Monday, October 09, 2006

The Vagina Monologues

This is one of the most grotesque performances that occurs on college campuses. An entire performance centered on female genitalia. The whole idea is to speak out against violence against women. That's a noble cause, but the execution is wrong and it does nothing to actually stop violence against women. It's a presentation that only feminists are going to go to, most of the general public will never see it.

If you are on a true crusade to stop violence against women here are a few ideas go get you going:
  • If, for any reason, think a woman may be in danger, check it out, don't ignore it and assume it's nothing. You may have the opportunity to save somebody from a terrible attack
  • Don't go out alone, bring friends with you that you know will keep you safe. If you find somebody out alone, stay with them as much as you can, it could be just what is needed to deter a rapist
  • If you hear violent arguments from an adjacent residence don't be afraid to confront it, and don't let excuses get in the way to stopping it for good, including your own, and those of the victim
  • Parents: Teach your daughters to defend themselves. Make sure they learn how to use firearms, and learn some basic defense techniques.
  • Husbands: If you know you are violent when you drink don't do it. If you have a bad temper work on it. Your wife isn't a punching bag, she is a person and deserves to be treated as such.
  • Women: Learn to be more assertive. One of the reasons violence against women is so insidious is that you don't fight it.
That is by no means the end of the list, there are many other things that everyone can do to end this sort of thing.

Another problem with the Vagina Monologues is that people aren't likely to take it seriously. Take for example this excercept from an interview with the author:
I was drawn to vaginas because of my own personal history, because of sexuality, because women's empowerment is deeply connected to their sexuality. And, I'm obsessed with women being violated and raped, and with incest. All of these things are deeply connected to our vaginas.
Notice that middle sentence in particular. The author says she is obsessed with all these horrible things and she ties them all to her genitalia. She is centered on the problem, but never thinks about any solutions.

Many of you would ask why I am against this. My answer is simple: It doesn't help, and it's grotesqueness is harmful. We don't really need this sort of thing. The time and the money could be spent much more productively. Overall this thing on college campuses does far more harm than good; that is, if it does any good at all.

3 Comments:

At 5:10 PM, Blogger Lance Duval said...

Oh Noes!

Did the nasty feminists shock the poor widdle conservative!

I am amazed how this play continues to shock almost 10 years after it was first performed.

It's interesting that the play directly confronts taboos about that particular body-part in a frank manner. The play is not just a "crusade" against violence, it is an exploration of many aspects of female sexuality.

I really dont have a problem with it, nor does most well-adjusted Americans.

Have you even seen this play? I find that when most fundamentalist christians criticize art they do so from a position of ignorance.

 
At 12:14 PM, Blogger sevenvoices said...

I've see enough of it to know that I've seen more I will care to see. I just think that these feminists are doing the very thing they always accuse men of doing: thinking with their genitalia.

 
At 11:14 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

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