“We were worried about vaginas…” is the opening line of the Eve Ensler production of “The Vagina monologues.” The show is about women and its purpose is to raise awareness about domestic violence. If the show was about heart disease an appropriate way to start the show might be, “we were worried about our hearts.” Vagina is the anatomically correct term for a body part rarely mentioned in “polite” dinner conversation.
Being a part of the monologues has opened my eyes to the controversy surrounding the monologues. The second I told my mom that I would be in a production called, “The Vagina Monologues” her face contorted as if I told her that I would be starring alongside Jenna Jamison in an XXX rated film. Even coming from a strong Christian home I still didn’t expect that reaction. It was about domestic violence, raising money for the cause against Femicide, and taking a stand for women everywhere! Even after explaining she turned her nose to the idea and told me that the family would not be hearing about this endeavor. Then I received information that there were certain people on campus that didn’t agree with our production either and I was sent a link to an online article published by the Catholic News Agency. This article was slamming Father Jenkins, president of Notre Dame University, for allowing the play to be performed.
Bishop D’Arcy of Fort Wayne – South Bend calls the performance “pornographic” and that the entire V-Day Organizion “directly opposes the dignity of the human person and is antithetical to Catholic teaching.” After reading the article I noticed that there were a few comments at the bottom all agreeing with Bishop D’Arcy’s condemnation of Father Jenkins and “The Vagina Monologues.” Naturally, I also commented stating my personal experience with the monologues and the good that it does for a campus and community. After performing the monologues in front of friends, family, fellow students, members of the community, and even my father, I have realized that many people love the show after they see it even if they walk into the auditorium hesitantly.
It’s not about religion, it’s about women. For anyone who thinks that the V-Day Organization was created to trample over Catholicism, I suggest you look up the V-Day website and click on “mission.” And to Bishop D’Arcy who mentioned the promotion of feminism as a downside of performing “The Vagina Monologues,” it’s 2009, get with the program. We can vote now too.
Kyriel Manzo
Wilkes Univeristy 11'
Communications/English
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?
The director of homeland security Janet Napolitano issued a memo warning the administration as well as the American people of “right wing extremists”. This memo stated that the economy, new legislation, illegal immigration and other current US issues may cause a surge in “right wing extremism”. But the memo also targeted veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to be some of the more easily influenced and recruited to right wing extremist organizations. The memo States that those who serve are more prone to aggressive right wing recruitment and “lone acts of violence”, as if they were nothing more than terrorists in training. What is in the minds of these people? The department of homeland security has the fortitude to accuse veterans, those who serve and are proud to do so, of the type of cowardly acts of violence we have been exposed to, and return it on our country. It is unnecessary for the director of homeland security to demonize our veterans for her own political gain.
Miss Napolitano DO NOT put me in the same group with the same type of fundamentalist idiots that I am protecting this country from. My brothers and I are not terrorists or even potential terrorists. The only terrorists are those with weak wills and weak minds, which isn’t something you will find in our armed forces. You should be ashamed of yourself, using less than a handful of incidents to provide evidence of your claims. The thing is that most of the people who protect your ass are veterans. As far as “disgruntled military veterans” perhaps the government we work for could show us some respect instead of indifference, perhaps then you wouldn’t have “disgruntled vets”. You make me sick, veterans are the reason you have freedom and this is how you treat them Miss Napolitano? It’s shameful that she still holds this office after this kind of discrimination.
I have said it before; soon the “thank you” will stop. If they want to equate this conflict to that of Vietnam then it will soon be that veterans are no longer welcome in their own country. Soon returning veterans will be greeted with protests and hate or worse. Left wing idiots like Miss Napolitano will continue to demonize our country’s most dedicated people and feed them to the political wolves. Is it not bad enough that many of our own soldiers are being railroaded by their own government and being charged with war crimes and murder in an active combat zone? Is it not enough that we must go far away for long periods possibly get shot at or blown up, only to return to our country unwelcome and unappreciated?
When is this nonsense going to stop, and when are people going to realize that it is those who serve and their families are the ones that pay the price for your freedom? What would happen if soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines weren’t there for you? Would you pay the price for your own freedom? I doubt that, because most people are too cowardly to stand up and say yes. Then it must be up to those few , the less than one percent of the population, who proudly wear the uniform of the American armed forces that must make that sacrifice. So the next time you see someone in uniform, thank them, because they are the reason you are free. And remember, cowards sleep well at night knowing that brave men and women stand willing to do battle on their behalf. This is only the land of the free, BECAUSE of the brave.
Joseph Cooper
Wilkes University 10'
Communications
Miss Napolitano DO NOT put me in the same group with the same type of fundamentalist idiots that I am protecting this country from. My brothers and I are not terrorists or even potential terrorists. The only terrorists are those with weak wills and weak minds, which isn’t something you will find in our armed forces. You should be ashamed of yourself, using less than a handful of incidents to provide evidence of your claims. The thing is that most of the people who protect your ass are veterans. As far as “disgruntled military veterans” perhaps the government we work for could show us some respect instead of indifference, perhaps then you wouldn’t have “disgruntled vets”. You make me sick, veterans are the reason you have freedom and this is how you treat them Miss Napolitano? It’s shameful that she still holds this office after this kind of discrimination.
I have said it before; soon the “thank you” will stop. If they want to equate this conflict to that of Vietnam then it will soon be that veterans are no longer welcome in their own country. Soon returning veterans will be greeted with protests and hate or worse. Left wing idiots like Miss Napolitano will continue to demonize our country’s most dedicated people and feed them to the political wolves. Is it not bad enough that many of our own soldiers are being railroaded by their own government and being charged with war crimes and murder in an active combat zone? Is it not enough that we must go far away for long periods possibly get shot at or blown up, only to return to our country unwelcome and unappreciated?
When is this nonsense going to stop, and when are people going to realize that it is those who serve and their families are the ones that pay the price for your freedom? What would happen if soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines weren’t there for you? Would you pay the price for your own freedom? I doubt that, because most people are too cowardly to stand up and say yes. Then it must be up to those few , the less than one percent of the population, who proudly wear the uniform of the American armed forces that must make that sacrifice. So the next time you see someone in uniform, thank them, because they are the reason you are free. And remember, cowards sleep well at night knowing that brave men and women stand willing to do battle on their behalf. This is only the land of the free, BECAUSE of the brave.
Joseph Cooper
Wilkes University 10'
Communications
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