I picked up the book in a local bookstore before the media here started paying attention to
the play, which has recently opened in Brazil.
First of all, I was amused by the title. What would a vagina have to say? As a man, I could understand some female sensitivities,
since men are a minority in my family. The Brazilian edition of the book has a microphone placed in front of a female
pubis, and that surely looked funny to me.
I showed it to my wife, but she didn't have much of a positive reaction due to her conservative upbringing(she tries, though), but when I read her one of the
stories she was amused
A few weeks later "The Vagina Monologues"was all the rage here. The Brazilian version of the play(directed and adapted by
actor/director Miguel Falabella) opened in Rio de Janeiro, and suddenly everyone was
talking about it. Even Eve Ensler, the author of the play, gave an interview to a local newsmagazine
directed to the female public. One could not turn on the TV or open a newspaper without stumbling into a Vagina Monologues comment.
I havent (as of this writing) yet seen the play, but I found reading the book very enjoyable. It is a collection of very short stories
related to various vagina-related subjects, such as the discovery of pleasure, childbirth, and even rape. There are also a few
facts of the vagina world.
Personally, there are two favorite stories, in my opinion. The first is a married woman who dislikes having her pubic hairs
shaved - she feels like a child when it is done to her, and the story on rape; the metaphorical description is so clear that brings tears
to one's eyes.
As any other collection, there are also a bad moments - the introductiuon is sometimes annoying, for it reads like an outdated
sixties feminist chant - but, all in all, the play, as a reading piece, is utterly enjoyable.
Bottom line: A good piece for both women and men, regardless of sexual option
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