Kara's Vagina Monologue:

My university just recently performed The Vagina Monologues, and this is the second year in a row that I've participated, last year as one of the introductory women, and this year performing the monologue "Hair." Last year I spent simply figuring out what the Monologues were (I originally thought that perhaps the use of the word "vagina" was as a metaphor for women - surprise! It's actually about vaginas), and coming to terms with the fact that I was saying "twat" onstage. This year, however, now that I was more familiar with the material, I began to feel some discomfort with it.

As mentioned, I presented the monologue "Hair" this year - possibly the only monologue that I found that I could even vaguely relate to. Truth be told, unlike the women we portrayed in the Monologues, who all have varying relationships with their "down theres," I don't think about my vagina very much at all. I don't find it ugly (though I don't find it particularly attractive, either), it's not a "bad luck zone," it's not a "beautiful flower," and I don't imagine it to be furniture. I don't think about it any more than I think about my little finger, really, and, for that matter, I don't find it any more integral to my self-identity as a woman - no more than my breasts, period, or fallopian tubes, anyway. So where, exactly, does that leave me as a member of the Monologues? I felt that, like most women (I'm assuming), I don't stop to consider my vagina very often, and so have no place here.

I have to wonder, as well, about the choice of simply the vagina as representative of women's empowerment. Why something so inherently sexual? Why not call it the Uterus Monologues, and employ our reproductive capabilities as empowering? Or, hell, just call them the Women's Monologues, and celebrate every part of our bodies, from our breasts to our periods to our seemingly inherent nurturing capabilities? It is true that the vagina is useful as a symbol for femaleness, being the center of childbirth, sex, and, unfortunately, abuse, but, unlike the woman stated in "The Vagina Workshop," my vagina is NOT my center. As not just a woman, but a fully functional, capable, and intelligent human being, I am so much more than simply my vagina. Because of this, there is not much for me to connect to within the Monologues.

This isn't to say that Eve Ensler's goal isn't worthy - the Monologues raise thousands of dollars every year for programs which help save and empower women, which is astounding. On its own, however, I don't feel that it is adequate as a way to celebrate myself and my empowerment as a woman.