By Sara Gordon, Smith College
The Vagina Monologuesis a play created by radical feminist Eve Ensler as part of the "V-Day" Campaign. On campus, V-Day supporters will tell you that this play is helping to prevent violence against women. But, as you read on you will find that although the play raises money for a good cause, the vulgar means to a helpful end counteracts the feminist movement and degrades women.
Students and even faculty will tell you that The Vagina Monologues is a play that liberates women by expressing thoughts and "stories" through a sexual organ. But in reality, it does the opposite. The amazing women leaders around the world did not get to where they were by speaking through a vagina. Instead, they used their brains and their mouths. They worked hard to succeed.
In the chapter entitled "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy" the character, who is a successful tax attorney, leaves her great job to become a dominatrix prostitute. Now, although over the years women have become more sexual and more in control of their sexuality, the idea of a woman leaving a successful job that gives a woman power in a male dominated world to become a prostitute--a socially undesirable and male objectified position--is highly anti-feminist.
In the monologue entitled, "The Vagina Workshop" women explore their sexual side as the workshop leader tells the women that their sexual organs are "the essence of me- both the doorbell to my house and the house itself." If your vagina is the essence of you, the doorbell to your "house" and basically is you, then where do your thoughts, brain and ideas come in? These are the ideas that suffragettes during the early women's movements fought against. The perpetuation of an overly sexed woman has backfired in society to create stereotypes and a significantly more difficult time for women to gain respect in the workplace and society in general. This play does not liberate women sexually, socially or otherwise.
On campus, the play is often promoted via vulgar advertisements. At Smith College students were plagued with signs across campus that read, "Do you want to experience multiple orgasms?" At Bucknell University posters ask, "What does your vagina smell like?"
Proceeds of the play go to programs that aim to prevent violence against women. But Eve Ensler did not write the play to address violence and women. Ensler said she wrote the play because she "was worried about [her] own vagina" what we think about vaginas and even more worried that we don't think about them. Even radical feminist Betty Dodson objects to Ensler's logic: "That's the main problem with V-day. Women end up with a false idea that V-day will end violence against women and girls. Ending violence is a worthy cause and I'm all for it, but consistently equating sex with violence offers no real solution." If we are going to take action as intelligent, proactive students why don't we find a solution instead of simply putting on a graphic and an offensive play? Why don't we as students, talk to our legislators about stricter sexual offender laws and help with domestic abuse programs? Students have to encompass the whole issue: raise money, educate ourselves on self-defense and protection, and become proactive with all violence issues that women face.
Some say that the graphic content of the play is what inspires women to go out and get involved. But if students need shock value to inspire us we are not effective members of our community and we have to dig deeper into these issues. In "The Little Coochie Snorcher that Could" a young girl is given alcohol and then violated by a much older woman. Then Ensler writes, "If it was rape, it was a good rape." Rape is being affirmed here as something good! How can we sit here as students and support this? Some of us will become parents some day. What if this was your daughter? "Good rape" does not say that rape is bad and does not help with violence against women and young girls.
The play is also extremely anti-male. The play portrays men as perverted, rude and forceful. In "Hair" a husband forces his wife to shave her vagina. In another monologue an "average" male is portrayed as a pervert obsessed with vaginas. To look at men in such a demeaning manor is wrong. The play praises a woman rapist, but then alienates a male who finds beauty and mystique in a woman's vagina. Brilliant male professors teach us, many of us have meaningful relationships with men whether it is father, boyfriend or brother and to treat men this way is unfair.
Sara Gordon is a student at Smith College and was a Summer 2006 Junior Fellow at IWF.