In love with vaginas
I have to admit, I’ve always wanted to go to the Vagina Monologues, but I never quite had the courage until yesterday.
What I heard about them had certainly intrigued me—a friend told me I would laugh and cry, that some of the stories were hilarious and others were heartrending. Nevertheless, all this vagina talk made me nervous, and I wasn’t too psyched when I heard that the cast members asked the audience to chant the word “cunt.” (It was for the sake of reclaiming it, but still.)
But for some reason or other, likely the fact that I’m much more of a feminist now than I was my freshman year, I was ready, excited even, to see the show this time around.
First off, I was pleasantly surprised by the way the opening skits eased us into the more difficult and provocative sequences that came later on. The show begins with the cast talking about how annoyingly unsexy the word “vagina” is and the dozens of names different cultures have for vaginas. They also discussed the premise behind the monologues, which is that the writer interviewed women from all different cultures and ages about—you guessed it—their vaginas.
The intensity picked up fairly quickly, but the first couple of skits were not at all loud or in your face. Carla Hung’s flawless performance of “The Flood,” about a seventy-two year old woman reminiscing on her teenage years, was both tragic and endearing.
Things heated up with Colette McIntyre’s outstanding rendition of “My Angry Vagina,” in which she hilariously cursed out tampons and OB/GYN visits. And while this skit was for me the most awkward of them all, Jamnah Morton as a dominatrix in “The Woman Who Loved Vaginas” was magnificent and hysterical, shocking us all with her ability to imitate so many different types of moaning.
Several of the performances were hard to keep watching, such as Sophie Ellman-Golan’s haunting monologue about domestic violence in “Crooked Braid.” But when it was all over, I was proud. Proud that Columbia University V-Day donated the show’s proceeds to Girls for Gender Equity, and proud of women worldwide who have survived so much and yet are healing and growing. I came out possessing a better understanding of the fact that a vagina is not a scary part of a woman’s body, but an important part of her story and who she is.
I am proud to say that yesterday, I fell in love with vaginas a little bit. And for a shy, baby feminist like myself, that’s saying something.
*Note: There are no more performances of the show this weekend (sad, I know), but be sure to check out a different production of it Feb. 23-25 at the CU Med Center!
A different production of the Vagina Monologues will take place at the CU Med Center Feb 23-25. Everyone should check it out!
http://cuarts.com/calendar/view/type/4/event_id/12450
Thanks! It’s been updated.
Cathy, I am talking about that very ohicce. Not everyone sees life beginning at conception. An embryo is not a breathing cognizant being. At least not as some see it. Not as medical science, or for that matter, the law see it. That is as it stands right now. Baby loss is tragic. But so is someone having to carry a child to term if all they feel is hatred and violation. And the question becomes whether or not someone in an office gets to make that decision. The question of embryonic rights is touchy. It brings into debate faith, religion vs. science. In a country born of a belief of both freedom of religion and a separation of church and state. A belief based on faith is fine. But I don’t want my healthcare decisions based on faith in a deity. I want them to be based on science. And I want to make them. And for the record, I have 3 frozen embryos to which I feel a connection as a parent, but which I also recognize are a group of as-yet undefined cells with the POTENTIAL for life. Would you want there to be a law to define your ability to access birth control or condoms, to dictate when you can procreate? To dictate how many children you can have? Probably not. Another thing to consider is that access to ohicce means fewer deaths, and fewer complications. Women have sought ways to terminate pregnancies since the beginning of time, by any number of means. Safe access, ohicce, saves lives. so yes, I believe in that ohicce. I am pro-woman.
love collette mcintyre so much! Go go vaginas!
The premise of phllaic worship is a tool designed to distract the focus and stroke the egos of Black men because many of us have accepted the European ideology of manhood being based on the size of a man’s penis. This is why when Black men where lynched most times the act of castration and genital mutilation was performed on the victim. Over time many Black men have come adopt a European mindset and values. This is why for many Black men if he is told he has a big johnson all is forgiven and forgotten. This is a method of control. This also shows that many White women based their desire for Black men on purely sexual in nature relationship.
I taught my girl the ercocrt word for her private Vagina. Seriously though, I personally can’t stand hearing a slang being used to describe our privates to our kids, and worse have a child say it. When I grew up my mom referred to my vagina as tookie. As for my breasts, she called them titties. Ugh, just thinking about the words makes me shudder. To me they just sounds dirty. The regular word for it just sounds normal. When or if I’m blessed with a son, he’ll call his thing Penis.However, my daughter named my breasts boobies so when she wants to nurse (and we’re out in the street), she’ll start screaming, I want boobies! Thank heavens I’m not easily embarrassed.KalleyC recently posted..
Yay Rebekah! Great lil article
I went looking for this book at my local barrily not there. So sad. It looks like I am not able to find it in Canada. Sounds like an interesting read and something I may want to read. Here’s hoping that I can find it here soon. Thanks for the write up, it may neve have crossed my path otherwise.