The Vagina Monologues

Random huh?

For beginners, The Vagina Monologues was written by Eve Ensler. The novel is compiled of women's testimonies of female empowerment, anguish, humor, and complexity. There are pieces that discuss dating, female quarks, and sexuality all from the vagina perspective. In order to create such a wide variety of works, Eve traveled all over the world and asked women of all ages, even young girls about their thoughts on their vaginas. An interesting piece that was quite humorous, in my opinion, involved the question: "What's special about your vagina?" to have a six year old respond with "Somewhere deep inside it I know it has a really really smart brain."


However, apart from the witty response to such questions, the novel also has serious pieces. For example, "My Vagina was my Village" is extremely explicit and blunt to further build on emotion and pathos. I am going to have to ask you to bear with me and read the short monologue. Before I start, the monologue is raw, explicit and can even make you flinch; it discusses the rapes that are occurring in the Congo and Tibet. Do not forget, its a true story.

"My vagina was green, water soft pink fields, cow mooing sun resting sweet boyfriend touching lightly with soft piece of blond straw.

There is something between my legs. I do not know what it is. I do not touch. Not now. Not anymore. Not since.

My vagina was chatty, can't wait, so much, so much saying, words talking, can' t quit trying, can't quit saying, oh yes, oh yes.

Not since I dream there's a dead animal sewn in down there with thick black fishing line. And the bad dead animal smell cannot be removed. And its throat is slit and it bleeds through all my summer dress.

My vagina singing all girl songs, all goat bells ringing songs, all wild autumn field songs, vagina songs, vagina home songs.

Not since the soldiers put a long thick rifle inside me. So cold, the steel rod canceling my heart. Don't know whether they're going to fire it or shove it through my spinning brain. Six of them, monstrous doctors with black masks shoving bottles up me too. There were sticks, and the end of a broom.

My vagina swimming river water, clean spilling water over sun-baked stones over stone clit, clit stones over and over.

Not since I heard the skin tear and made lemon screeching sounds, not since a piece of my vagina came off in my hand, a part of my life, now one side of the lip is completely gone.

My vagina. A live wet water village. My vagina hometown.

Not since they took turns for seven days smelling like feces and smoked meat, they left their dirty sperm inside me. I became a river of poison and plus and all the crops died, and the fish.

My vagina a live wet water village.

They invaded it. Butchered it and burned it down.

I do not touch it now.

Do not visit.

I live someplace else now.

I don't know where that is. "

The use of imagery is impressive. Ensler uses phrases like "water soft pink fields" and terms like "butcher" and "monstrous" to emphasize the events that were occurring to the speaker. This piece is shocking and creates pathos by attacking one's inner emotions and consider a global issue.

I personally admire how Ensler created an identity for a woman's body part into something that is meaningful with a source of its own power (women empowerment); creative syntax and changed the meaning of a vagina.

In addition to being a creative writer, Enler has created an organization and movement to cease violence against women in all regions. For those that seek further reading and imvolvment into Enler's mission of female identity and perservance, visit: http://newsite.vday.org/about

Barack Obama: The Plan

Hello to everyone,

In spite of the HISTORICAL event last Tuesday, I have been doing some reading on our new president, Barack Hussein Obama. I am aware that some people don't get the gravity of what just happened so think about it this way, the Jim Crow laws (set of laws that discriminated against African Americans that maintained a segregation between whites and blacks in the South) weren't abolished even 50 years ago and it wasn't until 1957 when we had 9 brave African Americans walk into the halls of an all white high school, enduring racism by their fellow peers. It was such a big deal that they had to be escorted by military soldiers everyday of school to ensure their safety. African Americans were once suppressed and made into slaves and went to centuries of abuse and hatred. Africans were slaves way before Christopher Columbus discovered America (crazy huh?). Now seeing a culture once on its a knees rise up and create a movement is amazing and inspirational. It shows that America has grown from its old ways and has entered the next chapter in history with an open-mind to make a "change we can believe in."

For those that don't know anything about Barack Obama, let me fill you in. Obama was not from a wealthy family, neither did he have both parents by his side. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, son to Stanley Ann Dunham, a white woman from Kansas and Luo from Kenya. After a couple of years of marriage they divorced (Obama was 2 years old), his mother remarried and moved to Indonesia. Barack Obama however, by the age of ten, moved back to Hawaii and stayed with his grandparents who raised him from then on. (His mother died of Ovarian Cancer in 1995 and his father died in a car accident in 1982.) Obama attended and graduated from Occidental, Columbia and Harvard University and worked himself up as a community leader to Illinois Senator and now to our very own president.

In "Change we can Believe In", Obama's plans for his presidency are mentioned throughout the book. He has an approach to everything; from the environment to education, and jobs to national security and advancement. I was suprised to read some of his game plans. For example, in order to keep families from further falling into poverty he is planning to give a $500 tax refund per individual and $1000 per couple. My first thoughts were, "Wow, that's going to benefit a ton of people" as well as "Where is that money going to come from?". And the further i read, my question was unanswered up until i started to add things up. He also promises to cease giving people from high classes and corporations tax breaks (which should really reel in a huge amount to contribute to the country). Another approach to deal with poverty is raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.50 by 2011 (My thoughts: Awesome).

Now, for all of those high school students getting ready for college, you'll love this: Community College will now be free and cover 2/3 of a public college tuition all for the exchange of 100 community service hours (My thoughts: BEST President EVER).

Barack Obama isn't doing such a bad job in the House. So far he has reversed Bush's Anti Abortion Funds to actually allowing abortion (I understand this is a sensitive topic but remember i said that i may be bias? So feel free to argue with me, my standing is "its a woman's choice" not the government's).

I greatly encourage this book to everyone! We, the people, should be informed of what's going on. Its our country and we have the choice to elect the person that represents us as a whole.

Here's a link to the book itself- Change We Can Believe In
I am in love with this music video. Check it out. Yes, We Can by Will.i.am