Maybe I'm not the best person to address this since I actually haven't seen this show, but somehow I don't think that their intention was to divide the audience into those who can say vagina without blushing and those who can't. Personally, I think that people having a problem with technical terms for both the male and the female genitalia is partially the result of a culture that, unlike say, many European societies, has a very unhealthy fear of sex and sexuality. As an example, I offer a show on Fox that ran again recently that depicted commercials that were banned in the U.S. (mostly European) for being too "sexually explicit". Yet, of course, the allure of sex and sexuality is used by marketers to sell all sorts of products. This does, however, exploit not only people's fear of sexuality but their fascination with it as well (fascination and fear are often very related).
And also, I don't think there's anything wrong with art or artists wanting to make people cringe. I'm not saying that this is a pre-condition for all great art, but much great art both recently and over the course of history has pushed people's buttons in various ways, usually to make a well-founded point of some sort of other. As examples of artists in various mediums that have done this, I offer any John Waters movies (especially "Pink Flamingos"), the Sex Pistols and other early punk rock acts, Andy Kaufman, Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (there were riots when this premiered in 1915, believe it or not), much gangsta rap and more recently, Eminem. Of course, not all of these artists made people cringe by using sexually explicit words (though some of them certainly did) nor are all of those examples of great artists (I like most of the things that I listed, but don't care much for most gangsta rap, especially the more recent stuff), but all of them did shock and offend people on different levels.
My $.02, overdone as well :-)
Matt
theatrebuff1971 said on 12/17/2001 6:05 PM
>
>berlyant said: >I think that this guy has serious issues with female sexuality.<
>
>Or it could be that he doesn't go in for the "shock value" of using the proper term for female sex organs. The proper terms aren't used as much as the euphemisms are.
>
>So, we have the monologues, which were explained to me this way - "Vagina" should not be a shocking word. The word vagina is an empowering word for women - we women should educate men, and "take back" the terminology and be proud of it. So the show resonates with the idea of ordinary women, empowered - women who wear their power like a banner, who are in touch with their bodies and themselves, and that their sex organs are a source of the power that drives them.
>
>But this has been done in the past, and done better. The main problem I have with the show is that it's about MAKING people want to cringe, and those who don't cringe are "stronger" (mentally, physically, etc) than those who don't. If you can say vagina/penis without cringing, blushing, etc, you are somehow "better" or more educated than those who can't.
>
>For me, it's a division we don't need. If the idea is to openly talk about sexuality (which I don't think this show addresses adequately enough) then let's not make it a pissing contest about who can say which words. Let's all reach a comfort level, individually, and work from there.
>
>My two cents, overdone. ;)
>
>Mary!
