Sorry if that made you uncomfortable or if you deem that title (and possibly the entirety of this post) unnecessary, but it definitely pertains to my blog post for tonight. So if you think that the word is weird or disgusting or inappropriate, please read up on my interpretation of it all.
(Talk about "Vaginas" that is - apparently)
It's not usual for the word "vagina" to come out of peoples mouths or even come up in conversation and the whole reason I am talking so much about it is because I just recently saw UCSD's rendition of The Vagina Monologues.
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play created by Eve Ensler. As Wikipedia describes it (and although it is Wikipedia, I believe the summary of the play is accurate):
"Each of the monologues deals with an aspect of the feminine experience, touching on matters such as sex, love ,rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the various common names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a toll of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality."
I first went to The Vagina Monologues last year with a few of my friends and was not sure at all what in the world to expect. All that people were telling me about it was that, "it's about female empowerment" and "its just feminists complaining about men." But I kept an open mind and thought it would be a good experience to go and see the show, I mean its college right? The time of your life to go out of your comfort zone and learn not just about yourself but about others right? Well, I am definitely glad I went.
The play was held in a ballroom in the hub on campus and there was a row of tables outside the entrance with a bunch of offices expressing the different resources they have for students to become more comfortable with themselves whether it be due to previous sexual assault or other traumatic experiences. Walking past these I was starting to get nervous. What did I just sign up for?
We entered the ballroom and inside were some merchandise tables where The Vagina Monologues crew were selling T-shirts with "Vagina Warrior" or "Vagina Lover" on them, panties with "CUNT" boldly written on it, as well as "P*ssy Pops" which were little chocolate lollipops in the shape of .... you guessed it, Vaginas. Naturally at this point, as a straight male, I was preparing my will in my head and readying to just have a woman come up on stage for the performance and call out me and every other man for being a man and not being a woman and being wrong and nonsense.
-Me-
But boy was I wrong.
The show was spectacular. The play consists of an array of monologues performed by an amazing cast of UCSD women who speak on serious matters related to their vaginas and how it was about time that the word vagina was no longer deemed as BLASPHEMOUS or anything. This is where my title actually comes into play where in one monologue, the women on stage list off not only all the different nicknames a vagina has, but also just about how disgusting and uncomfortable the word naturally sounds. Humorously they say how it sounds like a medical device shouting "Nurse! Quick! Hand Me the Vagina!" ... they then say how even in sexual encounters, at the mention of the word, all hotness is lost, "Oooooh yes, now touch my vagina".... uuuuuh no thanks.
Some monologues are funny. Some monologues are just straight up fact. Some monologues are hard to listen to. Some monologues are gut-wrenching and teary-eyed.
But all the monologues are real.
Although at first I could not understand why the crap I was there...
But by the end, I could not wait for next year to watch it for I plan to watch this show every year. This play is so powerful and such an important message to not only women but men too. This year I went again and brought some more friends that had not seen the show because I knew deep down that they needed to see the show. Also! I had a quite a few friends that were on the cast and knew how much it meant to them.
At the end of the show we waited for the cast to come out and congratulated my friends on their performance not only to prove that we went, but to share with them that we are all there to support them because choosing to be in this show means that the powerful & important message it sends, means something special to them. You can never have too many people supporting you in life.
The play may not necessarily be everyone's "cup of tea" but I think it has an important message and definitely opened my eyes to the reality of ... well, reality.
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