The Vagina Monologues - Eve Ensler (Performed v. Written)

It was a very different experience watching some of these monologues being performed rather than just reading them in privacy. The performances really bring a massive uncomfortable feeling that you can't get from just reading them alone. Ensler created these monologues with the intention of them being performed which I believe says a lot about them. Because she wanted them to be performed, you can really get the sense that she wanted the information and topics included in the monologues to be publicized. When you read these monologues at home in your own time they may have uncomfortable topics but generally speaking, they do not make you want to walk away from the book. When someone is sitting in front of you, acting out, reading, or personalizing the stories it becomes real and all of a sudden the content is ten times as uncomfortable. When we watched "The Flood" in class it was absolutely awkward to watch Ensler perform. While reading this monologue I was not particularly uncomfortable. The story was a strange experience for this woman to have but all in all it was a pretty okay read. When Ensler performed the reading on stage, she gave the reading more meaning, her voice would climb and fall with expression which would almost make your skin crawl when you thought about exactly what she was talking about. If it wasn't for the comic relief she includes in the stories I do not think I would be able to watch without feeling so uncomfortable I would have to turn away.

The Vagina Monologues - Eve Ensler (Response 3)

It is hard for me to explain how I feel about this collection of stories. While reading I was made to feel very uncomfortable. I kept wanting to put the book down either due to stories that upset me due to their content or were topics that I have never talked about or wanted to talk about. But I feel like Ensler was trying to do this. She purposely wrote her stories to make us uncomfortable. This way, we could get through the uncomfortable feelings and move on to openness. The openness was her ultimate goal. She wants people to be okay with not only talking about the vagina but also about women and the way women feel. There are so many "secrets" and hidden stories in a woman's life that she has been told from day one to keep from others. This book opens up all of these stories, dissects them, and spits them back out for the public to see. So of course as a young woman I feel uncomfortable reading these stories. I found myself through out the readings saying in my head, "Okay, we are not supposed to talk about this. I can't read this, I can't finish this story." And even just recognizing that I was doing this proves what Ensler was talking about. She wants women to be comfortable with themselves and proud to be who they are, which women are told to hide and suppress for their entire lives.

In class we talked about the advertisements for this book and play when it first gained popularity. I cannot imagine driving down the highway reading the word "VAGINA" in huge letters on a billboard. It is hard enough for me to say the word without feeling strange, but to be constantly reminded of it's presence really serves the purpose Ensler was trying to serve. It reminded women and men that the vagina is a part of the body that should not be hidden and forgotten about. She wanted people to be shocked and uneasy about her topics so that people will be aware of the issues that surround it.

The Vagina Monologues - Eve Ensler (Response 2)

Ensler's purpose when it comes to The Vagina Monologues is to raise awareness of violence against women and to also celebrate being female. All of the stories within the collection bring attention to one of these two topics, although I feel more of them are focused around raising awareness. Her bias is always to make a woman feel comfortable with expressing the people that have put their vaginas down through out their life. Very few of the stories actually celebrate how wonderful the organ is. Most of them are a combination. Ensler will tell about the hardships these women have faced and (sometimes) how they've overcome them. She will also tell about discovery of self through the vagina. She tells of ways to become whole and complete as a women and as a human by sexually exposing oneself in a healthy manner. She wants women to experience what it is to love your vagina and know exactly what it looks/feels like.

At different points through out the book Ensler includes "Vagina Facts". This is what I think kind of sets the tone for the book. Although the stories range from self-discovery to mutilation, these facts make the mix a bit unbalanced. With the inclusion of these facts the reader gets a sense of how the vagina is seen/valued/hated across the world. They tend to lay on the side of violence and mutilation. This changes the purpose of her writing from celebration to awareness. She talks a lot about the genital cutting in Africa. These "Vagina Fact" portions describe how women in Africa view their vaginas and in the stories that follow it shows how these women are mistreated and abused. I feel that this really sets the tone for most of the book and pushes her purpose towards violence.

The Vagina Monologues - Eve Ensler (Response 1)

I think it is very important to mention that Ensler wanted these monologues to be performed. The whole context of the book surrounds expression and finding deeper meaning. In order for these emotions and feelings to come across clearly, they need to be given a voice. While reading I often found myself speaking the words on the page rather than reading them. It gave them more meaning. Ensler wanted to give vaginas a voice. Let them speak for themselves. Without the voice attached to the readings half of her purpose is gone. This voice is very important. Through speech and writing we are given freedom. So many women have been deprived of that freedom and her interviews and stories allow these women to be open with themselves, their past, and their future. It's more than just a story about vaginas and the people who value them, or are afraid of them, or don't know how to talk about them. The book is about experiencing who we are as women. It is about giving us the freedom to choose for ourselves and live for ourselves rather than living to please others.

The embodiment of the vagina gives it personality. It allows us to separate the vagina from being just a body part to being something alive, and breathing, with passion and memory. It changes the way we perceive the vagina by making it into something bigger than a sexual organ. The stories attached to this body part outweigh all other parts of the body. The stories give it meaning, and passion. By seeing (or reading) these stories performed, they put a person in place of a vagina, making it seem real and meaningful.

"A Wall of Rising Fire" by Edwidge Danticat

This blog post about Edwidge Danticat's "A Wall of Rising Fire" is going to take a look at the meaning and significance of the title.

Through out the story there is a conflict that grows from start to finish. It is a struggle between doing what is right for your family and living life in order to make yourself happy and feel complete and right. The idea of freedom comes up with little Guy's speech and Guy's outlook on life. The idea of the wall of fire may be significant in that it stands for looming downfall, or having feelings, emotions, or conflicts pile up inside of a person to the point of breaking.

The main character, Guy, has lived a life he did not feel was enough for him or for his family. He wants more for his son but at the same time cannot live with himself for not being about to provide for his family. So much of his life was run by the decisions of others, what work would come and when, that I feel that the title really has a significance when it comes to letting all negatives pile up until it becomes too much. The "rising fire" was maybe a metaphor for the build up of emotion and frustration within his life.

Also, at the end of the short story Guy finally takes a hot air balloon on a journey. This is the other part of the story that relates to the title. In order for a hot air balloon to even get off the ground, a fire must be lit and as the flames rise, the air heats up to raise the balloon off the ground. Guy then takes his last breath and jumps out of the balloon leading to his death. At the same time, this act shows the literal fire rising in the balloon and the metaphorical idea of things becoming too much, building up to the point of destruction.

Krik? Krak! "Children of the Sea" by Edwidge Danticat

This short story really kind of hit home for me when I read it. There is a lot of emotion, and love within it. The idea of loss and trying to hold on to love is very prominent and relevant in this story as well as my life. Also, the butterfly plays a large story-telling role that is almost understated in the actual writing. When my mother's mom was struggling with cancer she told my mom that she wants to become a butterfly once she dies. She told my mom that every time she sees a Monarch butterfly, it will be her.

While reading this story the butterflies really stood out to me. The female character says that butterflies are symbols of death or happy news, depending on their coloration. The black butterflies warn her of death, while the colorful ones bring good news. The female character also used to sketch butterflies before her love left her. I think that it is interesting that once her love left her, she no longer wanted to see the sun to sketch her butterflies, and yet at the end of the story she sees all black butterflies which convince her that her love has died. The reason this aspect is so interesting to me is because my grandmother picked Monarchs as the butterfly she wished to become after death. Monarchs are some of the most brightly colored, most beautiful butterflies around. And they are migrational. Maybe I am stretching my ideas to fit within the story but I couldn't help thinking it while I was reading. Since butterflies are migrational, they are at different places depending on the time of year. So it is strange that in her culture, one butterfly brings good news, and one a warning of death. As if the changing of seasons brings new news. Like rebirth in the spring, and death in the winter. I just think that it is strange that butterflies, something so beautiful, could be twisted to be a reminder of something so terrible, like the loss of a loved one. A boyfriend, a grandmother, a friend.

Arabic Coffee by Naomi Shihab Nye

After our class discussion I decided that it would make sense for me to discuss one of my favorite poems by Nye, "Arabic Coffee". This poem seems to be saying that the coffee brings everyone together. It is the center of the family. It is a way of keeping at least one thing similar and normal in a life that is ever changing. The coffee is a symbol for these people who are gathering. It is a symbol for hope and for faith. Nye writes, "The coffee was the center of the flower. Like clothes on a line saying You will live long enough to wear me, a motion of faith". This personification of the clothes on a line represents how the traditional coffee and meeting place of this family or group of people provides a grasp on reality that says that there will be more days of coffee and more days of this continuing tradition.

I would also like to look at the final line of the poem: "There is this, and there is more." This line I feel is not only the most important line in the poem, but also a pretty good summary of what the poem is about. Looking deeper into what Nye is saying in lines 10 and 19, it seems like the coffee table is a meeting place where all of the people in the family can discuss how they feel and what is going on in their lives without the fear of being judged for what they were saying. The way that this connects to the final line of the poem is that I believe Nye is saying that there is the opportunity to discuss our dreams, as well as the opportunity to achieve them. The coffee meeting is a time to get these ideas and feelings outside, in the open, and then afterwards there is more, there is time and opportunity to change the way things are going and reach for more.

"The Clean Rinse" Analysis

The Clean Rinse by Naomi Shihab Nye


Each time you go through this
you lose a little less color

the water is less
pink, blue, or gray

this is what i try to say:
don't let them wring it out of you

because they like starch,
don't let that apply to your neck

you are real, 100% cotton
you can wrinkle, accept that as gift

and accept these rinses,
they are tedious

they will come
again and again

after awhile, you will have
nothing more they can take

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In this poem I feel that Nye is referring to the Americanizing of her religion and her heritage. The way that the country changed after September 11, 2001 created an "unsafe" or fearful environment for many Middle Eastern citizens. Through out the poem Nye discusses going through a process. The process I am   picking up on is being told to be someone she is not in order to fit into society. Nye writes, "each time you go through this you lose a little less color" as if each time she is told to be different or act differently, it becomes easier to ignore or become stronger because of their dislike for difference. At first the taunting and scares make a person want to change immediately, but after so many people saying negativities, it gets easier to disregard or pull through stronger. "Don't let them wring it out of you," Nye writes, this I believe meaning your culture and beliefs. Not any person should be Americanized to the point of losing who they really are. Her talk of wrinkling may mean that it is okay to be human and to be different, it does not make you unimportant or lesser. At the end of the poem Nye talks about having no more to give, or "they" have taken it all away. Meaning that the country may be losing it's cultures, that everyone is becoming similar beyond being "American citizens". People are being forced to conform and turn into what society claims they should be.