Are women just their vaginas?
Ugh, that was so Carrie Bradshaw. But whatever. The point is, I never want to hear the word vagina again. Not on Locust Walk, not in Irvine, not ever. And oh, the implications of seashells, flowers, pussycats.
As you’ve probably noticed, hoopla surrounding “The Vagina Monologues” is rather pervasive here on campus. (Like a trendy, expensive handbag, all the cool girls are flaunting it.) But, what can I say, I’m cool by association, and attended Wednesday’s showing to see one of my best friends perform.
Let me set the scene: spotlight on a lone girl (maybe a few) in faux-sophisticated black and red getup. She is flailing her arms passionately (helplessly?) and rambling on about a number of things (e.g. sex, pubic hair, perverts and, duh, vaginas). I understand that the production has its merits — it is a novel idea to fight against violence and raise money for rape victims. The campaign has been quite lucrative, and according to the producer, Penn has raised over $27,000.
But although I’m impressed, I still can’t help feeling strangely dissatisfied. The production itself felt cliche, nauseating, and stale. (Ew, stale vaginas).
Eve Ensler wrote “Vagina” in 1996. 1996 was the 1990s. Michael Jordan had just starred in the best movie ever, Space Jam. The best group ever, Matchbox Twenty, had just formed.
People were happy then, remember? A lot has happened since: the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, Britney’s display of her britney, “Sex and the City”, and oh, wait — the explosion of the Internet! In the 21st century, any twelve year old can google the location of her clitoris or Wikipedia what an orgasm feels like.
Vagina mystique has simply petered out. I don’t believe in plastic surgery — because I’m a feminist — but seriously, “Vagina” needs a facelift if it’s planning on being the center of attention again next year.
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February 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
i could ramble on against vaginas but you have so eloquently done so above…I think in a time like this, the only sort of wisdom or cultural adaptation of the modern vagina i can offer comes from a film which was releases last year: TEETH. I have copied and pasted the synopsis from wiki. and maddy, while the vagina mystique has simply petered out as you say, this may re-vitalize the power of the cooter-poot………………..
“High school student Dawn works hard at suppressing her budding sexuality by being the local chastity group’s most active participant. Her task is made even more difficult by her bad boy stepbrother, a midget named Brad, who increasingly acts provocatively at home. A stranger to her own body, innocent Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina when she becomes the object of violence. As she struggles to comprehend her anatomical uniqueness, Dawn experiences both the pitfalls and the power of being a living example of the vagina dentata myth.”
February 8th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Space Jam was a great movie.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I can’t agree more with the sentiment that Ensler’s writing is riddled with cliches. Sure, some of that has to do with this piece being a decade old, and thus paving the way for things like SATC. Perhaps it is becoming more of a historic piece already? Even when I first saw it, 7 years ago, I associated each monologue with their own decade and setting. I don’t know how much of that was the performance and how much was the writing, but it made me feel a connection with women past, present, and future.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Wow, that synopsis of “Teeth” just blew my fucking mind. Would she go to a gynecologist, a dentist, or both?