Critical Analysis Of Amy Chaffee 'Your Mother's Vagina'

Amy Chaffee wrote Your Mother’s Vagina in response to the hesitation she observed throughout her life concerning the discussion of women’s reproductive health. She took her show on an international tour during the summer of 2016, performing in Antwerp, Brussels, Dublin, Edinburgh, Ghent, and Hollywood. Talkbacks were held after each performance, during which audiences reacted in distinctly different ways to the content of the play. I argue that although the government gives society the freedom of expression through the arts, the laws and regulations in place regarding particular subject matter greatly shape how audiences react to that material when presented through theatrical works. Within this paper, I will specifically focus on the ways

Beth Gudenrath, the actress who played Leila in Your Mother’s Vagina, felt a very strong energy in the room during the Dublin performance. “You could sense this fear of laughing in the air during the performance,” she said, “It took them a while to feel the freedom to laugh at it and realize that we can talk about these issues and not have to have a heavy conversation about it” (Gudenrath). This audience reaction serves as an example of the severe tension and discourse surrounding the topic, one that was at that moment infiltrating their communities and country, causing the audience members to worry about adding further tension to the already sensitive

The Catholic faith views God as the sole maker and giver of life, and believes that human beings have no right to end the lives of other humans. These principles are demonstrated in Pope Pius XII’s statement that “even the unborn child is a human being in the same degree and by the same title as its mother” (Batchelor). All measures must be taken to make sure the fetus goes unharmed, even when the mother’s life is in danger. Many Catholic philosophers believe that “two natural deaths are better than one murder”, demonstrating the weakened value of women within the religion as a whole (Khorfan and Padela