On Saturday evening I attended Xavier University Theatre Department’s production of The Vagiana Monologues. The show was based around various interviews with all types of women. The interviews were about these women’s vagianas. The monologues ranged from that of an older woman who had never experienced an orgasm, a woman who found love for her vagina at a vagina workshop, rape survivors, women who had “politically incorrect” awakenings about their vaginas, homeless women and sex workers. These monologues ranged from laugh out loud funny, to heartwarming to heart wrenching. One monologue performance stuck with me, because of the heartbreaking story. The story of a woman who had been raped for seven days by seven men while in a war zone. First it struck me because of our viewing of the Hunting Ground recently in class. …show more content…
They are raped in war zones, and by the people that are supposed to protect them and by complete strangers. Hearing the story of this women who experienced so much gendered violence, rape, genital mutilation, be disconnected from her vagina hurt me. Particularly because she once loved her vagina, once appreciated her vagina, and now she felt fear and disgust when thinking of her vagina. The second reason this monologue struck me was because of the style of performance. It felt like it had come right from Dear Sister. It angers me that in our society women are conditioned to hate our vaginas while men are supposed to find pride in their penises. We are taught that “no one is supposed to
Sponsored by the Rhombus Ensemble, Your Mother’s Vagina received its World Premiere at the Hollywood Festival Fringe, performing at the Sacred Fools Theatre from July 10-12, 2016 (Hollywood Fringe). Laws and regulations regarding women’s reproductive health services are far less restrictive in America than those in Ireland, especially within the state of California. Being in the less restrictive and open environment of California, the audiences in Hollywood were less responsive to the heavier themes of the script and instead connected more closely with the underlying humor between the characters.
When Obie award-winning author and playwright, Eve Ensler, began collecting testimonials from women across the country regarding their experiences with sexuality, she had no idea what would eventually occur as a result of her innovative ideas. Ensler gathered 200 monologues from women, and wove them into a play that represents the strength and vitality of female sexuality. The Vagina Monologues were first performed in the basement of New York City’s Cornelia Street Café in 1996. Since that time, the play has become a symbol of awareness and advocacy about violence against women, and has been translated into 24 different languages, making it an international success (2005, randomhouse.com).
Butler, Judith. Ed. Case, Sue-Ellen. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution." Performing Feminisms: Feminist Critical Theory and Theatre. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
“squick”! “Bang”! I walk in trying to find out where i’m going. Fast. Before anyone notices me. My mom is a vet and i really want a dog so bad! “Lily” said my mom. “squick” my mom enters the room seeing me look at all of the dogs. “Mom can i please…..” “Do you really want a dog this bad”? My mom asks. “Yes and i will do anything… anything” i say in a soft way. “Fine but only if you take care of it and clean up after it”. “thank you.. mom.” I whisper as my mom leaves the room. “Now it’s time to pick out a dog”.
Theatre is an art form that has been shared across cultures for hundreds of years. This art form is extremely versatile in the types of plays, such as comedic, tragedy, and many other genres. Although theatre is thought of a form of entertainment, playwrights have seized the opportunity to inject political opinions into the play to inform the audience about present issues in their lives. Issues that playwrights have incorporated into plays have included stories that people may not be ready to hear but it encourages the audience to look inside themselves and assess their moral standing on certain issues. One subject that has been incorporated into many plays throughout the last century is women’s issues. These plays have challenged the way women
“I feel a certain heaviness in the air. I am unable to think or breathe without feeling that each second a pound of bricks is being added to my diaphram. Cannae is a cursed battle. Hannibal must be beaten, for I fear Rome will fall and Carthage will rise. You must assemble an army and stop him.”
The story brings out the inner feeling of the characters on how they feel about the subject of rape and how they look at it.
Across publication dates, sexual education materials portray women as passive and men as active. Dr. Block’s Do-It-Yourself Human Sexuality Book portrays the girl as passive when she says “He’ll never leave me now” after she and the boy have sex (18). She has no active control over her life—rather, she waits to see whether or not the boy will stay or leave (Block, 18). In So That’s How I Was Born, the father explains that the “daddy puts his penis inside the… vagina” (Brooks, 28). Thus, the man is the active partner while the woman is passive. Brooks further emphasizes that the woman’s passive role exists in all areas of life when, at the end of Brooks’ story, the boy’s mother satisfies stereotypes of docile women by speaking “softly” (28). Many of these authors further perpetuate stereotypical gender roles in their stories. In his book, Brooks shows the mother wearing an apron (25). In her book Mommy, Where Do Babies Come F...
I was reading a book today and I saw two quotes that instantly reminded me of you; the book that I was reading is about a girl who has leukemia.
Let's get down to business to defeat each other/ Did they send me servants when I asked for nobles?/ You’re the saddest family I've ever met/ But you can bet before your dead/ mister I'll kill you with my sword/ Tranquil as a maid / But a knight within /Once you regain your balance /you are sure to be dead/ You’re a spineless pail Capulet and you haven't got a clue/ But beware I'll kill you with my sword /I'm never gonna catch my breath/say good bye to those who knew me/ boy was I a fool to in school for cutting gym/ this Capulet got me scared to death/ Hope he doesn't kill my best friend/ now I really wish I knew how to swim/ to be a Capulet we must be swift as the monarchy/ to be a Montague with all of the force
As a white, homosexual, upper class, female spectator, I am an oppressor in my whiteness and class but am oppressed through my “alternative” sexuality and through my gender. Addressing and recognizing my own personal identity as oppressor but also the oppressed helps me to examine these four plays, China Doll, Sex Kitty, Snake Oil Show, and Spell #7 in terms of representation of identity through performance. I am analyzing how these women playwrights configure identity for themselves and the audience by observing the similarities in form and content within these texts. A shared theme in these works is to move away from and/or deconstruct a universal, ideal spectator’s lens through personal experiences.
I don’t know what to do now… My husband has killed my cousin Tybalt! Romeo why? Why Romeo why? My dear cousin, who was closely bonded to me by blood has been slayed by Romeo’s hands just after we were married today. Nevertheless, I don’t know whether to speak ill of Romeo or praise him. For my nurse called Romeo a villain, though he is my hero. However, when my nurse announced to me there was a death earlier today. I was extremely anxious and thought the dead man was Romeo? Thankfully it wasn’t. Although, my love is enamored with Romeo and I had only been a wife for a few hours. My feelings overflow with thankfulness my husband is still alive and tears of joy continually pour down on my cheeks. Why do I feel this way? Love is so mysterious it could transform adversaries into friends, enemies into lovers, and so on.
I was sitting in theatre class when I heard Mr. Grape announce that we would be performing Romeo and Juliet for our end of the year play. I love Romeo and Juliet. Even though some people think about killing themselves, I think it’s romantic. I’ve read it over and over and over again and the more I read it, the more I love it. All of the sudden, the most annoying kid in theater, Jimmy, yelled out, “We shouldn't do it the way everyone else does it.
The Vagina Monologues along with empowerment has also brought along plenty of controversy. It tends to be performed in colleges and universities all over the country one instance in particularly has to do with the University of Utah Valley. This is the fifth consecutive year they perform The Vagina Monologues as stated in one of their school articles “Many feel it is unnecessary and grotesque, ripping posters advertising for it off the wall to demonstrate their disapproval; others believe the truth lies in the stories it tells, shaming rape and highlighting important women's issues such as love and abuse” (Hopkinson, 2008).
When discussing the poetic form of dramatic monologue it is rare that it is not associated with and its usage attributed to the poet Robert Browning. Robert Browning has been considered the master of the dramatic monologue. Although some critics are skeptical of his invention of the form, for dramatic monologue is evidenced in poetry preceding Browning, it is believed that his extensive and varied use of the dramatic monologue has significantly contributed to the form and has had an enormous impact on modern poetry. "The dramatic monologues of Robert Browning represent the most significant use of the form in postromantic poetry" (Preminger and Brogan 799). The dramatic monologue as we understand it today "is a lyric poem in which the speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing himself in the context of a dramatic situation" (Murfin 97). "The character is speaking to an identifiable but silent listener at a dramatic moment in the speaker's life. The circumstances surrounding the conversation, one side which we "hear" as the dramatic monologue, are made by clear implication, and an insight into the character of the speaker may result" (Holman and Harmon 152).