{"id":4707,"date":"2026-07-22T16:38:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T16:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:38:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T16:38:24","slug":"smithsonian-museum-director-on-hot-seat-over-display-of-crotch-harness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707","title":{"rendered":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

The Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History comes with a parental advisory warning, the museum\u2019s director told Congress on Wednesday, as she spent a second day struggling to defend a sexually charged exhibit that showed what one congresswoman called a \u201ccrotch harness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Doctors advised abortion, but my parents chose life instead<\/a><\/p>\n

Anthea Hartig, the director, said her museum\u2019s policy requires all children under 18 to be accompanied by an adult, and they urge those adults to make sure the content is suitable for their children before going through exhibits.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hartig said the \u201cgay liberation\u201d exhibit that\u2019s drawn so much scrutiny was closed years ago, but did have a parental warning attached.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t sit right with Rep. Mary Miller, who said Ms. Hartig herself, in a welcome video, specifically invited children to attend the exhibit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou chose to display the fetish attire of a very small subset of Americans with weird sexual proclivities, and you welcomed children to the exhibit,\u201d the Illinois Republican said.<\/p>\n

She peppered Ms. Hartig with questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is a crotch harness? You chose to make a display of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hartig defended the exhibit as \u201csmall\u201d and described the attire in question as a \u201ctwo-piece garment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Venezuela\u2019s Nicolas Maduro back to court for pretrial hearing in his U.S. drug trafficking case<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the people who came by that display case, no one complained,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The House Administration Committee, which oversees the Smithsonian, was holding a hearing to examine what Republicans have described as the American history museum\u2019s woke-washing of U.S. history, elevating trendy liberal causes in its exhibits while relegating more traditional stories such as the country\u2019s founders to dry tellings.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s hearing was the second in a row, following a similar one with Ms. Hartig in the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hartig, who took the reins at the museum in 2019, was pummeled with questions for which she had no answers \u2014 or refused to give them.<\/p>\n

She refused to explain her hundreds of political contributions, distanced herself from a \u201ctoolkit\u201d that mocked historians\u2019 objectivity as a tool of White supremacy, and had no answer when asked why her museum, while telling other stories, doesn\u2019t tackle the 50 million abortions that have occurred since 1973\u2019s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not here at this hearing to discuss that,\u201d Ms. Hartig told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

She also wouldn\u2019t say whether she thought it was appropriate for her gift shop to sell \u201cLatina Power\u201d items, and she declined multiple invitations to say what a woman is.<\/p>\n

Read more Musk plans \u2018historically accurate\u2019 film on \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 after Lupita Nyong\u2019o cast as Helen of Troy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe strive to represent, and not categorize, all Americans,\u201d Ms. Hartig said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History comes with a parental advisory warning, the museum’s director told Congress on Wednesday, as she spent a second day struggling to defend a sexually charged exhibit that showed what one congresswoman called a “crotch harness.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[2717,2283],"class_list":["post-4707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-anthea-hartig","tag-smithsonians-national-museum-of-american-history"],"yoast_head":"\nSmithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History comes with a parental advisory warning, the museum's director told Congress on Wednesday, as she spent a second day struggling to defend a sexually charged exhibit that showed what one congresswoman called a "crotch harness."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"headline\":\"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Anthea Hartig\",\"Smithsonian'S National Museum Of American History\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707\",\"name\":\"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=4707#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home Buyer Relocation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation","og_description":"The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History comes with a parental advisory warning, the museum's director told Congress on Wednesday, as she spent a second day struggling to defend a sexually charged exhibit that showed what one congresswoman called a \"crotch harness.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707","og_site_name":"Home Buyer Relocation","article_published_time":"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"headline":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019","datePublished":"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707"},"wordCount":481,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp","keywords":["Anthea Hartig","Smithsonian'S National Museum Of American History"],"articleSection":["News","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707","name":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019 - Home Buyer Relocation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-22T16:38:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/598e7e1f731865bd0752912549ca6a1b.webp","width":1200,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=4707#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of \u2018crotch harness\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/","name":"Home Buyer Relocation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com"],"url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}