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Dec 16, 2009

Aaron rated it:

While I don't necessarily disagree with Ensler's thesis, or the help the project has provided to various women's charities, the whole thing, as a literary or dramatic work, is very problematic. Anything more honest than a fawning critique reveals how shallow the whole thing is; there's hypocrisy, repetitive symbolism and metaphors, a heaping of that empty sort of communal feminism that makes everyone feel good but doesn't actually change anything, and, upon close inspection, evidence of the kind More...

4 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2007

Elle rated it:

It's disturbingly tempting to give this book a high rating just so everyone knows that I support feminism (which I do) and that I'm comfortable talking about sex (you mean coitus?). And I think Ensler depends on that tendency. Because here's the thing- VM's politics may be admirable, but as theatre it's really quite bad. Also, Ensler is a self-serving egomaniac. Think about it- she could fund an endowment for female playwrights and premiere a new feminist play every year, but instead she's s More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2011

Nikki rated it:

I've been meaning to read or see The Vagina Monologues for a long time. Someone was talking about it, as people often do, and I realised it was available on the Kindle store, so I got it.

It's a very quick read. It's not an easy read. There's discussion of self-loathing, of embarrassment and shame, of sexual assault and violence against women, of statutory rape. It might also not be easy for you if you can't read the word 'vagina' without getting uncomfortable, or if you don't like the More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

Feb 22, 2008

Shannon rated it:

There's a lot to critique about this - but I really don't feel like getting into it. I will say this, though: Eve Ensler doesn't know what a vagina is. If you're unclear: a vagina is "the passage leading from the uterus to the vulva in certain female mammals". Everyone in this play says "vagina" when they really usually mean "vulva". I'm not being oddly specific, they are completely different parts of the anatomy. COME ON. Vulva is a prettier word than vagina anyway More...

8 comments like (14 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2007

Virginia rated it:

I have such conflicting feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate it for saying out loud some things that haven't been really accepted by society.

On the other hand, Eve Ensler is a self-promoting, self-satisfied twit.

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2007

Jesse rated it:

I have big issues with this play. It essentializes what it means to be a woman, equating femininity with a having a vagina! Not to mention endorsing racial and cultural stereotypes.

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Fiona rated it:

Upon reading this book I gave it the "I liked it" three star rating. Having now listened to Eve Ensler breathe so much energy and character into these monologues, I am increasing my rating to four stars. The audiobook version of The Vagina Monologues is wonderfully textural. My emotional responses to these pieces as they floated into my mind this afternoon were in abundance whereas when I was reading the monologues I gradually became aware of an emotional disconnect which felt, for More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Sara rated it:

"the vagina monologues" began ambitiously, as the author, eve ensler, interviewed hundreds of women from all around the globe about their vaginas-- something most of us don't spend much time talking about!-- but i don't think even ensler could ever have predicted the impact it would have on the world. "the vagina monologues" turned into v-day, one of the most important worldwide events, consistently raising awareness and money to work to end violence against women.

More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 27, 2008

JT rated it:

So, I know, I am only giving this book 3 stars. Not that I didn't think that some, even most of it was really good, my dislike starts to form when they are performed. The monologues and stories in this book are well written, they are heartwarming, funny, devastating, real and emotional. Some rip your heart out, some make you laugh because we have all done what ever it was. The problem with performance of this piece is that when some people start to say these words for a crowd, it becomes more ab More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Anna rated it:

i think for her target audience (middle america's sorority girls) they're revolutionary. for me personally, i felt like they essentialized women to their genitalia and were problematic in that sense. i've also had to sit through the play 5+ times, so perhaps i'm just burnt out on cunt-love

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Maysoon rated it:

Throughout reading this, I was bothered repeatedly by one major error: she frequently uses vagina when she means VULVA! It makes me cringe that a play dedicated to freeing women from shame about this most intimate of body parts can't even name it correctly.

I also didn't really connect with the monologues and no doubt that's because they were meant to be seen performed, not read. I would probably only buy this if I had already seen and enjoyed a performance.

So why 3 stars More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2010

Beth F. rated it:

When I was in eighth grade health class, the teacher handed out diagrams of male and female genitalia with lines pointing to the different parts and told us to memorize the names of the parts for a test at the end of the week. After our tests had been graded, the teacher admitted that she’d analyzed the results for boys vs. girls and found some interesting discrepancies. Not terribly surprising, most boys and girls scored the highest when identifying the parts of their own respective genitals. More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

Shivering William rated it:

I don't understand a lot of the reviews on here. Especially the one star ones.

First of all, over the vagina/vulva debate, Ensler addresses that almost first thing. She purposefully chose the more hideous word to make people uncomfortable (and eventually--hopefully--comfortable with the subject matter). The low goodreads reviews make me think those people didn't actually read the play. Maybe they just saw a sub-par production that didn't have all the pieces. Fine. Forgivable. More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2007

Kristen rated it:

I have serious epistemological concerns with this piece - but it certainly succeeds as a pro-vag manifesto. And, come on, who doesn't want to read some old lady's answer to the question "if your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?"

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2008

Dixie Diamond rated it:

"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, because I always feel like vagina-centric art projects like this reduce me to a piece of anatomy just as much as does the alleged male fantasy of big boobs and miles of leg.

Which is not to say th More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Debbie rated it:

I have read this before, but I listened to it on audio today and the live version is definitely the best. At times hilarious, brutal, disconcerting, and poignant - The Vagina Monologues is the result of interviews with over 200 women. If the idea of a woman's sexuality makes you uncomfortable, then you definitely need to challenge yourself and come to terms with the vagina. It's not going to disappear just because we are afraid to talk about it.

Here in the United States, a woman More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 15, 2007

Caitlin rated it:

If you have a vagina, you need to read this or see it performed. (If even you don't, it may help you better understand those who do!)
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. Some of the monologues are funny, some are heart-wrenching. The play is an emotional roller coaster if you let yourself get swept away in it. I only wish this would include some of the optional monolo More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2009

Ola rated it:

I felt strangely empowered after reading this. Hoorah for vaginas!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2009

nicole rated it:

S'okay. Too essentialist for me, but still glad that it exists. The parts where women address negative feelings and embarassment about their vagina/it's functions were definitely worth reading. In some ways its like a dumb girl magazine. You mock the readers who write in to the advice/body questions column for asking stupid questions ("Can I get pregnant from KISSING!? - Terrified and Ignorant in Tennessee) and laugh at the embarassing true life stories at the back of the issue (so frequent More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 21, 2011

Kyle rated it:

It is an uncomfortable and touchy topic for many people, so if the word "vagina" sets you off, then you best be prepared to be bombarded with vagina and other female genitalia throughout the book. I'm just saying, if the title hasn't floored you yet. :)

For me, I haven't quite grasped at the idea of seeing your vagina as your pride and joy, much less using it to empower you or nurturing it lovingly. Different people have their own views and own comfort levels with embracing th More...

0 comments like

May 07, 2010

Ancilla rated it:

I was really want to know what kind of book it is. When I finally found it, couldn't help to not buy it. So I bought it.

And it is interesting enough to know how women have interpreted their vaginas. Indeed, makes me wonder, how do I 'see' and 'value' mine. It describes and againsts how many people disregard vaginas [and women:]. It talks about the sexual abuse, in different forms.

It also describes the point how women have rights to get the pleasure [the big O:]. On other More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Rosanna rated it:

With The Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler attempts to start a dialogue about women and their vaginas, in hopes to break the barrier of silence and shame surrounding the word: vagina. If women feel more comfortable in talking about sex then it will help them voice their concerns about sexual abuse, genital mutilation, and female rights. From the earliest age people raise their daughters to call their vagina some other word than vagina; this shrouds the word vagina in mystery and shame, making it into More...

0 comments like

Nov 03, 2009

Liza rated it:

Don't quite see what all the fuss is about. I suppose I don't have that many nether issues to be strongly affected by it. It also makes sense that this should be seen as a live performance and not read as a book.

This book did get me thinking that I will never make a proper "feminist". I completely fail to see my vagina as a "nexus of power" or my "center of being". I don't think there's anything particularly special about the old va-j-j. Its just an org More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 21, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I am a dedicated feminist. Yet, I don't like reading feminist literature/philosophy. It can be too academic, turning the topic cold, and cutting it off from actual, real women. So, I've avoided reading a lot of feminist "classics." After reading a moving article in what I believe was Bust (perhaps Bitch), I was moved to read this. The premise is wonderful-- to open women up to learning about, and feeling proud, of their Vaginas. This was done through interviewing about two hundr More...

0 comments like

Aug 21, 2011

Emily rated it:

The Vagina Monologues was funny and shocking most of the way through but I didn't fall in love with it until one of the last chapters, when I read this answer a six-year-old gave to the question "What does your vagina remind you of?"

"A pretty dark peach. Or a diamond I found from a treasure and it's mine."

And then I read the chapter "I was there in the room" that poetically unfolded the story of birth.

While the Monologues had me blush More...

0 comments like

Feb 20, 2008

Christen rated it:

Interesting, although I saw the play first and it's the exact same text. The women's voices come through much better in the book, and of course this is a valuable feminist text because it gives the reader access to a wide array of women's experiences with sexuality. Some of it was downright silly though ("what would your vagina wear?" please.) and after awhile I got tired of reading the word vagina all the time.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 07, 2010

Petra X rated it:

The book itself is very short and because of that several introductions and a afterwords have been included to pad it out. First there is the extremely long introduction by the author which was partly about how the book was written and partly history and what has happened since the Vagina Monologues was created. Then there is a another extremely long (but much better written and more interesting) introduction by the fabulous Gloria Steinem telling us something of her eccentric, interesting and r More...

0 comments like

Apr 24, 2009

Purplycookie rated it:

This book makes me proud to be a woman.

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 change--the beliefs, the underlying story and behavior of the culture." This is because, in Ensler's words, "We have not penetrated the mindset that, somewhere in every single culture, gives p More...

0 comments like

Aug 08, 2011

Angela rated it:

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it truly surprises me how many weird looks or uncomfortable glances I receive whenever this book is off of my shelf. Women: we own our vaginas; there is nothing wrong with us being proud of them!

This is a collection of stories, interviews, and thoughts centering around women and our vaginas. The book posits that there is a bad stigma surround our sexual orgins and that's absolutely right. The centeries of menstrual huts, mental More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Victoria rated it:

Meh. What can I say? I found the book quite patronising. It seemed intent on making women believe that their vagina is the most important part of them, if not the only part. It was quite boring too. Perhaps I'm not closed minded or sheltered enough to enjoy it. If you feel uneasy and up tight about your vagina and what it represent, or about being a woman or anything like that, then maybe you will enjoy it. For someone who doesn't feel repressed or prudish, it seems pretty much a waste of More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)