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Carla Lever
University
of South Africa (UNISA)
Abstract
This article addresses the contemporary
phenomenon of Eve Ensler’s The
Vagina Monologues. Whilst the play’s popular success is
beyond question, its philosophical successes warrant closer attention.
I examine the manner in which The
Vagina Monologues purports to speak for womanhood and assess
whether, given cultural and gendered variables, this is indeed
possible. I conclude that Ensler’s overt reliance on biological
femaleness and fixity of language results in a deeply exclusionary
work, and one that is, crucially, unaware of its own constructions.
Paradoxically, while seeking to address the marginalisation and
oppression the female body has experienced, Ensler’s appeal to a
physically universal womanhood ultimately re-inscribes these very
notions. As such, I critique Ensler’s implied insistence on a
normative body, one that functions, quite literally, to silence
any-body outside of her representational framework.
Keywords: Eve Ensler, The
Vagina Monologues, feminism, woman, language, performance, body,
criticism, theatre.
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