V-Blahg: In Awe and Reverence of Vaginas

We forget the vagina—All of Us

what else could explain

our lack of awe, our lack of reverence.

From “I Was There In The Room”—The Vagina Monologues

The season is upon us.  As you read this, all around the world, thousands of groups of activists are organizing, collaborating, creating, directing, and talking about The Vagina Monologues for their upcoming performances and surrounding V-Week events.

For those of you who have yet to have the pleasure of seeing a production of this show, the series of monologues written by Eve Ensler are based on her collection of interviews of many different women from all around the world.  Set out with the goal of bringing out the stories and issues that make up the complex and unspoken world of female sexuality, Eve’s production, The Vagina Monologues, raises a wide breadth of topics encompassing both the pleasure of womanhood and sexuality, and the danger that sometimes accompanies it.

The first time that I saw the Vagina Monologues, the entire show was performed by four women, each taking turns telling the different stories with different voices and personas.  I left feeling stunningly empowered, inspired, proud, and like I was part of a community that I had not known existed prior to seeing this show.  Having previously believed that the experiences and thoughts that I had around my own sexuality and my... vagina... were unique and that I was alone in these thoughts, the Vagina Monologues brought to light the notion that every one of us has a complex relationship with these difficult and interesting topics.  The show brilliantly highlights the profound joy, pleasure, and beauty of being a woman, while at the same time delving into the frustrations, the pain, and the trauma that far too many of us throughout the world experience.

I’ve found that this year’s script is particularly heavy, as a reflection of the current state of sexual assault in our world.  How is it, I wonder, that this epidemic of rape and sexual assault lives on so strongly and so silently to this day.  Indeed, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just recently released the research results that reveal the immense prevalence of sexual assault in our society.  The CDC reports that 1 in 5 women will experience sexual assault, and (even more rarely discussed) that 1 in 7 men will experience violence in their lifetimes… a shocking and sobering set of statistics.***

V-Day and The Vagina Monologues, a global movement against sexual assault all around the world entering its 15^th year of activism, is one of the most effective and proactive grassroots movements that I know of.  Through entertainment, education, and awareness-raising, Eve Ensler and the many people who create this show each year, work towards the essential paradigm shift that will lead to the end of the violence.

This year over 5,000 productions of the Vagina Monologues are being performed around the world, every one of them donating 75-95% of their proceeds to local organizations that provide services and educate people in the realms of domestic violence and sexual assault, and to the V-Day spotlight cause of the year.  

Of note, the spotlight cause of the last two years, the women and girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape and abuse against women and girls is used as a strategic tactic of war, has raised enough money to create the City of Joy, a place of empowerment, safety, and community for women who have survived sexual assault and violence.

To the men in the audience (of the show and of this blahg), I hope for you that you experience the show as a source of knowledge and enlightenment and walk away as unfaltering lifelong allies of this cause.  You are vital co-warriors towards the end of this destructive pandemic, this unspoken war.  The change will happen only once everyone embraces that notion.

The Vagina Monologues are a piece of art, a source of power, and an evolving movement towards the end of sexual violence in the world.  Each year the show grows exponentially in its prevalence, and I urge every one of you to give yourself, your community, and the world the benefit of attending a production of The Vagina Monologues in your community this year, (even if you have before, for each year it’s directed differently, has new monologues, and supports an extremely important cause). 

(And, if you happen to be in the New York area, come to the show that I have had the honor of producing and directing at Columbia University Medical Center!)

As one survivor of sexual assault among the millions, I regard V-Day and The Vagina Monologues as our voice in this systematically silenced war, and with every individual and organization that joins the cause, our voice grows louder and more powerful.

I commend the thousands and thousands of Vagina Warriors who perform, produce, attend, and support the Vagina Monologues each year.  And we will keep on… Until the violence stops.

Love your tree. An excerpt from "America the Beautiful".


Thanks to Anna for introducing this Eve clip to me.

*** A clarification of the stated statistic: According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 71 men have experienced rape in their lives, while 1 in 7 have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.

Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen, and Brick Walls

Earlier this week, in a despicable display of caving under the pressure of religious zealotry, the Susan G. Komen Foundation announced that it would no longer give funds to Planned Parenthood that the progressive public health organization used for breast cancer screenings for low-income women.

Now, here I sat, thinking that I was going to have to spend my Friday evening writing a raucous and angry post about how appalling it is that the religious right has so little to do with their time that they will sit around thinking up ways to creatively undermine the organizations in our society that actually care about taking care of people. AND THAT IT WORKS…

But, lo and behold, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation decided that it would reverse its decision and reinstate the $680,000 grant for Planned Parenthood.  This came in response to a massive outcry from the public who, in a display of impressive solidarity with the important mission of the organization, signed petitions and pledged donations that flew in the face of Komen’s decision and ultimately surpassed the amount of money that the Komen foundation grants to Planned Parenthood per year substantially. 

I suppose that can be considered a silver-lining… indeed, Planned Parenthood raised $3 million as part of the reaction.

But, wait… I’m still feeling unsettled, so my raucous Friday evening post is going to take a slightly different turn.

What is it about our country’s political mood right now that allows for this level of intense polarization, to the point that some are willing to sacrifice the health of women through the early detection and treatment of breast cancer (one of the leading causes of death in women)?

Ok, ok, while I don’t agree with it, I accept that there are people who take issue with the controversial topic of abortion.  But what are we coming to when an organization like the Susan G. Komen Foundation, specifically charged with the “race to the cure [of breast cancer]”, feels it necessary to take money away from one of our nation’s leading champions in the prevention of breast cancer, in response to these loud anti-choice bigwigs?

Honestly, someone tell me, how are the two issues connected?  Certainly not in their funding sources through Planned Parenthood, as the organization has made it abundantly clear that the Susan G. Komen funds were used specifically for breast cancer screening services.  Certainly not in their level of controversy, I think we’d be hard pressed to come upon an individual or an organization that is anti-curing breast cancer.  Certainly not… at all related, except that they are both services provided by Planned Parenthood.

So the deal, it seems, according to the extreme conservative viewpoint, is that because Planned Parenthood provides one service that they are not keen on (abortion services, which only accounts for approximately 3% of Planned Parenthood services), we should shut them down completely, without regard for the many, many other essential services that Planned Parenthood provides for people every day throughout our country… The reality is that conservative-minded people are afflicted by breast cancer at the same astronomical rates as liberal-minded people, and Planned Parenthood is always there for them without hesitation and without regard for political ideology.

I look forward to the day that our country will approach specific problems with the goal of bringing the most brilliant and highly qualified minds on the topic at hand (throughout the political spectrum) to one table to create the best possible solutions on behalf of the people they serve.  We need to move away from these stringent and unrelenting brick walls that exist between our political factions so that we can discuss issues with some semblance of sanity.  As we stand now, even an issue as crucial, sensitive, and politically neutral as breast cancer, the cancer that 1 in 8, yes, 12% of women will be diagnosed with in their lifetimes, can be thrown under the bus of our staunch and irrational separation.  How truly sad.

Special shout out to Mollie Williams, a top Komen official who resigned out of protest as soon as the decision to cut ties with Planned Parenthood was made, stating that she did not feel that this decision aligned with Komen’s mission of preventing breast cancer for all women.