In four pages this paper considers how the play expresses body image messages. Two sources are cited in the bibliography.
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Monologues. Told to bring home the point about womens bodys and body imagery, the Vagina Monologues delivers. This award winning play was created by Eve Ensler to explore the theme
of womens sexuality, to make a point about violence toward women, and womens rights. After hundreds of interviews with women Ensler was convinced that the body image and body concept
that most women had, especially in regard to their own genitalia was still firmly rooted in Puritan-like modesty where their vaginas were still referred to by such euphemisms as ta
ta and down there. Seeing this as indicative of a larger social problem, Ensler set out to expose the world to the perspective of womens rights that had yet to
see the light of day. "Doesnt matter how many times you say it, it never sounds like a word you want to say. Its totally ridiculous, completely unsexy word. Im
worried about vaginas, what we call them or dont call them" (Ensler 5). Of course womens rights advocates are a dime a dozen and they all spout the same
sort of rhetoric. Even if youre a woman after a while you weary of hearing how downtrodden and oppressed you are. However, with Enslers play she uses humor to deliver
the message. While at times her authorial voice comes through too forcefully and it drifts onto the preachy side of the street, it does not stay there for long.
Ensler determined to write the play after she had interviewed hundreds of women and realized that women, especially those who were of an older generation, had been conditioned to think
of their reproductive cycles and genitals as something that was shameful and unmentionable. In a world where men are very quick to grab their crotch, Ensler figured it was time