University of Arizona undergrad Eliza Meza writes in the Daily Wildcat, a student newspaper, that "each year, the UA Vagina Warriors puts on a production of Eve Ensler's 'The Vagina Monologues' to offer theatrical activism to women on our campus and in our Tucson community." How's that working out? Here's her report:
While waiting in line for my hourly cup of coffee, I overheard the conversation between two young men in front of me, wearing cut-off sleeve shirts, one of them ironically wearing an "I Heart Boobies" wristband. One guy said to the other, "Man, I wish they'd stop shouting 'Chocolate vaginas' outside. It's like, really?" The other guy snickered, "Yeah man, like, you don't see us selling chocolate penises out on the mall." He then ordered a fancy espresso beverage and proceeded on with his Beavis-like chuckling.
As I step onto my feminist soapbox, it's hard to ignore these situations. It's difficult to ignore situations when causes, like the Vagina Warriors, are meant to spread awareness of women's issues and get rhetorically dismantled by individuals who laugh at them. I wonder if they had stopped to see exactly why "chocolate vaginas" were [sic] being shouted outside. They would have learned about a beautiful movement happening on our campus to end violence against women.
It's not to place vaginas on a pedestal, but to end the comical undertone of a word that means more when placed in a social context.
In light of the reaction of the dudes at the coffee shop, the Vagina Warriors' effort to "end the comical undertone" cannot be said to be a success. And you're not helping, Eliza. That phrase "not to place vaginas on a pedestal" even got a snigger out of someone as jaded as this columnist.
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