(no subject)

[littleblueworld.livejournal.com]

Recently I have heard a bit of criticism regarding feminism and the more recent pro-vagina movement, The Vagina Monologues etc. The criticism is that feminists are sending the "wrong message" by speaking about vaginas because they are reducing women to their vaginas, and feminists have fought for so long to be seen as people.

However, I was not, until recently comfortable saying the word vagina. It was this secret I had, nevermind that 51% of the population had one too. I could refer to it, and in a sexual context say some of the more "naughty" euphamisms we have for it. But vagina was clinical, not sexy, not beautiful or mysterious. (I love how Eve Ensler addresses this.) And growing up, so many terms for vagina mean weak, scared. The kid who doesn't play football, but joins the art club is a "pussy." A pussy is one without muscles. Possessing balls, however, means you know how to flex. The vagina movement is one that redefines vagina. It is strong, mysterious, beautiful, empowering. Whomever believes that feminists are sending the wrong message isn't listening. We are not attempting to undo our citizenship as people. It is not about how we are viewed in the world. It is about how we have come to view ourselves. We are screaming the secret. We have vaginas. We don't not have penises.

And as an addendum, I must add I LOVE men (sometimes). I am not a raging feminist. This is a rant, and I mean every word.

Comments

[sylverdiva.livejournal.com]

i really liked your words.....;)

[littleblueworld.livejournal.com]

:) Thank you!

[zzrg.livejournal.com]

I find it sort of silly that otherwise civilized people have trouble with words like vagina or penis. But I admit that I do love the richness added to the language by people that cannot quite bring themselves to say what they mean. Dispite its misuses and abuse, slang adds so much to the language.

It is odd the way that labels change, I find they mean less and less to me as my experience broadens. The word feminist means so many things that I am not even sure it is that useful of a word anymore. (That is not to discount the feminist movement and how important it has been in shaping the future of our planet. It is just to observe that it is hard to define what the word means anymore.)

At the end of the day it is how you feel about yourself that is the most important thing and no matter what you call this part or that, if it is beautiful in your eye and your spirit ... to me that is what matters.

Now if I was just that evolved myself. (grr)

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

it's okay to be a raging feminist and a person who loves men. :)

[gezellig-girl.livejournal.com]

Damn, I was going to say that.

[her-again.livejournal.com]

wha?

i thought feminist = lesbian?

jk ;P

[quietgrrl.livejournal.com]

vagina means sheath for a sword. i stopped using that word. i now use cunt because it sounds really powerful and kind of naughty which describes my cunt best.
and on a side note i saw this movie about female punk rockers called punk pretty and one of the girls has a shirt that says "so much clit she don't need balls" it was great!

[doulachar.livejournal.com]

It does...way back in Roman times it was an insult and mean and nasty. Now, it's just the accepted medical term for a peice of anatomy. Sometimes I wonder about how much power people have over words, and how much power people allow words to have over them. Pagan was once a Roman insult too, and now look at it. Words change, they evolve, their meaning mutates with the evolution of society.