to time.

There's three main reasons why people are all for the Mutter Museum making changes to how it frames its exhibits, and the exhibits it includes:

1. Racism

2. Ableism

3. Consent

Now, as a white person, there's limits to how much I can truly speak on racism as I don't experience it.

But I can say, that many bodies displayed are from people who were enslaved, or from indigenous people. Their bodies should be returned to the appropriate groups.

Many of the people who lived in these bodies may have had different beliefs about what is done with a dead body, different practices.

Which ties into the third point I'll get into in a bit.

The museum also contained a phrenology exhibit, that only more recently was reframed with historical context. Even so, a wall of skulls is not needed to go "this was purely eugenics and not based on any medical science"

Now, the second point. Ableism.

There are also limits to how much I can speak on this as I do not have any disfiguring disabilities. However.

The disability community has been fighting back against the idea we're to be gawked at like in old sideshows.

For people to learn about disabilities in a museum with marketing like "come to a halloween party within our exhibits" is...really not good. It's like learning about this stuff from a TLC show. You're mostly getting the sensationalist aspect.

Now, what I DID approve of is what I heard the new direction to be: focusing on the people who were in these bodies and had these body parts. Rather than "look at this grotesque disability" its "look at who this person was".

As for the third aspect, it's the trickiest part of the mutter review, and why it's going to take so long.

Consent.

It ties into the previous points but deserved its own bullet.

In short, for every single body and body part, researchers need to look into the documentation to determine:

1. Did the person themself give the Mutter Museum consent to display their organs/bodies? Family and/or friends donating don't count.

2. Was that person potentially coerced? This is especially complicated as the museum started in the 19th century. Back when being a sideshow was one of a handful of options for income for MANY marginalized people. This exchange of body/organs for income counts as coercion.

That's also just one example of coercion and it's REALLY hard to dig up century old documentation on these things, which means they have to spend time hunting these primary sources down.

As for bodies & organs with no documentation, well, personally I think they shouldn't be displayed. If you can't verify consent, then it should be assumed it wasn't given. Just like with sex.

And yes, that WOULD significantly reduce the number of bodies and organs displayed. But respecting the people who resided in those bodies is more important!

Now, when speaking with the Washington Post author, I did also bring up another element to all this. There's a lot of "but what about the grotesque? what about goths? we can't sanitize it!" Well.

As I pointed out in my main thread, we should be rethinking what's grotesque. If goth culture views disabled bodies as grotesque, goth culture needs to change that element.

We're not saying things have to be sanitized, we just want people and their beliefs to be respected.

Additionally, goth culture has a LOT of racism (and fatphobia, and ableism) to unpack. Consider how the typical idea of goth is an extremely thin, pale, woman. What about people who are outside those parameters?

There are of course goth people who aren't thin, pale women, but as a whole, goth culture needs to step outside of Tim Burton's racist idea of what goth is!

And yes, he is racist. There are video essays and articles by black people about this.

Maybe this argument over the Mutter Museum can encourage some goths to rethink how they treat dead bodies, and rethink what goth is.

The macabre, the dark, the mysterious, that's all very cool and fine. But there's still some stuff that has to go.

Another thing brought up in the interview, is that this review process, and rethinking of museums? It's been happening for AWHILE. I believe the Mutter Museum is one of the first to do this work on a larger scale, but...

The ethics of museums and the contents within has been a matter of academic discussion for decades. It's even something I've had to look into for an off and on project, to determine what I can and can't show.

It's a part of antiracism, and its a part of kicking white supremacy to the curb. Learning about history, about disabilities, it's all important. But we need to do so in a way that's respectful, and doesn't give in to the habits of white supremacy.

I'll add these additions to my blog post on the mutter museum this weekend! It's getting close to shabbat time, so time to put away social media.

That said, if you appreciate my threads on this matter, I'd definitely appreciate a tip!

I also have a throne wishlist and storefront! You can check out the wishlist to safely give me a gift or you can visit the store front for various ways to support me!

Okay, before I disappear for a bit, I'm going to add some additional thoughts from people, because I think more voices should be shared! This person is sharing a respectful way to write about these topics, that they worked on!

Here is a black goth speaking on the matter! I know there's only so much I can say, but I truly base my opinions on what goth culture needs to unpack on what black goths have been saying!

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Further Notes & Context:

1. Yes, I am now fully aware I’ve boosted my ko-fi and throne several times. It’s for uh, accuracy. Yeah. We’ll go with that.

2. It should be noted that the journalist I spoke with was very open to hearing what I had to say on various aspects. It wasn’t just “why did you write the thread” but also asking my opinions on goth culture, on what the museum should do, on disability, etc. I did make it clear a few times during the interview that I am not an expert on museums, nor am I a person of color.

3. The follow up thread was indeed created due to frustrated feelings, as though my time had been wasted, however, I should make it clear that I have no idea why I wasn’t quoted. I could have been originally, only for an editor to feel that section wasn’t needed. Or it could have been the perceived bias of the article. I simply don’t know.

4. I included the article, not to create a wave of harassment as I do not condone that, but rather to be fair. I perceived a particular bias, however another reader might have a different opinion. The article is included so readers can easily find it and decide for themselves.

   Anyways, I hope this is helpful, and has been an informative read!

Edit July 31st 2023:

Final edit I swear, but the amazing historian Aparna Nair has released an amazing piece that I want anyone who has visited this post to read. She invokes empathy for those whose remains are still locked away in museums, and asks us to consider the role of empire when it comes to museums showing human remains.

She also has quite a few sources, and is how I learned about this topic in the first place. I know many have shared my threads, and I’m glad, but I also want to acknowledge the real experts here, with real stakes in these arguments.