"My Vagina was My Village..."

First things first: I must complain. In quoting from the book before publishing my review, I was told there were unacceptable words in the body of my review. The word--clitoris. Since when is this unacceptable? It is a medical term for a part of the female anatomy, and I don't think it is right that I should have to censor myself in the use of that word. I think the person who chose to block that word needs to read this book themselves. Fortunately, I have found the way around the censoring of it *insert evil grin here* and have remedied the situation in this review thanks to the absolutely wonderful Shadow_Dream. I love you, Dan *smiles* Now--on to the review:

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According to Eve Ensler's growing-ever-more-popular-by-the-year book, The Vagina Monologues, "Women call up for tickets to the 'Monologues'; men ask for tickets to the 'Vagina Chronicles.' The punk ticketseller tells women that if they can't say it, they can't come."

I was formally introduced to The Vagina Monologues about a month and a half ago. There was a sign up on the theatre callboard advertising that anyone interested in performing in The Vagina Monologues should get in touch with Western's Organization for Women (WOW). I was curious. I had heard a little about the show in the past, but never much. I went to the library later that week and checked out a copy. I fell in love. In this book I found so much humour, honesty, bluntness, love...so many different emotions and so many different women and views that I was completely blown away. Now it seems that wherever I go, there are The Vagina Monologues. A previous director of mine carries a copy on the dashboard of her car, a girl I met on the train from Kalamazoo to Flint was reading a copy in the seat next to me, and my copy is rarely ever more than just a few feet from me.

I admit, before reading this book I wasn't too fond of the word myself. How many actually are?

Let's just start with the word "vagina." It sounds like an infection at best, maybe a medical instrument: "Hurry, Nurse, bring me the vagina." "Vagina." "Vagina." Doesn't matter how many times you say it, it never sounds like a word you want to say. It's a totally ridiculous, completely unsexy word. If you use it during sex, trying to be politically correct--"Darling, could you stroke my vagina?"--you kill the act right there."

The Vagina Monologues is a collection of very random pieces based on "Vagina Interviews" with literally hundreds of women ranging in age from six to over 70. There's a monologue on Hair, random answers from women when asked "If your vagina got dressed what would it wear?" (some of my favourite answers being a beret, a leather jacket, emeralds, see-through black underwear and an electrical shock device to keep unwanted strangers away), more random answers from "If your vagina could talk, what would it say, in two words?" (favourites: Feed me. I want. Oh, yeah. Lick me. Let's play. Come inside. Let's go, and Enter at your own risk.), Vagina Facts (a couple pieces on the clitoris such as the married Puritan man who, the first time he saw one, declared it the Devil's teat, and said that it was a sure sign a woman was a witch; and genital mutilation), a monologue where various women talk about the first time they got their period, and lots of random other stuff--all about the vagina.

My personal favourite Vagina Fact: The clitoris is pure in purpose. It is the only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure. The clitoris is simply a bundle of nerves: 8,000 nerve fibers, to be precise. That's a higher concentration of nerve fibers than is found anywhere else in the body, including the fingertips, lips, and tongue, and it is twice...twice...twice the number in the penis. Who needs a handgun when you've got a semiautomatic.

"I was worried about vaginas," says Ensler in the introduction. "I was worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried about my own vagina. It needed a context of other vaginas--a community, a culture of vaginas." Well, that's exactly what she has started--an awakening of an entire culture of vaginas.

In the course of my reading I discovered V-Day (as it is now affectionately known as in my group of friends)--the initial reasons behind it (to stop violence against women), how it was created, and how it is carried off each year. I also realised that this was what the advertisement for actresses was about. It's called the College Initiative. Students on various college campuses around the United States decide that they want to perform The Vagina Monologues on V-Day (February 14th). They are given the rights to perform it, and the donations that are made by the attending audience are sent to local organisations to help spread the word about stopping violence against women. This year's V-Day program at Western Michigan University (which I attended with a group of friends--both male and female) was so successful that the lecture hall it was performed in was beyond capacity, people were sitting on others' laps, they filled the aisles, people were watching from the hallway, and literally over 100 people were turned away because there just wasn't enough room for them to stay and watch.

The Vagina Monologues is not just for women. A good friend of mine that tagged along with us to the show, Andy, was amazed. When we left, he was literally speechless from what he had just experienced. He told us, "After that, I will never be afraid to talk to women again."

"In order for the human race to continue, women must be safe and empowered. It's an obvious idea, but like a vagina, it needs great attention and love in order to be revealed."

For more information on The Vagina Monologues and V-Day, check out these sites:

http://www.vday.org
http://www.vaginamonologues.com
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/ensler/
http://www.dazereader.com/vaginamonologues.htm