Regards, Ivan
Posted on 02/19/2005 5:19:53 PM PST by MadIvan
It has persuaded women from Detroit to Delhi to celebrate their anatomy, but in Uganda, an attempt to stage The Vagina Monologues has been foiled by the forces of Christian conservatism.
American author Eve Ensler's controversial theatre piece, which celebrates female genitals through a series of soliloquies, has been branded 'indecent and tasteless' by a Ugandan government minister, while church groups have described it as pornographic and 'anti-male'.
Rarely-used powers of censorship have been reinvoked to demand drastic script alterations, including the deletion of references to lesbianism and the removal of the crucial word 'vagina' from the title.
The Vagina Monologues was due to receive its Ugandan premiere at the Ndere Cultural Centre in the capital Kampala, last night, but organisers said that the show had been cancelled after failing to reach agreement with the Media Council, the quango which screens theatre performances.
'They cut the title,' said Sarah Mukasa, one of the organisers. 'They cut a sketch. They also cut another in which a 16-year-old girl is seduced by an older woman.
'We'd have to cut everything to their satisfaction, which to us renders the play useless. It amounts to silencing women's voices.'
The furore began when information minister James Nsaba Buturo attacked the play at his weekly press briefing. 'The title... is undoubtedly indecent and tasteless,' the minister told reporters. He said the author was 'a known lesbian... She worships the female sexual organ, seeing it as her god.'
He accused the organisers of being in league with 'external interests' who wanted to corrupt 'the moral foundation' of Ugandan society.
The organisers claim the censorship was inspired by Christian lobby groups. 'African culture is very much into expressing sexuality,' said Mukasa, who is also an activist for a Ugandan womens' group.
'This right-wing Christian fundamentalism that calls itself African is actually very un-African indeed.'
The play provoked similar hostility when it was first performed in neighbouring Kenya, in 2003. The play went ahead successfully, however, and there have been two repeat performances, which have drawn bigger crowds each year.
Last weekend, hundreds of women and a few men packed into a tent theatre in Nairobi to watch a local cast perform the Monologues. A sketch showcasing a dazzling variety of female sexual moans received a standing ovation.
The censorship of The Vagina Monologues has prompted serious alarm among other artists. 'I'm concerned that the Ugandan government feels its people can't be trusted to choose for themselves,' said Binyavanga Wainana, editor of kwani? the Kenyan literary journal.
'There's an idea that seems to be prevalent among the older generation of African leaders, almost that their people are blank vessels. That globalisation and western influences are waiting at the door for "you stupid people" to be changed.'
But Ensler's play has also attracted criticism for offering a universal treatment of women's lives. 'It seems extremely arrogant that The Vagina Monologues remains the same everywhere,' Wainana said.
Although the drama draws heavily on American womens' experiences, the Nairobi performance touched on its Kenyan context with references to female genital mutilation and the high incidence of rape in the city's slums.
The Kampala show was intended to raise funds for groups helping female victims of the war in northern Uganda, where the rebel Lord's Resistance Army abducts girls to serve as forced 'wives' for commanders.
The row over The Vagina Monologues runs counter to a trend for increasing artistic freedom in east Africa in recent years. When former president Daniel arap Moi was swept from power in December 2002, it marked the start of a cultural resurgence in Kenya, after decades of censorship and persecution. Drama tackled corruption, race and police torture. Kwani? was launched as Kenya's first literary journal in 2003, and Nairobi's first arts centre, The Godown, opened last year.
'Artists are starting to recognise the cuffs really are off,' said Rob Burnet, east Africa programme officer for culture at the Ford Foundation. 'Until 1992, you had to take every play you wanted to show to Nyayo House [former security HQ in Nairobi] for reading by the security people.'
In 1977, a play by Kenyan literary icon Ngugi wa Thiong'o enraged the country's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, sufficiently for him to order the demolition of the theatre in which it had been performed.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Wish the U.S. has as much common sense. It's disgusting.
'They cut the title,' said Sarah Mukasa, one of the organisers. 'They cut a sketch. They also cut another in which a 16-year-old girl is seduced by an older woman.
Yet this garbage has played at many American High Schools uncut.
I used to think that people who objected to this play were offended by the title rather than the play itself. Shows how much I knew about the play.
Remarkable that a Third-World country like Uganda can exhibit greater intelligence, common sense, and moral courage than any of the First-World countries.
Indeed. They have a raging AIDS epidemic to prove it.
Well, I almost "worship" the female sexual organ too, but not as a god...more like I'm thankful that females have that "organ" because without it, sex would be boring for me. My hand doesn't say "ohhhh,,,,ahhh,,,,yeah,,,,ooooohhh!,,,,yeah!...yes yes yes yes ohhhhh!,,,,YES!!!"
But that's JMHO.
Lesbians are another subject for a different day....
FMCDH(BITS)
Actually, they've been getting it under control in Uganda - their president is actually into medical science to deal with the problem, which is rare among African leaders these days.
Regards, Ivan
Thing is, in Uganda the government stepped in and took official action aginst the play. In a free country, the individuals were given the option of refusing to attend the play.
While I applaud the results in Uganda, no one should support the methods. The proper way to oppose crud like this is to refuse to pay money to watch it.
Uganda's abstinence based AIDS policy is a model for the whole world. The quote I referenced "African culture is very much into expressing sexuality," is standard pseudo-intellectual nonsense.
How about "The Penis Monologues" featuring Michael Jackson?
??????
Banning free speech is a conservative position now?
Are you nuts?
If you don't like their stuff, don't buy it/attend their events or whatever, but it's outrageous that they banned it just becaue they don't like it.
I don't think they're talking to each other...
They've been at the forefront of fighting AIDS with abstinence education. Uganda is the only country in Africa with a declining AIDS rate.
American author Eve Ensler's controversial theatre piece, which celebrates female genitals through a series of soliloquies, has been branded 'indecent and tasteless' by a Ugandan government minister, while church groups have described it as pornographic and 'anti-male'.
*** I wish the feminazis in this country would get a clue. Imagine if one of our government people declared it to be tasteless.
"celebrates" ????? I'm sorry, I'm having trouble envisioning how (and more importantly, WHY) one would go about "celebrating" one's genitals. They're pretty much standard equipment on both models, aren't they?
... through a series of soliloquies
Well, I guess that answers the "how." But it leaves a puzzle as to "why."
... has been branded 'indecent and tasteless'
To say the least ...
wish we could get them out of the schools
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