Inside column missed the point
Maureen Rodgers
senior
Inside columnist Nate Phillips enraged numerous women on campus yesterday by misunderstanding "The Vagina Monologues." Although Phillips admits that he has not read or seen the play, his ignorance did not seem to stop him from condemning it.
Claiming that "The Vagina Monologues" only add to the objectification of women and ultimately undermines the feminist movement, Phillips asks, "how is allowing women to talk about their bodies, their vaginas and sex in any way an uplifting and productive avenue for modern-day feminists to pursue?"
However, Phillips fails to realize that, implicit within his question is already the presupposition that women who discuss their sexuality are somehow vulgar, that the female body and sexuality can never be discussed in a way that glorifies women or the human species and that sex can be a holy, spiritual, beautiful, life-giving, incredibly liberating experience, one that captures and expresses the depths of human intimacy and love. Perhaps Phillips should read a few papal encyclicals if he wants to know how the human body cannot only be discussed with reverence but also celebrated and glorified.
One might ask, then, do "The Vagina Monologues" really accomplish a theology of the body that reflects the dignity of the human person, as envisioned by the Pope, or could they be seen as promoting promiscuity and concupiscence guised as female liberation? Although this is an important question, it dodges the central issue at stake. The central issue is not the moral permissibility of sex under certain circumstances; the key issue is how women are to be treated as sexual beings, and that is what "The Vagina Monologues" explores.
In the process, the play seeks to dispel the double standard that praises men for their promiscuity and condemns women for theirs. In actuality, either both behaviors need to be condemned equally or women should be freed from the social stigma that accompanies such behavior.
Phillips makes the mistake of only viewing women on one plane — the physical. The vagina of "The Vagina Monologues" is not just the physical body part but also the locus of the female identity that reaches far beyond the physical, into the emotional and spiritual. The target audience for "The Vagina Monologues" is men like Phillips, who fail to see the deeper meaning that lies in the word "vagina."
For this very reason, it is a tragedy that the play will not be performed at Saint Mary's or Notre Dame. Perhaps if Phillips had taken the time to see one of the plays, then maybe he would have realized that the purpose of "The Vagina Monologues" is to stop violence against women, to unite people against female genitalia mutilation in Africa, to help young poor women in Bangladesh who suffer from acid burns after rejecting marriage proposals, to stop families from killing their daughters who were raped in Pakistan and to eradicate incest and rape in the United States. And, yes, even sexual abuses at Notre Dame.
Phillips is right, the play's purpose is to shock — but to shock and educate, and through education, change the future so that men and women together can learn to understand, respect and love their bodies and each other, interacting and enjoying one another as God intended.
Maureen Rodgers
senior
Welsh Family Hall
January 24, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, January 26, 2001
