"The Vagina Monologues:" Secret Tool in the Struggle Against Terror

Only 48 hours remain until Valentine's Day, and the excitement is building. Love is in the air -- actually, that's the smell of burning Valentine's Day cards, courtesy of . . . oh, take a good guess. First they came for the cartoons, then the Valentine's Day cards, and after that? I'm betting that the Islamists will aim to squelch that other emerging Valentine tradition, Eve Ensler's beloved "The Vagina Monologues," which "explores female sexuality and strength through individual women telling their stories." Not just a play, VM has become an entire movement built around this month's V-Day activities.

From an Islamic perspective, VM is an ideal target for repression and a fatwa, because it has so much to dislike.

(Truth in blogging alert: I have not seen the play, so I cannot comment fairly on its content. And as a man, my vagina exists only in my mind.)

First, of course, Ensler is Jewish feminist, so that ultimately puts her on the wrong side of the Islamic bed, no matter how strenuously she opposes the War on Terror and carries the moonbat torch.

Second, female sexuality in and of itself has long been seen as an enormous threat to the underpinnings of Islamic society. Any cultural work that presents female sexuality in a positive light will have the patriarchy frothing.

Third, the play's entire ideology takes direct aim at the sexual dynamics of Muslim countries (among others). The V-Day site says,

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

When honor killings and execution of rape victims are social norms, then VM has to be profounding disturbing.

To her great credit, Ensler has taken VM to Muslim countries. As a force that gets Muslim women to think and speak out and demand their rights, then VM serves as a wonderfully subversive weapon that attacks the roots of terror. Free the women, and the pillars of oppression shake. One article from 2003 says,

The other V-Day spotlight this year is on Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ensler recently returned from a visit to Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Palestine, accompanied by V-Day's special representative to the region, Hibaaq Osman. Osman works with women's groups in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan and Palestine with a particular focus on bride burnings, female genital mutilation, honor killings, sexual assault, rape and other gender-based violence that are pervasive in much of the region.

For example, Ensler has met with Irshad Manji, the "Muslim refusenik" author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith." Say what you will about Ensler's politics but she walks the walk as well as talks the talk. That's Ensler on the right, below, doing her famous Linda Ronstadt impersonation.



Finally, in light of the Cartoon Jihad, VM is bound to become a battle in the clash of civilizations because it includes verses from the Koran. Oh no! Watch your back, Eve! When the Malaysian government refused to license VM for performance there, discussion groups pointed to verses as a major problem. This comment from 2002 perfectly illustrates the arguments:

I'd like to comment on the Editor's statement that the license for Vagina Monologue was probably refused on the grounds of sexual connotation. I beg to differ. I'd like to think that it is the insensitivity of quoting some Quranic phrases off the Quran by non-Muslims and interpreting it out of context that made them do that. I'm no Saint here but I believe that we should draw a line between what is truly artistic and what is just plain propagandist. I think the same would have been done if one were to put up a play and have people quoting the Bible and deconstructing it as the play flows. Tit for tat. How's that?

(Again, I haven't seen VM, so I don't know what Koranic verses it contains, or the context.)

This is setting up a colossal event: Eve Ensler vs. the Jihad, the Vagina vs. the Sword of Misogynistic Intolerance. Which Eve will step into the ring? Will she be Free Speech Eve, standing up for the western values that make possible a work like VM, an avenging Valkyrie with a vibrator, or will she be Dhimmi Eve, bending over in fear to her brutal Muslim masters and removing offending passages from her play?

I'd like to think that Ensler would come down on the side of liberty, whatever her disgust with the U.S. government. But I could be wrong. She may join CNN, the New York Times, the increasingly odious Bill Clinton, and many others in kowtowing the new line.

And if that happens, it's OK. Submission has its temporary benefits. To paraphrase Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando, they like you, Eve. That's why they're going to kill you last.