Our vaginas, ourselves

I am a proud actor in this year's production of the Vagina Monologues. We seem to have sparked quite a bit of controversy this year, and I find that fact to be absolutely delightful. The more people that talk about vaginas, the closer we come to solving the problems relating to them.

Susan Sontag once said "True art has the capacity to make us nervous." I agree, and believe that social change only occurs when people are displaced, if only slightly, from what they have come to know as comfortable and safe. Until we discuss the vagina frankly, openly, and realistically, we cannot begin to tackle crimes against it, such as rape, genital mutilation, and childhood abuse. In one year in this country, over 500,000 women are raped, and two million women worldwide are the victims of genital mutilation (www.amnesty.org). If we cannot say "clitoris" in public, how can we address the issue of the harmful effects of a clitorectomy? By discussing this issue in the form of a play, my group has succeeded in raising at least 5,000 dollars (stay tuned for a final figure) for the aid of women.

We must also be willing to consider this organ to be one of value, much as the mind, heart, or hand is a thing of value. In addition to its practical and emotional importance, I happen to think that the vagina is quite a beautiful thing. By reminding people of its beauty, both in the aesthetic and emotional sense, we hope to inspire a sense of "awe" and "reverence", as Eve Ensler, our author, puts it. When the vagina is seen truthfully for the wonderful thing it is, our society will feel compelled to protect it. Therefore we must look at it, must talk about it, must allow it its proper place in our minds and hearts. When we have succeeded in doing to, the entire world will be a "vagina-friendly zone."

I am sorry if some people are offended by the open way we of this production have presented the vagina to them; not because I have offended them, but because the fact that they are offended means that they misconstrue our purpose. When the vagina is elevated to the same level as the woman's mind, heart, spirit, and body, then will women truly be complete people and equal members of this society; we cannot be thus until our very real and vital sexuality is allowed to exist. Everyone loves to discuss the former four aspects of womanhood, but no one wants me to express how I feel, how I glory in, my vagina. I have every right to do so, and I intend to exercise my right to be an intelligent, beautiful, spiritual, loving, and sexual woman. I will not deny one aspect of myself for the sake of puritanical mores.

Further, by celebrating my sexuality, I am not being obscene or objectifying of women. By owning my body and what I do with it, I am setting a standard; I am in control. I will not allow my self-conception to be twisted by others; I prevent this eventuality by the strength and volume with which I proclaim myself a complete, whole, enlightened woman. I see my body through no other eyes than my own, and my eyes are not objectifying me.

Neither am I "male-bashing" by enumerating the crimes that have been perpetuated by men against women; these are simply the facts. Women have hurt other women and will continue to do so, but this eventuality is much more rare. Finally, I am not suggesting that because a woman is in touch with herself as a sexual being, she should eschew traditional, loving, monogamous relationships. As a member of such a relationship, I find I have a greater understanding of myself as a woman thanks to this experience, and that this knowledge is nothing but beneficial in my relationship. My boyfriend is quite proud of my participation in this cause, and I am very grateful for that. Not all women are so lucky, and it is these women for whom I fight.

I leave you with a quote, my favorite from the show:

"We forget the vagina. What else could explain our lack of awe, our lack of reverence? The heart is capable of sacrifice. So is the vagina. The heart is able to forgive and repair. It can change its shape to let us in. It can expand to let us out. So can the vagina. It can ache for us and stretch for us, die for us, and bleed and bleed us into this difficult, wondrous world. So can the vagina. I was there in the room. I remember."

Caitlin Johnson is a freshman who has not yet declared a major