Vagina monologues

Well, this post is about something I'm not a huge fan of. I'll let you read it yourself, because it does a better job of summing up the problem than I could. This is an e-mail sent on our message boards in response to a post asking why so many men at my school were essentially scum. I could look up the first e-mail, but it would just make me mad again. So read this, and tell me what you think:

* I've obviously removed all names, and I asked the author permission before I posted it here...like any right-thinking decent person would do.

Is it really so hard to figure out why men are uncomfortable about the upcoming Vagina Monologues?
If you'll indulge me for a moment, let me take you to a hypothetical world where the tables are turned and I'm selling tickets.
Here is the General Announcement I send out:



BIG FAT HAIRY COCKS!

COME TO COTTER TO GET YOUR TICKETS (more like DICKets) TO COME SEE THE DICK DIALOGUES!

YOU'LL BUST A NUT (literally) AT THIS HOUR-LONG SHOW

COME ON, IT'LL BE A BALL (or two)!

DON'T GET SHAFTED BY MISSING YOUR CHANCE (but feel free to get shafted any other way)!

STARRING: DICKS, COCKS, DONGS, SHLONGS, JOHNSONS, SAUSAGES, WOODIES, BONERS, CHUBBIES, WEINERS,

AND FEATURING FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY: THE AMAZING PECKER!

IF YOU'RE ONE OF THE FIRST TWENTY PEOPLE THERE, YOU CAN ALSO SHAKE HANDS WITH THE GOVERNOR WHILE YOU WAIT!

SALUTE OUR MEMBERS AS THEY SALUTE YOU, COLBY!

BECOME A PROUD ALLY OF THE PEN 15 CLUB TODAY!

Proceeds go to testicular cancer research.

I imagine it would cause a bit of a stir and you maybe (just maybe) might be a little afraid to attend. Granted, the Vagina Monologue advertisements weren't QUITE that bad, but please consider the following:



--Sections from *****name****** General Announcement 2/10, titled "Vagina. Vagina? VAAAGIIIINAAAA! Vagina:"

My vagina is angry.

It is. It's pissed off...

Also present are:

cunts

coochie snorchers

hot, happy vaginas

hurt vaginas

moaning vaginas

Bob

vaginas in short skirts

hairy vaginas (gotta love'em)
--A flyer hanging up in the AMS lobby for the past several days that says "Give your lips a voice" in a caption above a drawing of a vagina, which also features rape statistics, including that 25% of men are rapists.

--"V is for Vagina", a standing card advertisement that has been on the dining hall tables featuring Cookie Monster from Sesame Street

--A table full of vagina sculptures, "Pussy Pops", and other vaginal images, in Cotter, not to mention emails from a while back (that I unfortunately cannot find) that begged people to come "Paint [Their] Pussies", etc.



Besides the fact that the fundraising table is the biggest testament to the objectification of women I've ever seen (why the emphasis on vaginas instead of the women who have them?), the language is the last thing I'd expect from a fundraiser for rape survivors.I'm the one that's "shocked, appalled and bewildered", Ms. ********. Even in your message yesterday, you claim that "it's worth it to see a woman demonstrating the different types of moans on stage". Asking people to donate money to rape awareness by throwing around terms like "cunts", "cooters", and "pussies" is like asking people to come to (and I hate to even say this, afraid of the reactions it might get) a Black History Month performance by calling it "negroes on stage".



This all said, I will be going to the Vagina Monologues (even if I didn't have to for the credit anyway) and donating money. I never understood what the show was about and still only have a small inkling of what the contents of the show entail. The only exposure I have to the show so far is through the emails and flyers I've been seeing, which lead me to believe the show will be silly and childish at best, aggressively anti-male and vulgar at worst. I don't want it to sound like I'm doubting your good intentions, because I believe any of the women putting this together have the best at heart, but maybe you'd have gotten a better reception if the fundraising aspect was more than fine print at the bottom of your "CUNTS AND COOTERS!!!!" advertisements.



To conclude, forgive my brethren if they seem a little put off by your table full of pussies, but what did you expect?



Best,

So, I'm not a huge fan of the Vagina Monologues. I'll post more about it tomorrow. I had an essay, but it's currently incoherent, so I'm gonna look at it tomorrow and see what I can salvage.

I'd really like some feedback on this...maybe someone who can explain Eve Ensler's tactics without shouting 'pussy' at me? I'd like to understand, because I'd like to help...I see the problem...I just don't see how this play is contributing to a solution.