I don't see the IWF or Claire Booth Luce Policy Institute doing anything for
Yet another Halliburton/KBR Rape Victim either.

I would love to sit down with those women and tell them that my (ex) bf took me out for a romantic meal on Valentine's Day...and then promptly physically assaulted me afterwards.

I'll take V-Day and the Monologues over their shit Take Back the Date any day.

I've been in the Vagina Monologues twice and one of those times I was director and it was the most amazing experience for me. We raised a lot of money for our chosen organization, so here is proof that the Vagina Monologues has helped many organizations that try to combat violence against women. Every year, that organization depends on the Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds to their cause. Thanks for standing up for a wonderful play!

I am sure that the rape survivors of the DRC that are finally getting a roof on their hospital and rape recovery center (with funds raised by V-day) would much rather have a little romance- maybe some chocolates or flowers instead. Totally makes sense.

Folks can join V-Day in New Orleans in April for the 10th anniversary...

"V-Day has no real impact on the violence." I guess raising over 30 million dollars is no biggie for women, huh?

I don't agree with the vagina haters-- but at the same time, you haven't really made a valid point. That 30 million might have gone to fund awareness campaigns and programming-- but the crazy conservatives are right-- there is NO evidence that the rate of violence against women has been impacted in any way by the play.

At the end of the day, the play is just entertainment used to fundraise.

The fact that even saying the word "vagina" and women coming to terms with and embracing their femininity and sexuality is considered "vulgar" shows exactly *how* important the vagina monologues are. Women should not be ashamed of themselves or their bodies. Being told that our bodies are "vulgar" makes it difficult for women to overcome that shame...shame they should never have in the first place!

V-Day! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I especially like how the main argument from these conservative organizations is, "But it's soooo not romantic!" Very substantive. ;) I also find it humorous that those who hate on V-Day can rarely bring themselves to think/write/say "vagina."

Also, don't forget the Cardinal Newman Society, whose main purpose is to harass Catholic colleges that host V-Day.

I'll be attending a V-Day performance in Boston this year. Hooray!

The fact that even saying the word "vagina" and women coming to terms with and embracing their femininity and sexuality is considered "vulgar" shows exactly *how* important the vagina monologues are. Women should not be ashamed of themselves or their bodies. Being told that our bodies are "vulgar" makes it difficult for women to overcome that shame...shame they should never have in the first place!

It's laughable that an organization that calls itself "independent" and "nonpartisan" has a banner link to CPAC in left sidebar.

Oh, and this gem:
"Our mission is to rebuild civil society by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom. IWF builds support for a greater respect for limited government, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families, and a powerful and effective national defense and foreign policy."

Rip a page out of the Republican platform's manual lately, folks? My point is that I wouldn't expect much more from an organization so closely aligned with conservative thought.

I've been in the Vagina Monologues twice and one of those times I was director and it was the most amazing experience for me. We raised a lot of money for our chosen organization, so here is proof that the Vagina Monologues has helped many organizations that try to combat violence against women. Every year, that organization depends on the Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds to their cause. Thanks for standing up for a wonderful play!

It's laughable that an organization that calls itself "independent" and "nonpartisan" has a banner link to CPAC in left sidebar.

Oh, and this gem:
"Our mission is to rebuild civil society by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom. IWF builds support for a greater respect for limited government, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families, and a powerful and effective national defense and foreign policy."

Rip a page out of the Republican platform's manual lately, folks? My point is that I wouldn't expect much more from an organization so closely aligned with conservative thought.

At my university, we would also raise money for the local women's shelter during the Vagina Monologues week.

Also, we were have a meeting once to discuss the controversy over the monologues (we had group backed by the IWF on grounds) and a Steven Rhodes (a conservative professor at my Uni) showed up. I can still remember one of the women in our org explaining to him that it was romantic for her to go with her boyfriend to these plays because it made her feel supported and loved by him. It was like they were speaking two different languages.

At the end of the day, the play is just entertainment used to fundraise.

I completely disagree. The amount of information in the play is incredible. I dragged most of my male friends to see it, and they all thanked me afterwards, b/c they learned things they wouldn't have otherwise. It's awareness wrapped in an entertaining package that is used to fund further awareness-raising efforts and to support other organizations and programs that do more hands-on work, like running shelters. Saying that it's *just* entertainment really minimizes the importance of the show. Now... if they could only change the name to the Vulva Monologues, we'd be making even more progress.

Let's not underestimate the power of both entertainment and fundraising to change the world. As many commenters here have pointed out, funds raised by these events go to local women's organizations, to help the women that need it most.

As far as entertainment goes, this is how important ideas move into the mainstream...which is exactly why Feministing is so effective. It's Fun AND Educational!

Hey, thanks for coming to Montana, Jessica. We all had a great time.

I almost forgot this: While she was talking he was taking *notes.* It was kind of infuriating.

Yay V-Day!

OT: Every time the Claire Boothe Luce group does something stupid and I hear about it, I get really sad. The first time I ever heard the name Claire Boothe Luce was because of a fellowship program funded through a foundation she set up to pay for grad school for high-acheiving young women going into male-dominated fields. So I naturally assumed that those who organize around her legacy would be feminists, not crazy righties who think it's vulgar to pronounce the name of their own genetalia.

Some favorite quotes from their "student activism" section:

"Send a letter to the editor to your school paper voicing your concern about the dangerous messages that V-Day promotes. More people read the letter to the editor section than any other section in the newspaper, so lots of people are bound to hear your ideas."

The letters to the editor is the >most

"Teach female students how to safely operate a firearm - by far the best method of self-defense."

Now, I'll just put out there that I hate guns, always, so this just sounds...ridiculous to me. Yes, teaching women to defend themselves is important, and I think self-defense classes can be extremely valuable and empowering, but being violent to stop the violence doesn't work. For individuals (which is why self-defense classes are good), but the overall problem is that you shouldn't be threatening and hurting women (or anyone) to being with. The point of V-Day is to END violence against women. Instructing women on how to respond with violence...is a totally different matter, one that I don't believe in.

@ frijolera: Awareness raising doesn't help? So... just because something doesn't have a really direct, dramatic statistical impact means it's ineffective or not really significant?

I know you're not saying the play is pointless or that it should be shut down, but I think you're not giving it enough credit, either. That 30 mil will definitely have an effect, as will the awareness of the subjects brought up in the play.

I don't think my boyfriend thought of these issues in such graphic terms until he saw the play. I'm sure he's not the only one so affected.

My vagina is not happy with that cartoon. It's yelling, right now.

So now the antis not only want to control how we use our bodies, who we can have sex with, and our reproductive choice, define us with words like slut or prude, scare us with false facts, denigrate our vaginas, dismiss the work and passion of those who want equality, and just generally be hateful, spiteful people, but now they ALSO want to define what romance means?

Well guess what? I live with a man who I'm NOT married to. He's pretty damn romantic, but not in the bringing home flowers every day way. He has never and will never hit me, he's nice to me, he treats me like an equal, and he's the most supportive person I've ever met. But we have extramarital sex using our hoo-has and ding-dings, so I guess we're vulgar and going to hell for sure.

Now... if they could only change the name to the Vulva Monologues, we'd be making even more progress.

I wouldn't hold my breath. I suspect "What's that word mean?" would come up a lot.

So I certainly don't support the idea that the Vagina Monologues is killing romance, and if it is killing a marketed, Hallmark version of romance, so be it.

However...

I went to the Vagina Monologues last year at my school for the first time and I really didn't like it. I appreciate the idea of liberating the word and the concept from the stigma it has, but the whole production was a) racially tokenizing (one little vignette for every race they could think of to represent the experience of a really large group of people b) sending out the message that all lesbian sex is wonderful and beautiful and all straight sex is violent and terrible.

I think these things (particularly the latter) might be more a problem with decisions made by the directors than with the play, but can anyone tell me if this is how the monologues are normally done, or did I maybe just see a bad production?

My dad says the exact same thing, that it's based only on shock value. He, of course, has never actually seen the play, which has very little to do with shock value, and very much to do with ending violence against women, a cause even my anti-feminist dad would believe in.

dude, there is little more romantic than a partner who both respects you as a person /and/ loves loves vaginas

I love that it has to be so exclusive...I am performing in my University's production of the VM, and I am also being taken out to dinner by my boyfriend afterwards. :)

(and vulvas too, of course)

Eve Ensler is speaking tonite in my town (Grand Rapids, MI) and I am so going to see her. and romance? well, how about a hot meal waiting on the stove and the bf, who is really happy to see me home safe, out shoveling a path (again)in the drive so that I don't have to walk in the snow after a 2 hour commute in one of the worst storms of the season? now that is romance. melted my cranky exhausted feminist heart. that gesture says alot more than all the chocolate, flowers or any other junk bought to make me think he's wonderful.

I have seen the Vagina Monologues and I enjoyed the experience- I think it's worth doing at least once, altho it did have a tendency to get a little sappy "mother-flower-vagina love" for me. That said, Valentine's Day is a retarded ass holiday, imo and Vagina Day has def. done more to improve the status of women than Valentine's day. So I guess I don't understand why they are bemoaning that V-day doesn't really do anything for women when they aren't suggesting an alternative. Basically, they don't give two shits about women and need a box of chocolates and some flowers from their Republican husbands in exchange for all the kids, meals and head I'm sure these fine ladies are doling out to the menfolk.

This V-Day, I've had the privlege to direct The Vagina Monologues in conjunction with Wright State University's feminist organization, and I have to say that it has been a life changing event. I've met so many wonderful and inspiring women, and learned so much. I am eternally grateful for this opportunity and encourage anyone who gets a chance to be involved to do so.

frijolera:
around 97% of the money raised through V-day events including the Vagina Monologues, is given to organizations that help women who have suffered violence.

Not only that but there are countless numbers of people who get involved for the first time every year who find their life changed and then are informing and changing others. Raising awareness is very important.

I think that is something I would call making a difference.

plzprettypuss,

I don't thing the Vagina monologues are trying to say that vaginas are women's essence. I think they are simply trying to get women to understand that they are nothing to be ashamed of, and do not justify violence...

While I can't be upset over the loss of romance conservatives complain about, I can't say that it would pain me to see the Vagina Monologues go away either. I think the premise is good, I think there are valid points to be made, but at the end of it, my vagina is NOT my essence. It is not my center or my being. My heart is my center, and so is my mind, and soul, and spirit. That is my essence. Not what's down there. Personally, I feel no real strong attachment to my vagina, because, well, I didn't CHOOSE to have one! I have one because my daddy's X sperm got there before the Y ones could. If this attitude makes me a bad woman, then, I guess, call me one. But still, I'm not going to mourn when that play doesn't go on.

(on a side note, just in passing, I can understand why many here are wary of violence as an answer when it comes to self-defense. However, let me just say, I have a 5th degree black belt and I carry a .38 snub nose revolver. And yes, on a dark street at night, just letting a harrasser know you have it does wonders. So, I still think guns should always be available to women who want them).

I love the fact that IWF refers to "victimology." Apparently it hasn't occurred to them that people who suffer sexual violence are, in fact, victims.

I think that the Vagina Monologues are an amazing thing. This is the first year on my campus that I can remember them being done and people are talking about. Not everything that is being said is good, but at least people are aware that its out there, which hopefully will inspire people to learn more about it. Before I got involved in them I had no idea that people used them to raise money for violence against women awareness. Thats just amazing.
On a more personal note, what the hell do people find so horrible about women being conscious about their bodies? I mean society has no problem telling use that we all need scented tampons and douches, because it smells down there. I don't see any difference between that and knowing what is down there and what I like to happen down there. Its about letting women know that its OK to think about their vaginas. I bet a man thinks about what his penis and what it likes all the time.

My vagina hates the cartoon. And she is not vulgar- except when she swears at people like the IWF. What bullshit.

But we have extramarital sex using our hoo-has and ding-dings, so I guess we're vulgar and going to hell for sure

I'm sorry but I just had to laugh. When I was growing up, I was taught to refer to it as my "papona" (it must be a puerto rican thing)

Anyways I've seen the Monologues twice, the second time was when my husband and I were still dating in college and I give him credit for being open enough to seeing it. Just a day or two before the play I was in the cafeteria and overheard some frat guys making your typical run of mill immature comments about the play.
What I don't understand is how group like IWF seem to think that the play and valentine's day have to be in oppostion to each other. I think it could be a nice thing for a couple to do on or around valentine's day. My husband and I caught a performance on campus on the 15th, but had a nice dinner and gift exhange the night before. They would like to think that the only people going to see this play is their concept of the stereotypical man hating feminist. When in fact I saw a surprising number of men at the last performance I went to. I"m hopnig one of the area colleges will host a performance this year.

So I'm a hypocrite for not wanting to combat violence with MORE violence? Thanks for letting me know, IWF!

Going to see the Monologues with my boyfriend this Valentine's Day and I can't wait :D

We are putting on a version at my med school! I am going to be the narrator. I am so proud. We are raising money for a local domestic violence charity.

I can understand the desire to help women feel less ashamed of their bodies (and their privates in particular). However, my problem with the play seems to be the fact that it is putting the vagina up on a pedestal, like it is something fantastic, and if you don't see it that way, then you must be ashamed of yourself. Maybe because I am an anatomy major, but I really just see the vagina as an organ, comprised of lots of nerves, tissues, and other stuff. Half the earth's population shares one with me. So it doesn't make me unique. I guess the point of this rant (sorry!) is simply my opinion that women are not, and should never ever be reduced to their vaginas, and that your vagina is never ever the most important part of you. If we want to celebrate it, we can, but not at the expense of heart, intellect, passion, or all those other, less concrete things.

I'm going to miss seeing the play this year after seeing it the last two years at my university since I'm on exchange. I'm trying to convince my boyfriend to go for the first time but I don't think he will without me. Maybe next year.

Plzprettypuss, I see what you're saying but I haven't heard of women leaving the play feeling they have been reduced to their vaginas. Rather, it's an entertaining play that talks openly in a way that is never really heard otherwise. It's refreshing. As a teenager I was one of those who could not say the word vagina and I'm sure was still somewhat like that when I first saw the play so the play was awesome to me.
Still, I can see what you're saying.

Well, we're learned (or been reminded of) three important things:
1. Women often participate in their own oppression.
2. The language of feminism is often co-opted for clearly anti-feminist purposes.
3. Antis don't understand that one play does not represent all that the feminist movement has to offer.

IMHO, VM does not reduce us to our vaginas, but it does illustrate the fact that our bodies are often a site of oppression.

"Teach female students how to safely operate a firearm - by far the best method of self-defense."

No, not because the media and much of society hates guns, the reason this is foolish is because 70-90% of the time, they'll be shooting or holding at gunpoint partners, spouses, dates, relatives, friends, coworkers, neighbors, their gynecologists, and other people they know, as well as gropers on public transportation, not random psychopathic strangers jumping women out of bushes and closets.

Some may not have a problem with pulling guns on or shooting dads, husbands, boyfriends, or gropers on trains, but the police and juries probably will. It may also be a strain to get a legal firearm or concealed carry permit in your jurisdiction. By law, the only non-law enforcement personnel I know of in Hawaii who can carry guns, and openly, are certain kinds of private security guards while on duty, and I doubt many people get raped while in uniform, delivering cash to banks in armored cars or sitting in the airport lobby.

"67 percent of victims were under 18 years of age, 34 percent were under 12 and 14 percent were six years old or younger. (Snyder 2000)."

"Approximately 90 percent of rape victims under 12 years old know the offender. (Greenfield 1997)"

"Over 90 percent of juvenile sexual assault victims reported knowing their attacker: 34 percent were family members and 59 percent acquaintances. Only seven percent of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim. (Snyder 2000)"

"Of surveyed college women, about 90 percent of rape and sexual assault victims knew their attacker prior to the assault. [(Fisher, Cullen, Turner 2000)]"

http://satchawaii.com/statistics.html

Please note that the Sex Abuse Treatment Center of Hawaii (SATCH) uses a list of references much more recent than those usually used by women's groups, and of course government statistics on law enforcement and victimization are updated regularly. Please give them a look.

This sort of thing is so frustrating to me. After a nice dinner, I went with my (now) husband to a performance of the Vagina Monologues on our first Valentine's Day together. Seeing the play together definitely made us closer as a couple.

I specifically remember the monologue about the woman whose marriage counselor proscribed that her husband shave her pubic hair to "liven up" their sex life and how horrible that made her feel. A few days earlier my husband had commented on how he thought it would be really sexy if I didn't have hair "down there", and I didn't really know how to respond at the time (it was still a relatively new relationship and we weren't actually sleeping together yet). After the play, he brought it up to me that he had never really thought about it in that context and that hearing the monologue had completely changed his mind about the whole concept.

If that's not romantic, what is?

Sigh... I think I could write a novel about how important the Vagina Monologues are to me. But I'll just say that, personally, I find the play very empowering... basically the Monologues are what got me started as a feminist. I find it hilarious that they are so afraid to say "vagina" like we don't all cart one around. Perhaps if we called them the "Intimate Anatomy Monologues" they wouldn't raise such a fuss.
Also the glorious quote after explaining Ensler's V-Day: "So long, Cupid." Because we're really missing out on the "romance" of cards and chocolate.

I was in a local production of the Monologues about four years ago, and I thought it was incredibly empowering - if for no other reason than that it involved working with a large group of women on a common goal. I performed "Because He Liked to Look at It," still, IMO, one of the top five best selections from the play.

I was shocked (maybe shouldn't have been, considering the source...)to read the quotes taken out of context from this piece in the Luce Institute pamphlet. I wonder, are they deliberately twisting Ensler's words to suit their point, or are they just obtuse? Because "BHLTL@I" is easily the most male-positive selection in the whole play. And that line about being oppressed by the patriarchy is - in its context - clearly tongue-in-cheek.

I disagreed with the anti-V Day folks before. But now that they've messed with Bob, I'm good and pissed!

And I have to say, anyone who thinks the VMs are a "radical feminist agenda" has clearly not read their Andrea Dworkin :)

@Amanda Stauffer, "Because He Liked to Look at It" is about 'straight sex', and it's one of the most positive, uplifting monologues in the whole play. That said, everyone knows that a huuuuuuuge amount of the violence committed against women is sexual violence from men. So in a play about ending violence against women, I think it stands to reason that there's going to be a lot of that in there. But there is positive light as well.

As for it being racially tokenizing, I suppose it's possible - maybe I haven't really looked closely enough. If that's the case, please tell me. In my experience though, race was only specified when it was necessary to the monologue (one about abuse of American Indian women, one about Japanese comfort women, etc), but for the most part, I feel like race generally isn't specified. I don't know if we can just assume the race of the women behind the monologues.

And @lindielou, I second! The Vagina Monologues is the thing that showed me how off-base I was with the way I self-identified ("I'm not s feminist, but...").

Yeah--anyone who says crap about the Vagina Monologues is officially on my shit list. I'm performing in it this weekend, I'm in 'My Angry Vagina,' I DON'T find it to be vile, and when I was in this for the first time last year, it was what made me finally get around to saying: "Hey, I'm a feminist."

I have seen the monologues 4 times, as well have performed in them (which really was one of my biggest highlights from college). I've seen them performed on a college campus (which I dragged friends to every time), and I also saw it performed by a group of older women with my mom. Although many of the monologues were the same, I got something different out of them every time.

I do think that there certainly is a "shock value" aspect, but I think it's there for a reason. I think the biggest reason (aside from the monologues raising money for local organizations and the like) is just about getting people talking and thinking about these issues. Some of the monologues are funny, and some are more serious and sometimes disturbing and explicit... but they get you talking! I don't think I ever knew anyone who left and didn't have SOMETHING to say about what they just saw.

As for the play reducing women to their vagina.. while I can understand how people could take it that way, I saw it a little differently. I think that a lot of it isn't really meant to be taken literally. While, yes, they are talking about their vaginas, it's really about the things and experiences that connect women (though many of those experiences differ depending on class, race, sexual orientation, etc... which a lot of those issues are also covered within the play). You know, with the parts in the play where they go through the whole "what would your vagina wear/say".. I think it's really just meant to be an extension of that particular woman... so to speak. And a lot of it really does have to do with the hearts and minds of these women that Eve interviewed to begin with... it's not really JUST about their vaginas. At least that's the way that I interpreted the whole thing...

And hey, what's that saying? No publicity is bad publicity? No better way to peak people's curiosity about something than to say "hey! this is bad, and gross, and you shouldn't have anything to do with it at all. in fact, just to be safe, we won't even give you the actual facts about it!". Hey, look at how well abstinence-only is working out...

Since when is preventing rape a "radical feminist" agenda? I like to think that most people in the world are against rape, but perhaps I'm wrong.

If I didn't have to work that night, I would go see the production that's being put on at our campus.

"V-Day has no real impact on the violence"? Um, what?

I spent 11 years working at a women's centre in British Columbia. When the V-Day production of the Vagina Monologues were brought to town (by my social work practicum students actually - it was their project that year), it started raising money for us in a way we hadn't been able to before. We were able to dedicate that money to services to abused women, AND because of that, we were able to allocated other funds to significant social change work. It also helped us build a very strong partnership with our local university, which continues to co-partner with the women's centre in producing the event.

Around BC, the Vagina Monologues raises a significant portion of women's centres' budgets - in some cases, as much as 25% of the organizations' annual budgets.

I read the little leaflet, and I have to say it worries me greatly the way these people talk. The way they say Ensler "claims" or "says" she was abused sexually, and more bizzarely she "claims" she interviewed women (as if they are yet to verify such a slippery assertation). The plays "glorify lesbianisn and self gratification " (well can you imagine?! this must be stopped otherwise we won't be able to move for wanking lesbians!!!). Dangerous V-day activities include (deep breath in people) MAKING VAGINAS USING PIPE CLEANERS AND FELT AND GLITTER!!!! Oh, will it never end!!!! And the "sad, almost tragic" point that a day of awareness about violence against women has become a highlight, nay, the pinnacle of some students college experience. The really ironic thing is that in attempting to highlight the true horrors of the Vagina Monologues and V-day, they actually highlight what an amazing event it is. They point out the money goes to LGBT support centres, family planning centres, and other places and try to make that sound like a bad thing!! I especially liked the bit at the end, dispelling "myths" (for "myths" read "opinions not shared by the author") about the play, which educates us in the "facts", such as the monologues are pornographic, anti male and in a roundabout way suggests that they are actually anti feminist. A play that is anti male and anti female all at the same time. This I must see.

"February 14, a day generally recognized for hearts, love and valentines, is now a day that has become increasingly associated with female private parts"

I've read that the heart symbol is actually an ancient symbol for female private parts. It can be interpreted in two ways. The top can represent buttocks and the bottom the pubic V-shape. Or it can be opened-up labia.

Roses are the private parts of flowers. Chocolate and champagne and lingerie are given to the women by the man in hope that she will share her private parts with him. I think Valentines Day was always about female private parts.