Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
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■ In my opinion
‘Vagina Monologues’
misspeaks
I’m just going to say it: “The Vagina
Monologues” sucks.
Why the ASUO Women’s Center in
sists on performing this wretched play
year after year is beyond me. The horse
is dead, yet they just keep beating it.
This thoroughly unremarkable play
is certainly worth seeing once. But then
again, so is “The Sound of Music.”
For those of you who aren’t famil
iar with the play, “The Vagina Mono
logues” is a loosely strung together
series of poorly written monologues
about women and their vaginas. Or
maybe I should say vaginas and
their women.
The title of the play appeals to the
fourth-grader in all of us who still gig
gles when we hear the word, “vagi
na.” If the play had a different title,
no one would have ever heard of it.
And if it didn’t piss off certain
Catholic groups so much, it certainly
would have fizzled out long ago.
Because of the controversy about
the message of the play (or lack there
of), the fact that it’s a shallow, ram
bling mess of pre-packaged feminist
clichds that many feminists don’t
even agree with anymore (if they ever
did) has almost completely escaped
public discussion.
No one likes vaginas more than I
do. I’m the president of the vagina
fan club. But this play just sucks.
The first half is everybody giggling
about the fact that an adult just said
“pussy” out loud while the second half
of the play is everybody crying and
feeling miserable about violence
against women. Did I miss the part that
was supposed to be empowering?
It’s a sad commentary that the
great canon of feminist plays seems to
consist of one play. One! For crying
GABE BRADLEY
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
out loud, let’s get some variety in
here. Let’s see something other than
“The Vagina Monologues.” Maybe
those plays wouldn’t suck so much.
From a purely philosophical perspec
tive, I’d like to see a play that’s a bit
more dialogical. “The Cunt Conversa
tions” perhaps?
You could totally do a play about
vaginas and have it be a great play.
This one just doesn’t happen to be
that play.
For that matter, you could do a play
about penises and it could be good
too. But there are those who would
argue that all Western culture has
been about the penis, so maybe it’s
been done before. Is there a demand
for a “Penis Monologues?” I doubt it.
Besides, after the “Seinfeld” episode
about shrinkage, there’s not much left
to say.
In any case, this year’s production
by the ASUO Women’s Center was par
ticularly pitiful for a couple reasons.
First of all, the political correctness
militia won a major victory against
quality theater this year when the
producers of this year’s play decided
to typecast rather than hold auditions
in response to protests of last
year’s production.
About 10 people protested the fact
that women of color, plus-sized women
and queer were “underrepresented” in
the cast of the play. The biggest com
plaint was that a white student per
formed a monologue in which the char
acter was African American.
In other words, these few protest
ers wanted the directors to engage in
typecasting so extreme that it borders
on illegal discrimination. A sad side
effect of such “inclusive” exclusivity
is that it eliminates acting talent from
the cast selection process.
Also, keep in mind that the original
cast for “The Vagina Monologues”
was a middle-aged white woman do
ing all the parts — all of them!
Even more ridiculous than this pol
icy of typecasting is the hypocritical
results it achieves.
“It’s all about giving a voice to peo
ple who’ve never had the opportunity
to speak up before,” director Felicia
Perez said in a press release.
That’s a nice line. Except when the
cast was announced, the sentiment
proved to be woefully hollow. Top
ping the list of cast members was Eu
gene mayor Kitty Piercy. A University
vice-president, several faculty mem
bers and the ASUO vice-president
were also cast.
They said they wanted to make it
more democratic and accessible to
the common woman. But at the end
of the day, they sold out to get a big
name and cater to women who are al
ready in a privileged position to have
their voices heard.
They didn’t democratize “The Vagi
na Monologues.” They didn’t give a
voice to the underrepresented. And
they certainly didn’t cast the common
woman. All they did was take “The
Vagina Monologues” away from the
good actresses.
gabebradley@dailyemerald.com
INBOX
Wet Seal's shady practice is
torturing animals for fur
I recently read an article about how
clothing retailer Wet Seal is under inves
tigation by the U.S. Securities and Ex
change Commission because of shady
business practices. Unfortunately, these
shady practices aren’t the only dark se
crets at Wet Seal headquarters. Wet Seal
also continues to sell fur despite a na
tional boycott against them from People
for the Ethical TYeatment of Animals. It
is a common practice for the animals
they kill for fur to be kept in horrible
conditions for their entire life span. In
credibly small cages, exposure to the ele
ments and death by a broken neck or
smashed skull is just a sample of the tor
ture happening on their fur farms. As
long as Wet Seal supports the unneces
sary torture of animals for fur, I encour
age everyone to shop elsewhere.
Curtis Taylor
Eugene
Conduct Code necessary
first step for student safety
The LGBTQA would like to address
the recent attacks toward our office with
an outline of our intent and our requests
for the ASUO and Office of Admissions.
We support freedom of expression, the
free exchange of ideas, freedom of
speech and freedom of the press. We
agree with the Affirmation of Communi
ty Standards that states: “The Universi
ty of Oregon has a long and illustrious
history in the area of academic freedom
and freedom of speech. A culture of re
spect that honors the rights, safety, digni
ty, and worth of every individual is es
sential to preserve such freedom.”
We request from all branches of the
ASUO to create and enforce a Code of
Conduct for Incidental Fee Funded Orga
nizations. The Code of Conduct would
adhere to the Non-Discrimination Policy
and the Affirmation of Community Stan
dards. We request that a mechanism be
created through our student government
that can enforce this Code of Conduct
upon the student groups through effec
tive management and consequences.
We request that the University ad
ministration institute an internal
process in regards to staff, students, or
ganizations and others affiliated with
the University that has the authority to
enforce the Non-Discrimination Policy
in its entirety. We believe it is foremost
the responsibility of the administration
to ensure the safety of all students.
We request that there be an expan
sion of the Multi-Cultural Academic
Requirement to include one mandatory
class for all incoming freshman that in
cludes a curriculum which covers the
topics of patriarchy, rape culture,
racism, sexism, homophobia, trans
phobia, classism and other forms of
oppression, and includes skills for
treating differences with respect.
We believe these actions are the start
of creating a safe campus environment.
We are all responsible for the steps it
takes to educate and eliminate hate and
hate-speech in our community. It is im
portant to note, and we would like to
make it clear, that the LGBTQA is not for
or against the defunding of the Oregon
Commentator. It is the administration’s
failure to respond and proactively en
force its own Non-Discrimination Policy
that has escalated this situation. We ask
that the University administration re
spond with a plan, which incorporates
our requests listed above, by March 18.
LGBTQA
University of Oregon
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■ Editorial
U.S. should
keep a light
hand on the
Middle East
The past week and a half has brought a
series of small, albeit significant, steps to
ward a stable peace between the Israelis
and the Palestinians.
On Feb. 7, Israeli and Palestinian leaders
confirmed they would declare, during a
summit beginning the next day in Sharm
el Sheik, Egypt, an end to years of bloody
and destructive fighting. The New York
Times reported Monday that Palestinian
leader Mahmoud Abbas said he has talked
with radical groups Hamas and Islamic Ji
had regarding a truce formulated at the
summit in Egypt. Showing some progress,
Hamas promised not to immediately retali
ate for any Israeli violence while it
weighs whether to join a Palestinian
cease-fire with Israel.
On Sunday, in what is being heralded as
a tremendous gesture, the Israeli govern
ment approved the release of some
500 Palestinian prisoners within the week.
(The Palestinian Authority has reported
that Israel holds more than 7,600 Palestin
ian prisoners.) We cautiously hope these
actions mark a real turning point in trans
forming a war of hatred and heated ideo
logue into dialogue.
Peace between these two groups is ob
viously hampered by the demonization
that has followed decades of war. The
Palestinian and Israeli people must learn
to see neighbors where they once saw ene
mies, and this will take time and encour
agement. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon have taken the first steps to
ward moderation, and both must look past
the often loud and influential voices of reli
gious fundamentalists. Abbas told the
Times that he is optimistic about the sup
portive response he has received from mil
itants concerning the peace process —
it is progress Abbas has rightfully
boasted about.
The Bush administration must realize
that the Middle East deserves some auton
omy in this matter. Both sides have accept
ed invitations to meet separately with
President Bush, and Abbas has recently
encouraged the promised American eco
nomic aid, but the United States must re
frain from tending to this process with a
heavy hand. We commend Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice for her somewhat
introductory visit to the region, but we
caution against a hard-line Bush proposal
for a provisional democratic Palestinian
state at this time. Even Abbas has said he
would reject such a short-term solution,
saying Palestinians would be hesitant to
accept a plan that might be seen as a re
placement for a final settlement.
A successful peace process is a tall order
for any leader to fill, let alone attempt, as
Abbas has tried to do since he was elected
president of the Palestinian Authority a lit
tle more than a month ago. Whatever the
outcome, we commend the quick and sub
stantial progress.
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