Vagina Monologues

Last night I went to see the Vagina Monologues. This play originally conceived by Eve Ensler re-creates monologues delivered by women of all-ages and backgrounds talking about their vaginas. The play is magically powerful in its honest delivery of not only the diverse meaning of vaginas but also femininity in general. 

Lat night, amidst the serious, sad, humorous, powerful accounts I realized something. As I watched this collective of women come together like so many other collectives of women come together around the world to deliver this play, I witnessed pure, honest, and surreal feminine power. Then it hit me, this rarely happens in the real world. Rarely do I see women on the subway collectively joining in praise of themselves and their womanhood. Rarely do I watch women in a club stand-up for the women being discriminated, objectified, or assaulted. Rarely do I see or hear women in the real world telling the world's oppression to "back off." 

So, while I watched the magic of the Vagina Monologues take over me, the realization that this power was something only to be left within the play walls crippled me. I saw how positively empowering this performance, no this collection of honest womanhood, could be for all women and personhood. I imagined women standing up for each other, celebrating themselves and their power, taking their rightful place in this world from the multitude of oppressive states. 

Every day I hope to wake to this reality, and when it doesn't come I cry a little inside.