If You Can't Say It...

I remember the first time I heard about The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler very clearly; my high school drama teacher was talking about how she had once performed one of the monologues when she and her husband had first started dating. He attended the performance, sitting between her aunt and mother while she was onstage talking about vaginas.

I loved this drama teacher...I dressed up as her during the teacher themed spirit day, and I still kind of want to be her when I grow up. And it is because of her that I decided to pick up a copy of the V-Day edition of Ensler's script.

Women Talking About Vaginas

I went to Catholic school for 12 years (elementary through high school), and in all of these years the only time I ever heard the word vagina was in Biology 12, or as the punchline to a teenage boy's joke. Reading Eve Ensler's work was definitely an interesting and eye opening experience, as she talked to women from around the world and from a variety of backgrounds, about their vaginas.

The result was far more than I expected. There were stories on growing up, naming the vagina, assaults and violence, pleasure, discovery...It was an education in less than 200 pages.

Say it Loud!

In the introduction to this edition, Ensler describes how a "punk ticketseller" told women who called to buy tickets that if they couldn't say the word, they couldn't come to the show. I found this hilarious at first, but then I realized that I too grew up squirming at the sound of the word. It wasn't something we said. But what could be more natural than a part of a woman's body?

Additionally, this edition talks about the creation of V-Day, a mission that works to end violence against women. This is something we still need to talk about, because violence against women has not gone away, and it probably won't go away any time soon unless we decide to do something about it. I admire how Ensler used this work to start the conversation, but continues to discuss through her V-Day work. 5 stars! Amazing! Hope that I can see it performed one day when this pandemic ends...

As always, I am your Opinionated Bookworm. If you have any suggestions or review requests, please comment below, email me (theopinionatedbookworm@gmail.com) or follow me on Instagram (@theopinionatedbookworm1).

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