false 104734 26 "I say vagina because I want people to respond," says playwright Eve Ensler, creator of the hilarious, disturbing soliloquies in <i>The Vagina Monologues</i>, 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--<i>Gladys Siegelman?</i>--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. 1146102 3 5 1998 The Vagina Monologues total:3119|5:1054|4:1052|3:730|2:219|1:65| 3119 12168 3897 287 1 11 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Wed Apr 04 19:42:12 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 04 19:56:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 7 false false Sun Dec 23 09:12:16 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 23 09:25:12 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2 6 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 21 16:20:53 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 09:29:57 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 5 false false Sat Sep 29 18:12:16 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 29 18:40:32 -0700 2007
On the other hand, Eve Ensler is a self-promoting, self-satisfied twit.

]]> 1 4 false false Mon Apr 16 06:25:16 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 16 06:27:04 -0700 2007 3 4 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Feb 27 08:33:22 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 08:39:28 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun May 27 22:08:49 -0700 2007 Sun May 27 22:26:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Aug 19 12:03:04 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 12:06:19 -0700 2007 1 4 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Mon Dec 29 13:27:09 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 13:27:09 -0800 2008 I did not see my vagina as my primary resource, a place of sustenance, humor and creativity."

You know, I don't see it that way, either. I thought the source of all that was my brain. How could I have been so stupid??

I must not have been abused enough as a girl, becau...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 13 19:20:56 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 23 11:15:31 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jun 14 11:28:47 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 15 06:45:30 -0700 2007 I performed in this most of the years I was in college as part of the national V-day campaign, and the experiences I gained there with stay with me forever. So...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 19:00:39 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 19:02:03 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Tue Apr 28 08:14:12 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 08:31:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 01 14:16:58 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 19:14:16 -0800 2009
This book did get me thinking that I will never make a proper "feminis...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 19:19:41 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 19:20:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 06:17:33 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 06:20:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 12 19:23:30 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 05:24:43 -0700 2009
In her introduction, Eve Ensler talks about the end of violence against women--that what has been done for the last 10 years via grassroots movement of V-Day is on rescue rather than transformation.

"It is the culture that has to ch...more...]]> 1 2 false false Tue Mar 31 11:05:27 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 11:11:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Feb 20 21:59:07 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 21:29:38 -0800 2009
I also didn't really connect wi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 09:50:08 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 06:53:19 -0700 2009 more...]]>