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"The Vagina Monologues" And The Clash Of Civilizations
Toogood Reports ^
| October 24, 2001
| Henry Makow
Posted on 10/24/2001 8:37:51 AM PDT by Starmaker
While bombs rain down on Afghanistan this week, theatergoers in Washington D.C. are paying $50-70 at the National Theatre to see Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues. This play partly exemplifies why radical Islam has declared war on America. The play pretends to be about women's rights. In fact, it is little more than a public reading of explicit lesbian pornography.
"The Vagina Monologues" is a celebration of lesbianism that is being produced in 25 countries, including Turkey and China. We are exporting homosexuality and the social disintegration that goes with it.
Muslim fundamentalists believe their culture is threatened. They are fighting to preserve their wives and children who are the future. If their wives are infected by our homosexuality, they will insist on becoming "independent" like men. Their birth rate will plummet like ours has, and their families and culture will disintegrate. In countries with minimal government social safety nets, families and children are also essential for survival.
I don't wish to imply that culture is the only reason for this conflict. I don't pretend to understand them all. Obviously Islamic radicals are brutal tyrants and terrorists who are also motivated by racism, power, oil and religious fanaticism. Nevertheless, Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington, in The Clash of Civilizations (1996), argues that future world conflicts will reflect cultural differences and ways of worshipping G-d: "The forces of integration in the world are real and are precisely what are generating counterforces of cultural assertion and civilizational consciousness."
"The Vagina Monologues" presents a sad picture of life at the dead-end of feminism. It is an anguished cry for male love by a generation of women deceived by feminism, who now have no choice but to become lesbians. For women who are literally starved for love, the play provides a steamy experience of sexual intimacy. For young women who don't know any better, it is an initiation into lesbianism.
Based on interviews with women, who talk about their vaginas, the play purports to rescue the female genitals from "cultural neglect." For example, the play describes a workshop in which women examine themselves with hand-mirrors. "It reminded me of how early astronomers must have felt with their primitive telescopes," says Ensler. They give their vagina nicknames, dress it up in imaginary outfits, and imagine what it would say if it could talk (e.g. "Where's Brian?"). At one performance at the Madison Square Gardens, 18,000 women were whipped into a frenzy of shouting "cunt" over and over.
They should have been shouting "penis" because this is really about the loss of male love. Having lost their femininity and their youth, having rejected or emasculated men, millions of women are now left sexually high and dry.
Both sexes need validation. Men these days don't like feminists and feminists know it. Every time we turn on TV, a man is being beat-up or berated by a woman. Men resent that women have usurped the male role and deserted the feminine one. I believe this is what Ensler is actually experiencing when she says: "Our self-hatred is only the internalized repression and hatred of the patriarchal culture."
Women are justified in feeling unloved and unfulfilled. Ensler says that women want to be used for babies: "My vagina helped release a giant baby. It thought it would be used more than that. It's not." The result is a profound sense of emptiness and need. "My vagina wants to go deeper. It's hungry for depth. It's hungry for kisses, kindness. It wants to stop being angry. It wants everything. It wants to want. It wants."
It appears that only a man can staunch this wound. Ensler describes a boyfriend, Bob, who loved to gaze at her genitals for hours and made her feel good about herself for the first time. She doesn't say what happened to Bob. The only other men in the play are Ensler's first husband, a philanderer, and some rapists in Bosnia.
Thus, "The Vagina Monologues" quickly becomes a steamy chronicle of lesbian sex. In the first place, a fixation on female genitals by women is pure homosexuality. Forgive me for what follows but I am trying to convey the pornographic flavor of this so-called play. The author interviews a former tax lawyer who has become wealthy as a lesbian gigolo. "There are so many unfulfilled women," she says. "Women pay me to dress up like a man and dominate them." She follows with a precise description of her art ("there are four fingers inside me, two are hers and two are mine") that turns Ensler on: "Come on," I said. "Come in."
A 12-year-old girl describes how her mother entrusted her to the care of a beautiful, worldly 24-year-old woman who then betrayed this trust by having sex with her: "She transformed my sorry-assed coochie-snorcher into a kind of heaven." Ensler regresses with children stories of the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" variety. She asks a six-year-old girl to say what her vagina smells like (snowflakes). She informs us that the clitoris has twice the number of nerve fibers as the penis: "Who needs a handgun when you've got a semiautomatic?" She describes finding her clitoris for the first time: "It was all warm and pulsing and ready and young and alive." I could go into more detail but you get the idea.
A measure of our cultural timidity, depravity and self-delusion is that no major media critic has named this play for what it is. "Ensler is an impassioned wit," says the Los Angeles Times. "A compelling rhapsody of the female essence," says The Chicago Tribune. "Spellbinding, funny and almost unbearably moving," says Variety. The play has been performed in hundreds of American cities and universities, and in countries from Rumania to Zaire. Celebrity guest performers include Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Calista Frockhart, and Angelica Huston. It was performed in Sarajevo by Marisa Tomei and Glenn Close who said Ensler is "giving women their souls back." Gillian Anderson (of the X-Files) says: "Eve Ensler is the Pied Piper. She is leading woman and the world to a different consciousness of women."
Ensler and her entourage try to position this pitiable lesbian primer in the mainstream. Gloria Steinem writes "men as well as women will emerge from these pages feeling more free within themselves and about each other." It is typical of feminists to portray lesbianism as emancipation. Ensler has "come out" as yet another survivor of sexual abuse by her father. She has tied the play to the politicized cause of violence against women. Her hatred of heterosexuality is evident by her choice of Valentine's Day, as "V-Day" or anti-violence day, when her play will be performed. She told Molly Ivens in TIME that the patriarchal (i.e. nuclear) family is "a deadly institution."
The nuclear family is the primary institution of heterosexuality. Before the "sexual revolution," women insisted on marriage and family, which is heterosexual behavior. This satisfied the profoundest psychological needs of both sexes and provided a safe context for raising healthy children. After the sexual revolution, men and women engaged in promiscuous sex, which had been more typical of homosexuals. Women, increasingly independent and self-righteous, were unable to form permanent marriages. Taught that they could "have it all", they are now frustrated and bitter.
The irony of "The Vagina Monologues" is that feminists who regularly complain about sexual objectification embrace the play. There is no mention of love. This tendency to view sex as recreation and physical release reflects a self-destructive trend in society. Normally heterosexuals find sexual fulfillment in marriage and are able to turn their energies to more important things. Instead we suffer from cultural arrested development manifested as a lewd adolescent obsession with sex.
Another irony is that feminists apparently think that, when lesbians do it, an adult having sex with a 12-year-old child is OK. They also think that they can violate the natural innocence of a 6-year-old girl with invasive questions. Finally, need I mention that the play outrages and destroys the mystery, modesty and reserve that is the essence of mature femininity? Like feminism itself, "The Vagina Monologues" masquerades as an affirmation of women. In fact, it is a sickening assault on women.
We must face the fact that feminism is a homosexual movement in deadly competition with heterosexuality. Especially in time of war, we cannot afford to encourage a movement dedicated to social divisiveness and disintegration. In addition, we are exporting our homosexuality and depravity to the world. Muslim fundamentalists are fighting back.
We cannot fully claim the moral high ground on the basis of being the victim of terrorism. We must represent a better vision of life to the world by healing our sexual sickness. We must reaffirm the nuclear family and the masculine and feminine values that made America great.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: henrymakow; skinheadsonfr
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1
posted on
10/24/2001 8:37:52 AM PDT
by
Starmaker
To: Starmaker
This twisted smut is also running at the Paramount in Seattle - for weeks on end. I'd like to think that they are playing to less than a dozen every night, but perhaps that's wishful thinking on my part.
To: Starmaker; sirgawain; ThreadKiller; StoneColdGOP
"She transformed my sorry-assed coochie-snorcher into a kind of heaven." um........um.............um........um
To: Starmaker
Another irony is that feminists apparently think that, when lesbians do it, an adult having sex with a 12-year-old child is OK.NAWGLA.... founder...... Paula Poundstone..
To: Starmaker
In the first place, a fixation on female genitals by women is pure homosexuality
And fixation on a penis is pure homosexuality in males? Give me a break.
Another irony is that feminists apparently think that, when lesbians do it, an adult having sex with a 12-year-old child is OK
Yes, all feminists think that. That's like saying all males think that having sex with boys is okay as NAMBLA says it is.
5
posted on
10/24/2001 8:46:27 AM PDT
by
lelio
To: lelio
That's like saying all males...whoa whoa whoa hold up. Are you saying that ALL females are feminazis?
To: Starmaker
"Vagina Monologue"
Isn't that a synonym for "marriage?"
To: Starmaker
"Who needs a handgun when you've got a semiautomatic?" Geez. The Islamist #¤*@£@ds exported Atta to us. Let's export these creatures to them. Then they'll have problems.
8
posted on
10/24/2001 8:50:38 AM PDT
by
Cachelot
To: Starmaker
Normally heterosexuals find sexual fulfillment in marriage and are able to turn their energies to more important things. Instead we suffer from cultural arrested development manifested as a lewd adolescent obsession with sex. I could NOT have said this better myself! Our undiverted indulgence and pursual of "sex sex sex" will be our undoing, just as it was in Rome before us, and Greece before then.
:) ttt
9
posted on
10/24/2001 8:51:04 AM PDT
by
detsaoT
To: Starmaker
Americans keep asking "Why do they hate us so?" The author is absolutely right that this kind of open perversion is one reason -- not the only reason -- but one very big reason. Even the moderate Muslims are repelled by this stuff, and don't want their children affected by it. Who can blame them?
Because of our media and "artists" like Ensler, a big part of the world thinks Americans are all completely amoral, nihilistic, and not worth saving.
To: detsaoT
just as it was in Rome before us, and Greece before then.In coming........
Comment #12 Removed by Moderator
To: anniegetyourgun
I believe that should read: quote-culture-unquote. Their "culture," such as it is, is a blight upon humanity, and needs to be destroyed as rapidly as possible.
Check out this article in today's Boston Herald.
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MUSIC
Talibanned: Music's another unsung casualty of Afghanistan's brutal regime
by Larry Katz
Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Imagine a land without music. A place where you are not allowed to listen to CDs, to sing at weddings, to play an instrument in your own home. A place where the authorities hunt down and destroy whatever instruments they can find. Welcome to Afghanistan. Before Sept. 11, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were best known for doing away with women's rights and destroying the country's ancient Buddhist statues. But the Taliban's extremist interpretation of Islam also calls for the eradication of music, in addition to activities as innocent as flying a kite. The government's Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue enforces regulations that ban all music except for the unaccompanied singing of Koranic verses and Taliban chants. ``It is a raping of a culture,'' says Farhad Azad, an Afghan living in San Francisco where he runs the afghanmagazine.com Web site. ``Music has deep roots in Afghanistan. There are so many different types of traditional music because there are so many different ethnic and tribal groups. There was pop music, too, which we enjoyed in the '60s and '70s in the major cities. And then we had Radio Kabul, which had its own orchestra.'' Music was always an integral part of Afghan society, the same as in other Islamic countries. But cultural life, as well as daily life, took a sharp downturn after the Mujahedeen (holy warriors), including Saudi Arabian visitor Osama bin Laden, succeeded - with the backing of the United States - in driving out Soviet forces in 1989, ending 12 years of occupation. A government controlled by the same forces behind today's Northern Alliance came to power in 1992. Ethnic and tribal rivalries, heightened under the Soviets, led to continued fighting. Afghanistan became more dangerous than ever. Most of the educated people remaining in the country - and most musicians - fled elsewhere. When the Taliban took over in 1996, a battered population at first welcomed them as saviors. ``The Taliban pacified the nation,'' Azad says. ``They collected weapons. They bought off or killed off warlords. ``Maybe having the Taliban was better than having anarchy,'' he says. ``I was not there, so I cannot judge. But from a cultural perspective, what was the price? I denounce everything they've done. My god, they burned 60 years of musical archives at Radio Kabul. I don't know if there was anything left in the basement, but we saw U.S. planes blow up Radio Kabul on CNN a few days ago. There's definitely nothing left now.'' The Taliban also eliminated music from Afghan life. Rubabs, the short-necked, three-string lutes that are the Afghan national instrument, have been smashed and hung in public places as warnings against musical activities. Women, already restricted from educational and employment opportunities, are forbidden from the traditional pastime of singing and playing a tambourinelike frame drum among themselves. Singing at weddings, another tradition, is prohibited. Not surprisingly, TV, videos and movies are also banned. Fans at sporting events are not allowed to clap or cheer, though games seldom take place anymore: Kabul's largest stadium is primarily used for public executions, well-attended by a populace starved for any type of entertainment. While the Taliban have been working to destroy culture in their country, expatriates are keeping it alive in cyberspace. ``At first I was getting death threats and hate mail through the Web site,'' Azad says. ``Now people are sending thanks for exposing the cultural jewel that is Afghanistan and its plight. I believe that through the humanities we can find humanity.'' Walid Sharif runs his Afghan-network.net Web site, a source of information about all things Afghan, from his home in Toronto. He says music acted as a unifying force that promoted a sense of national identity among Afghans in the past, and that it can do it again in a post-Taliban future. ``The second the Taliban are weakened,'' Sharif says, ``music will start right away. Musicians, as much as anyone, want a more moderate government so they can perform on the soil they were born on and follow their dreams. The problem is that there are very few musicians left in Afghanistan.'' After the devastation wrought by war and the Taliban, the survival of Afghan music might depend on musicians outside Afghanistan, such as 27-year old Afghan-American Tameem Afzali. ``Keeping this music alive is my mission in life now,'' the Wyoming-born Afzali says from his home in San Francisco. ``I've never been to Afghanistan, but I grew up listening to the music. My father and uncles played it. I became really involved and started performing with Afghan singers here and in Europe. ``At first I played keyboards,'' he says. ``But I found the music was becoming very Westernized. I felt it was dying. Now I play harmonium and accordion. Knowing this music is banned in our country and that the authentic music is not being kept alive has given me motivation.'' Afzali has two bands. Hunaarmandon (Artist, in English) plays authentic Afghan music on traditional instruments. The other, without a formal name, plays a modern fusion of Afghan and world beat sounds. Aside from Afzali, the members of both bands are non-Afghans. ``It's amazing, but they are learning the Afghan style,'' he says. ``You can hear many styles of music from around the world these days, but Afghan music hasn't had a chance to be heard. It hasn't even been heard in its own country for a long time.'' Does he hope to perform in Afghanistan one day? ``That's been my dream,'' Afzali says. ``Unfortunately, after all that's happened, I won't see what my parents have seen, the beauties of Afghanistan. But at least I'd like to put my feet in the country and try to rebuild it. At this point, I just hope the Taliban can be removed and Afghans can have some freedom.''
Larry Katz Talk Back
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13
posted on
10/24/2001 8:55:54 AM PDT
by
Maceman
To: lady lawyer
Even the moderate Muslims are repelled by this stuff, and don't want their children affected by it. Who can blame them? This is a dangerous road to go down, friend. I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of Americans are repelled by this sh!t also, yet we have yet to start blowing each other up over it.
I do seriously believe that when a society begins focusing on nothing-but-sex (and I'm not entirely convinced that we're totally there yet), it has no further use other than self-destruction.
:) ttt
14
posted on
10/24/2001 8:56:01 AM PDT
by
detsaoT
To: Starmaker
Catch the sequel, "The Penis Perspective!"
To: Starmaker
As I read the part about the mainstream prasing this, as well as the Established actors praise, it reminded me of another phenomenon of the '70's. And then it hit me: This is the Deep Throat of the '00's.
On another note, I too can see why our exportation of this stuff would tick people off in fundamentalist cultures. Heck, I left my old Assembly of God church partly because people there were condemning the patriarchal culture, and I was the lone voice calling them on it.
Don't kid yourself, there has been a war against patriarchal culture being waged in this country for decades. Unfortunately, men and women are wired differently by there maker for specific roles. Those roles fit specifically, efficientl, and effectively into what we call a patriarchal culture. Abandon it long enough and you get chaos.
Don't believe me? Just sit back and watch...
16
posted on
10/24/2001 9:00:27 AM PDT
by
RobRoy
To: Starmaker
Isn't this the play that Rudy's soon to be ex was involved with?
To: Starmaker
Muslim fundamentalists believe their culture is threatened. When they attack us on our own soil, damned right that they're threatened. If there were a button in front of me that would make these lunatics homosexual, or otherwise non-reproductive, I'd hit it hard enough to break my wrist.
We cannot fully claim the moral high ground on the basis of being the victim of terrorism.
Go emigrate to Berkeley, you pinko.
18
posted on
10/24/2001 9:03:44 AM PDT
by
steve-b
To: X-Servative
Catch the sequel, "The Penis Perspective!"I'm still waiting for the followup, "The Breast Dialogues"
To: detsaoT
"This is a dangerous road to go down, friend. I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of Americans are repelled by this sh!t also, yet we have yet to start blowing each other up over it. "
There are many of us who think this stuff is sick, and that we have a sick society. We are not blowing things up. So don't start saying that we are like the terrorists. The liberals are good at branding people with labels. You don't need to start it here. This stuff is sick, and I am not ashamed to say it.
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