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.
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