The word? Vagina. It's Scandalous. It's immoral. It's unnatural. It's about sex.
Eve Ensler's idea: "When you name things, you bring consciousness to things."
The Vagina Monologues has served as a liberating and empowering avenue through which women can express themselves. The Monologues support women of all ages, experiences, sociodemographic background as they talk about more than just vaginas. In fact, each year playwright Eve Ensler (of the Vagina Monologues) puts out a script for the type of stories she wants done. This year, the topic is ending violence against women, especially rape. While this may sound morbid and sad to some, if you've ever attended a performance of the Monologues, you know the stories are full of all different kinds of emotion--happiness, anger, humor, sadness. You'll find it all.
Ensler says she began this play because as we utter the word, a silence gets broken and a taboo gets eradicated. Freedom. She states that "one of the reasons violence is allowed to go on is because we don't have agency over our own bodies. And we don't have a way or articulating what happens to us. So, it happens invisibly." Interestingly, in some of the locations where the play is now, there originally was not a word for vagina. Words were borrowed. Or, the play was banned.
The play is meant to empower. The play is meant to give voice.
What do you think? Is it too much? Is it not enough? How does it make you feel?
I want to draw your attention to a unique situation. Perhaps a step toward breaking down barriers. A step toward uniting all women. Guess who is presenting the Vagina Monologues in 2 days? Clergy from the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. That's right. Seven female clergy are performing the Monologues--4 letter words and all.
So, is it really such a bad word? I mean it's an anatomical label. Why then do we fear the word? Why do we teach our children to use funny names for their body parts. Not to say some of the words are quite funny, but we've got to think of the bigger implications of not simply saying...VAGINA.
For more information about the Vagina Monologues and Eve Ensler's V-day campaign to end violence against women and girls, click HERE and HERE.
And, for articles on the resistance experienced by the Vagina Monologues, click HERE and HERE.
Eve Ensler's idea: "When you name things, you bring consciousness to things."
The Vagina Monologues has served as a liberating and empowering avenue through which women can express themselves. The Monologues support women of all ages, experiences, sociodemographic background as they talk about more than just vaginas. In fact, each year playwright Eve Ensler (of the Vagina Monologues) puts out a script for the type of stories she wants done. This year, the topic is ending violence against women, especially rape. While this may sound morbid and sad to some, if you've ever attended a performance of the Monologues, you know the stories are full of all different kinds of emotion--happiness, anger, humor, sadness. You'll find it all.
Ensler says she began this play because as we utter the word, a silence gets broken and a taboo gets eradicated. Freedom. She states that "one of the reasons violence is allowed to go on is because we don't have agency over our own bodies. And we don't have a way or articulating what happens to us. So, it happens invisibly." Interestingly, in some of the locations where the play is now, there originally was not a word for vagina. Words were borrowed. Or, the play was banned.
The play is meant to empower. The play is meant to give voice.
What do you think? Is it too much? Is it not enough? How does it make you feel?
I want to draw your attention to a unique situation. Perhaps a step toward breaking down barriers. A step toward uniting all women. Guess who is presenting the Vagina Monologues in 2 days? Clergy from the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. That's right. Seven female clergy are performing the Monologues--4 letter words and all.
So, is it really such a bad word? I mean it's an anatomical label. Why then do we fear the word? Why do we teach our children to use funny names for their body parts. Not to say some of the words are quite funny, but we've got to think of the bigger implications of not simply saying...VAGINA.
For more information about the Vagina Monologues and Eve Ensler's V-day campaign to end violence against women and girls, click HERE and HERE.
And, for articles on the resistance experienced by the Vagina Monologues, click HERE and HERE.
Here is a quote:
ReplyDelete"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing"
Anais Nin