Secrets, Vaginas, Killbot

So, my secret journal has been found. For a moment tonight, that knowledge freaked me out...until I realized that the whole reason for this blog's being secret was to test myself and whether I could sustain some mildly intelligent writing in an area where it wouldn't be buoyed or "spun" by the comments of others. And dammit, I think I can. So to you (and you know who you are) I'm flattered that you found me. Prop up your feet, drop a post or two, stay awhile. And feel free to come back!

My long discussion with Sara today re: The Vagina Monologues has got me thinking about womens' issues and racial rights in a steamed-up, all-of-a-passion way I haven't manifested in awhile. That extrospection is kind of nice and probably pretty important, so I'm going to post the letter here that I wrote to this year's Vagina director---a student who has decided to cast only women of color in the production.

Lauren ——— ,

As a white woman who tries very hard to take a diverse and sensitive world view, and truly believes that all women share a common bond, whether the media wants us to think that way or not, I find myself in a very awkward position with The Vagina Monologues this year. I will not be attending the play, but not because I disagree with you personally or the message you are trying to send by staging an all-women-of-color production. I could not agree more that minority women have been under-represented or completely absent from Vagina's stage for far too long.

Your race-based directive decision has forced me to look back at the play I’ve attended in the past—a play whose stage was graced mainly by white women, telling white women’s stories—and reject it as much too limited, disgracefully weighted toward the Caucasian viewpoint. I could never again attend in good conscience such a performance.

Unfortunately, that same decision has also left me unable to attend in good conscience this year. You’ve eliminated my voice in order to strengthen the voice of others, and I can't support such an action. I would not have felt "tokenized" by a switching of roles—traditionally white monologues given to women of color, and the often negative roles traditionally acted by minorities narrated by white women—in fact, I would’ve found such a move perhaps even more socially thought-provoking than the route you’ve chosen to take. But to eliminate the white voice—my voice—completely, in a play your own actions have helped me hold to a higher standard, a standard that truly includes all women, is disrespectful, dismissive, and causes divisions in a group where the existing divisions should be healed, not widened.

Women need to forge and strengthen a universal connection to all women, not just the ones in similar pigeon-holes. I’m sorry I cannot support your production, because I do support the idea that minority women should—and very much need—to be heard. But I exist. And this production, in order to make a point, has erased me.

Respectfully,
Rebecca Adams