Webmaster's note - the following article appeared in the February 8 - 21, 2002 issue of the InCity Times. It appears here with the permission of the author.
I'm sitting in a room with thirteen women who are talking about their vaginas. None of these women are unknown to me. Indeed, some of them I know quite well. One of them is my wife. This is a rehearsal for one of this Thursday's productions of Even Ensler's the Vagina Monologues. Particularly, the one being performed at the Bijou Theatre and produced by the Worcester Po8try Project as part of the worldwide "V-Day" project, to draw attention to the epidemic of violence against women that permeates our society. (There are other productions that day at Holy Cross and Worcester State University).
The show itself is amazing, oscillating between hysterical and often poignant vignettes about women's experiences with sex to truly chilling tales of rape to an achingly beautiful speech by a woman watching her granddaughter be born. It's truly breathtaking in it's scope and frankness. It's also and this is hard for a Sensitive New Age Guy like me to admit uncomfortable at points.
It's taken some serious contemplation for me to find the source of this discomfort, particularly as I read the script and see nothing but brilliance, watch the performances and see nothing but achievement.
No, the problem, it seems, is with me. Here's why: it may be the first time in my life I've been exposed to such a thoughtful and explicit view of female sexuality without it being filtered, in some way, through the lens of "male" sexuality. The fact that I've made it to the ripe old age of 30 without having truly encountered this is truly amazing.
Amazing, but perhaps not surprising. Because, really our media does little but re-enforce the idea that female sexuality only exists in the context of how it relates to men. The examples are myriad, and have been listed before: Cosmo articles granting the Holy Grail of Knowledge: how to please a man in bed; Britney Spears' ascension to Oxymoronic status of Virgin Whore. The fact that it's nearly impossible to show a strong, successful woman in a movie or on TV without her personal life being a mess. (Scully much?) You've heard these things before, but did you understand them? I thought I did, but I was wrong. It was only an intellectualized concept. So to, then, are the horrific statistics of rape, incest and other forms of violence against women.
They've become a wash of numbers, a concept no right thinking person could bring themselves to argue weren't wrong, but which few people well, few men can barely understand. And how can we, when even a certain local newspaper can't even bring itself to use the phrase "Vagina" in the title of an article about the Vagina Monologues. is the word itself that threatening? It's not one of George Carlin's "seven words you can't say on television." Will the mere appearance of it traumatize children who've proved resilient to the rampant objectification of "MTV's Whatever that show with rap starts surrounded by fly chicks in thong bikinis is called this week?" You know, the program most parents do little more than roll their eyes at their kids watching?
Even Ensler's Vagina Monologues is uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable because the truth often is, and if anything, this show radiates a truth that needs, needs, NEEDS to be heard.
Last Update: 02/20/2002