I say vagina because I want people to respond," says playwright Eve Ensler, creator of the hilarious, disturbing soliloquies in The Vagina Monologues, a book based on her one-woman play. And respond they do--with horror, anger, censure, and sparks of wonder and pleasure. Ensler is on a fervent mission to elevate and celebrate this much mumbled-about body part. She asked hundreds of women of all ages a series of questions about their vaginas (What do you call it? How would you dress it?) that prompt some wondrous answers. Standouts among the euphemisms are tamale, split knish, choochi snorcher, Gladys Siegelman--Gladys Siegelman?--and, of course, that old standby "down there." "Down there?" asks a composite character springing from several older women. "I haven't been down there since 1953. No, it had nothing to do with [American president] Eisenhower." Two of the most powerful pieces include a jagged poem stitched together from the memories of a Bosnian woman raped by soldiers and an American woman sexually abused as a child who reclaims her vagina as a place of wild joy.
Summary taken from Goodreads.com
The word of the day is VAGINA.I grew up hearing about the Vagina Monologues referenced in popular culture and for many years I've wanted to read it and so earlier this week I put on my big girl panties and put a hold on it at the library. I am very grateful that I did.I adore this book and feel that it may be one of the best books I have ever read and not just this year. I'm talking about one of the best I have ever in my entire life.
The way Eve Ensler writes is...REAL. Honestly that is the only way I know how to describe it. I am very thankful that I, being born in 1990 am not a part of that "down there" generation. The generation where the female pubic area was lumped together and just given a broad term as if it were something undeserving the generation that our mothers and grandmothers grew up in. Now in this day and age a girl can talk to her friends about her VAGINA . It is not something we have to be shameful about any longer ladies and I thank Eve and all the women like her, as well as the women who helped make this book possible. This book opened my eyes and I really enjoyed it. I found my heart aching for the women, cheering them on and relating to there words. Eve's message against violence against women broke my heart but I've known for a long time that these atrocities happen...unfortunately I'm not sure they will stop even within my lifetime and that makes me sad.
We should not feel dirty or ashamed for what we have, because without VAGINAS none of us would be here so ladies please read this. I hope it opens your eyes like it did mine.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
