The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler is a very interactive piece of literature. Like I said in my previous blog, reading it was not enough for me and I searched to find video clips of people performing the Monologue. I wish that I could have seen it performed live here at Southern Connecticut State University to see how the audience interacted with the performers and what their reaction was to each monologue.
I think that audience reaction is crucial with literature like this, because it is meant to be someone telling a story although it is someone telling a story, because individual women are sharing their own experiences and feelings. I feel as if it is meant to be more conversational, because Ensler wants to push people out of their comfort zones and get them to talk about vaginas. I watched a portion of an interview that Ensler did on the monologues and she talked about how astonished she was when she herself realized how little vaginas were talked about in our culture. Ensler herself was shocked. She set out to find out why they were talked about so little when she decided to do the monologues and make it acceptable for vaginas to be a topic of conversation. If the audience does not interact, then the conversation dies before it can even really start. When the audience interacts with the performance, the conversation is started and continued throughout the show; possibly even farther.
This is another reason why I think these are meant to be performed rather than read. I thought all of the monologues were interesting and entertaining to read, but my entire perspective changed when I decided to watch some of the performances on the Internet. It was then when I realized how crucial the audience interaction is. When I was just reading the monologues, it was one woman telling me a story. When I watched it performed, it was a one woman having a conversation with a group of people about her own experiences. I also feel like when it is being performed and the conversational aspect is present, it makes it seem more appropriate and socially acceptable to be having conversations about feelings and experiences such as the ones in The Vagina Monologues.
I feel as if the monologues are designed to push readers and audience members out of their comfort zone, because she wants women to feel comfortable and confident in who we are. In my previous blog, I talked about how women have historically always be oppressed in some way. Ensler said in the interview that I watched that conversing about vaginas is oppressed in today’s culture, and that if society can get past that, she feels that women will be able to continue their journey in equality.
If I had to pick a favorite monologue, at this point it would have to be The Angry Vagina. I do not even know what it is about this monologue, but I loved it when I read it and I loved it even more once I saw some videos of it being performed. I feel like this one that almost every single woman can relate to on so many different levels, because so many ideas are wrapped into it. There is so much truth in this little monologue that it just boggles my mind. My favorite part of this monologue has to be when going to the OBGYN is discussed, because of how true it is. You are just open for the world to see, and no one ever thought it would be a good idea to make this whole experience a little bit more comfortable. Maybe making this experience for women more comfortable and enjoyable will be one of my footprints in the world of public health.
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