Diversity Paper

February 13, 2009
The Vagina Monologues

This event was very interesting. It also was a little bit weird, since this would be the first time I went to the event, and it was with my mother. I believe the purpose that the author is trying to make, would be to have women stop living in the silence. Johnson would of liked this play, because the women in it just said the words, even if it was about their vaginas. Women live in silence probably because of the male’s dominance in society. Women out of everyone, is a main target in abusive relationships. I also believe this event is intending to raise awareness for domestic abuse. Overall, this event had its sad stories, and also very funny stories, and I enjoyed this performance very much.
My favorite event was when the girl was talking about the all the different orgasms. It was very funny, and amusing. It really made my mother and I laugh really loud as well as the rest of the audience. I thought that this chapter, and the actress who portrayed it, was a good example of Johnson. As funny as that may sound, she just said the words, and said her feelings, making the story clear to the point, and very entertaining. The girl who acted the part was very good at expressing all the different orgasms, in ways that they all were hilarious.
There was a girl, who was a lesbian telling her story. To me, this was a good display of Carlson, because they made a spot in the book for a homophobic. They were not left out in any way, they were just telling the story. It would be a good example of gay people wanting a place in the community as well as well as feeling normalized.
My least favorite was they act about ‘the flood’. It was about an old woman, telling a story when she was younger, and how she flooded her underwear and dress when kissing a very handsome young man. I kind of was getting nauseous, when the girl Sarah was telling the story. Overall it was gross all the details she put into it, how it went through her dress onto the seat of his car. I know I wouldn’t want that on the seat of my car, and it disgusted me. I know because of the story that she couldn’t help it, but still it made me feel a little sick.
Another story that made me feel very sad was the story about how the women did not feel comfortable shaving her vagina, and her husband would mess around with other women. If it made her itchy, puffy, and irritated, her husband should have understood that it was hurting her, and not made her always shave it. If she didn’t shave it, he would mess around with other women because he liked baby skinned vaginas. I felt very bad for the women, since they tried to go to marriage consuling, and it made her think that she had a problem with pleasuring her husband. I believe if Delpit were watching this, she would have been very upset. She believes in the codes of power, but when power is put into the wrong hands, its ruined. Her husband didnt have power over her body, and she could of done anything she wanted with herself. If he truely loved his wife, it would not be about whether she shaves her vagina or not.
I really liked this event; it was a very different event from what I usually go to. I learned that women are starting to speak out about things that are forbidden to ever be said, and Johnson would of enjoyed it. Women should be able to speak out and talk about anything they want, since it is a free country. Some stories also were talking about girls who were abused in their vaginas, and got guns shoved up them by men in the army. Listening to these stories also made me uncomfortable, and hurt that they actually had to go through that kind of pain and horror. There was depressing points in this event, but I’m glad they ended it with a hilarious one, which made me enjoy the event a lot more.