The Vagina Monoblogs Part Two

                Eve Ensler not only celebrates vaginas in The Vagina Monologues, but she also sheds light on the terrible epidemic of violence against women.  Ensler uses her literary platform as a way to examine the inexplicable horrors that have been inflicted on women all over the world.  In “Vagina Fact”, it’s explained that “In the nineteenth century, girls who learned to develop orgasmic capacity by masturbation were regarded as medical problems.  Often they were “treated” or “corrected” by amputation or cautery of the clitoris…” (pg 65)  To be able to create an idea to help women cherish themselves while teaching them powerful historical events, no matter how atrocious, is something that is not easily accomplished, however Ensler is able to use both instances as something to be celebrated.   Through piecing the interviews, monologues, and violent facts together, she allows the reader to understand how far we have come as a gender.  From the modest 1950’s, to the feminist era, we learn that although we have come far in some respects, there are still places and cultures that do not want to cultivate and love the female body.  In “The Vagina Was My Village”, a disturbing account is described.  “Not since I heard the skin tear and made lemon screeching sounds, not since a piece of my vagina came off in my hand, a part of the lip, now one side of the lip is completely gone.” (pg 62)  By letting the reader discover the tragedies that have surrounded women in the past and present, Ensler lets us see the significant impact The Vagina Monologues made on the feminist ideal of the infamous “vagina.”

The Vagina Monoblogs

            Vajayjay.  I love this word, and used it repeatedly in any context I could, even when it had no place and made no sense.  The word always brought some reaction out of people.  They would laugh, look uncomfortable, tell me it was “cute”, or in my mother’s case, tell me “it wasn’t funny.”  Eve Ensler uses The Vagina Monologues to start a revolution.  She explores the impact of the word vagina through an avenue that includes numerous cross generational interviews, in depth questions, and most importantly performing the pieces in a public forum.  It is essential, in Enslers opinion, that the monologues be performed in public to give vaginas, and more specifically woman, a voice.  Women from a multitude of decades and from all over the world are featured in this collection, and their various cultural, generational and traditional ideals about are brought to the forefront.  When discussing her interview of a group of women between the ages of sixty five and seventy five Ensler says “Unfortunately, most of the women in this age group had very little conscious relationship with their vaginas.  I felt terribly lucky to have grown up in the feminine era.  One woman who was seventy-two had never even seen her vagina.”(pg 23)  The suggestion that an entire age group of women experienced an almost sexual suppression is shocking, especially when compared to “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.”  What better way to explore Ensler’s reasoning for bringing the monologues to the stage and making the vagina an entity all its own, then to shed light on the transformation the vagina has made over the past fifty years.  “I love vaginas.  I love women.  I do not see them as separate things.  Women pay me to dominate them, to excite them, to make them come.  I did not start out like this.”(pg 105)  When brought to the world’s stage, The Vagina Monologues provides more than eroticism and what some would consider crude language and images.  Instead, it lets us feel more comfortable as women.

The River Massacre

                 Uncovering the true inspiration and history of Danticat’s Haitian roots can only be exposed by digging deep into the countries past and discovering the many horrendous events that intertwine and slowly reveal themselves throughout Krik? Krak!  When beginning my journey into this literary piece, I was severely handicapped when it came to the vast array of knowledge that is needed to truly begin to reveal Haiti’s history, and the stories of the characters told within Danticat’s Krik? Krak!

In “Nineteen Thirty Seven”, the account of what happened at the Massacre River is told through the eyes of the female narrator, whose recollection of her pilgrimage to the sacred place is precisely recalled.  “When I was five years old, we went on a pilgrimage to the Massacre River, which I had expected to be still crimson with blood, but was as clear as any water that I had ever seen.”(pg. 41)  After researching the history of what is known as the Massacre of 1937, or the Parsley Massacre, the narrator’s memories became real in my mind.  This was no longer just a part of the story, but rather a factual event that impacts and divides the islands of the Dominican Republic and Haiti to this very day.

                By combining fictional characters with real life events, Danticat’s literary tale tells a much more effective and emotional chronicle of the trials and tribulations her ancestors encountered.   “Weighted down by my body inside hers, she leaped from Dominican soil into the water, and out again on the Haitian side of the river.  She glowed red when she came out, blood clinging to her skin, which at that moment looked as though it were in flames.”(pg. 49

The Language of Freedom

                Throughout Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak! the force of language is undeniable.  When language, words, and descriptions aren’t painting a heart breaking and sometimes horrific self portrait of one’s journey by boat from war-torn Haiti to the promising beaches of America, like in “Children of the Sea”, it is delving into the inner workings of an impoverished yet disturbingly common household, and allows us to understand the harsh reality of the relationships of those living in these conditions, as it does in “Wall of Fire Rising.”

                Throughout “Wall of Fire Rising,” the heavy impact that words can have is felt even when they are not said aloud.  Guy’s personal feelings of insecurity are never brought to him head on by his wife Lili, yet he is constantly yearning to be good enough for his family.  In a time in Haitian history where jobs were scarce and security was practically nonexistent, this was a profound load to bear.

“When things were really bad for the family, they boiled sugarcane pulp to make what Lili called her special sweet water tea.  It was supposed to suppress gas and kill the vermin in the stomach that made poor children hungry…That night, anyway, things were good.  Everyone had eaten enough to put all their hunger vermin to sleep.” (pg. 58)

As Guy’s feelings of inadequacy rise, his thirst to escape these feelings grew just as fast.  These emotions are shadowed by his son’s inspirational school monologue, which he practices as his father struggles with his bleak future.  Danticat uses Little Guys words to catapult his father into an idealistic world, where revolutionary thoughts and change were in sight.  However, these thoughts ended with death.  “Your new lines are wonderful son.  They’re every bit as affecting as the old.  He tapped the boy’s shoulder and walked out of the house.” (pg. 71)  By motivating Guy to succumb to his own destructive thoughts, Little Guys words freed his father from a fruitless life of scattered labor, and insufficient love.  Language set him free.

America The Beautiful

Patriotism in this country leaves much to be desired these days.  In the beginning, you couldn’t turn a corner without noticing something red, white, or blue, or “United We Stand”, or “Never Forgotten”.  How quickly we forget.  Nye has never forgotten, as September 11, 2001 has defined a part of her life, career, and REdefined her family.   

                “For Mohammed on the Mountain,” the undeniable connection and to her father’s family and country is evident.  “Believe me, Uncle, my father is closer to you than you know.  When he tends plants, he walks slowly.  His steps sing of the hills.  And when he stirs the thick coffee and grinds the cardamom seed you think he feels like an American?  You think he forgets the call to prayer?”  There is some sense of tradition here, but more of an unidentifiable question of where her father belongs.  If he immigrated to the United States, did his family turn their back on him?  Did they think he lost sight of his religion, culture, and Palestinian identity?  And if he did, could they forgive him?  Nye asks the same questions of her Uncle who fled to the mountains, never to be seen again.   “Are you angry with us?  Do you think my father forgot you when he packed his satchel and boarded the ship?”(pg.27)  Nye gently describes her father’s relationship with Palestine through his strong roots and great respect for tradition that he brought with him to America.  Perhaps there is something to be learned from him, and his love of a country where only his memories remain.

An Analytical View of Making a Mistake.

                19 Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye is an intricately woven literary song that loudly responds to the horrific events of 9/11 through a collection of poems.  Nye uses her vast knowledge of the Palestinian culture, along with unique stories of her families past to unite American ideals with Middle Eastern values that have been seemingly lost through wrongful media portrayals and stereotypes.

                Nye proclaims that “poetry humanizes us.”  Throughout this collection, this is certainly the case.  In the introduction, Nye delves deep into the complicated history that connects 9/11 to her heritage.  “For people who love the Middle East and have an ongoing devotion to cross-cultural understanding, the day felt sickeningly tragic in more ways than one.  A huge shadow had been cast across the lives of so many innocent people and an ancient culture’s pride (pg. xv).”   The shadow that she describes is long, dark and unforgiving in the post 9/11 world.  The lack of understanding that began amounted to numerous “sickeningly tragic” effects, they were seen through stereotyping, violence, and even hatred of the Middle Eastern people as a whole. 

                In “Palestinians Have Given up Parties”, Nye juxtaposes the violent picture that America had painted of Middle Eastern, and more specifically Palestinian, culture.  “Where does fighting come into this story?  Fighting got lost from somewhere else.  It is not what we like:  to eat, to drink, to fight (pg. 60).”  Nye expresses the peaceful and joyful time here, reminding the reader of times where celebrations were the norm, whether it be a marriage celebration or someone returning from a long journey.  Happiness is evident, yet the reality of what has happened quickly returns here.  “The bombs break everyone’s sentences in half.  Who made them?  Do you know anyone who makes them?  The ancient taxi driver shakes his head back and forth from Jerusalem to Jericho (pg.61).”  

                Did I stereotype?  Did I even know what I was talking about when propaganda spewed from my mouth all of those years ago, defending my countries actions?  Slowly, Naomi Shihab Nye is helping me recognize, almost ten years later, that maybe I was wrong.  About what?  I am not sure yet, but am sort of excited to find out.