The Vagina Monologues (1996)

I've been meaning to read or see The Vagina Monologues for a long time. Someone was talking about it, as people often do, and I realised it was available on the Kindle store, so I got it.

It's a very quick read. It's not an easy read. There's discussion of self-loathing, of embarrassment and shame, of sexual assault and violence against women, of statutory rape. It might also not be easy for you if you can't read the word 'vagina' without getting uncomfortable, or if you don't like the word 'cunt', or if you wish that women wouldn't talk about 'down there' in public.

It's about that discomfort, and it's about shining a light on something that we don't talk about, that we are often taught to be ashamed of. A few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to stand the idea of reading it: right now, I can't stand the idea of performing it. And I'm not ready to talk to my grandmother about it! But maybe someday...

In any case, I think it's a very important idea, to talk about these things that we find so discomforting. How often have I heard men talking about their penises in public? Far more often than I've ever heard women do -- and often when we do, it's hushed and breathless and illicit.

On the other hand, I am not my vagina. I am not my physical form at all, personally. And it feels like this book does a lot of that -- distilling women down until the only important part of them is physical, sexual. For many women, that's not the truth, and it doesn't have to be. And the references in the foreword about not being able to write 'politically correctly', not being able to write about transgendered women -- I believe she should have tried until she got it, by talking to transgendered women, and talking to them again, and again, just like the one about the lesbian who said she was doing it wrong. And if she really, truly couldn't do it, then she should have stepped back and let a transgendered woman write it for herself, if her work is truly intended to be inclusive and about all women everywhere.

There's more I don't really engage with: I don't relate to questions like what would my vagina want to dress in, or what it would say. It's a part of me, not separate.

Everything has limitations, though, it's true, and this is a big step for many women. Hopefully fewer and fewer, as society moves on. I'm sure someone has written their own transgendered woman monologue -- I hope many have -- and I hope they're heard, too.

This particular edition, with the introduction by Gloria Steinem, is quite interesting, giving some historical/cultural context. It also includes a lot of stuff about people's reactions to "V-Day", which can be interesting to read. However, do note that the Kindle edition is badly proofread in places. ( )

The book itself is very short and because of that several introductions and a afterwords have been included to pad it out. First there is the extremely long introduction by the author which was partly about how the book was written and partly history and what has happened since the Vagina Monologues was created. Then there is a another extremely long (but much better written and more interesting) introduction by the fabulous Gloria Steinem telling us something of her eccentric, interesting and relevant family history. Then there is the preface by the author about Vaginas and finally, sigh, yes finally, on page 38, the book begins.

The next 150 pages are wonderful, five star with a bullet, really, tremendous writing, thought-provoking and very enjoyable to read. I couldn't put it down, all these women's stories transcribed into poetry and prose and something in between, I read until 3 a.m., fascinating stuff.

But then we have the afterwords. 40 or 50 pages to slosh, trudge and wade through about V-Day. It could all have been summed up in a couple of pages, I mean, do you really want to know about which college held V-day in what year and how many people attended? No? Neither me. (Yes? You involved in funding it or something?)

So the Vagina Monologues itself gets 5 stars, the prefaces get 3 stars (because of Gloria Steinem) and the afterword gets 1 star and that's generous. That's an average of 3, so there you have it. ( )

I started this interview with a bunch of cultural significance garbage that doesn't really need saying. Even if this play is too earnest for many and sometimes seems to be developing a thesis against an opponent that I don't really feel is real, we still live in a world with FGM and Republicans, and I come from Vancouver Island, so I should just shut my mouth and let this be a rallying cry where and whenever it's needed. Good for Ensler for providing this inspirational resource. As for me, I can enjoy this as something more personal, a sort of collective cri de coeur (what a lovely thing) and, per the bit near the end about the bleeding heart and the bleeding vagina, also a chance to muse on the lovely, lovely, physicality of the prose, get a little turned on, and as a man, remind yourself to be a little more sensual, a little more vaginal, today. There are times to be cocky too, like in a fight or at a job interview. And it works in matters of the heart, or at least pants. But I'm not convinced you're ever ethically right to be successful in love by being a dickhead instead of by letting yourself get a bit moist, if you can pull off the latter in an appealing way. Cultivate it, I guess is what I'm saying? Because the only thing that's not appealing about it is the lens through which we view it, a lens which thinks women can't be hard? At the risk of turning this into something sweaty-palmed that nobody wants to see, I get hotted up by the idea a girl who I can wrestle as well as cry with. Have a family with and also get trashed at East Van rock shows. There's room for all our moods and parts. Here is the loveliest bit of this play for me:

MY VAGINA HELPED RELEASE A GIANT BABY.
IT THOUGHT IT WOULD BE DOING MORE OF THAT.
IT'S NOT.
NOW IT WANTS TO TRAVEL.
IT DOES NOT WANT A LOT OF COMPANY.
IT WANTS TO READ AND KNOW THINGS AND GET OUT MORE.
IT WANTS SEX.
IT LOVES SEX.
IT WANTS TO GO DEEPER.
IT'S HUNGRY FOR DEPTH.
IT WANTS KINDNESS.
IT WANTS CHANGE.
IT WANTS SILENCE AND FREEDOM
AND GENTLE KISSES AND WARM LIQUIDS
AND DEEP TOUCH. ( )

I've never seen these monologues performed, and quite frankly, I never wanted to.
I started reading this book expecting I-don't-know-what, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's short and very easy to read. I read it in one day and really enjoyed myself while doing so. It felt good to read the word 'vagina' a thousand time.

I was born in the 90s, and my approach to and concept of vagina is very liberal and free-loving, so for me it was very interesting to gain perspective on how older generations feel about this subject. I must say I was a little bit saddened by how repressed they were growing up, and hadn't thought about it that way. But things have changed and will forever be changing for the better.

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone. I think it is a MUST read, for all ages and sexes. ( )

One of the most shocking but also powerful books I have very read so far. A must for every woman and I wish, for every man too. ( )