Eve Ensler |
A theatrical production lauded by Oprah Winfrey and a long list of other celebrities is targeted in a new campaign called "Stop the Monologues," because it depicts questioning a 6-year-old about her sexuality and a drunken sexual assault on a teen girl.
Donna Miller of Americans for Truth said the radical feminist play, "The Vagina Monologues," was "celebrated" by Hollywood personalities in New Orleans over the weekend, and a roster of invited guests included names such as Ashley Judd, Jennifer Hudson, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Glenn Close and Faith Hill.
Oprah, who has advocated for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and promoted a New Age religion in recent weeks, too, was scheduled to appear but reports said she did not show up at the event to perform a monologue written for her by author Eve Ensler.
It is the play's explicit content that has raised new alarms, especially since the producers' website now invites high schools to present the production.
"I find it horrifying that an author would sexualize a 6-year-old girl – particularly when that same author has a record of writing favorable about adult/child sex, at least for lesbians," Miller said.
The production's theme "celebrates a lesbian rape-seduction, underage drinking, and a lesbian adult asking highly inappropriate sexual questions to [a] 6-year-old," she said.
Ensler, identified in some reports as a bisexual, made her project famous for its sexual references and explicit language. Americans for Truth said the project includes:
- On pages 103-104 of the 10th anniversary edition, Ensler asks a 6-year-old about her sexual identity, including such questions as, "If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear."
- On pages 80-82 of the "Monologues," a lesbian rape-seduction scene is featured in a story called, "The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could." In it, a 24-year-old woman seduces a 16-year-old. In some earlier versions, Americans for Truth said, the girl was described as 13.
- A scene about getting a child drunk on alcohol provided by an adult.
- On its website, it invites "members of any community or high school around the world" to work on the production.
"The purpose of these events is to raise awareness about violence against women and girls as well as raise money for local beneficiaries," the website continues.
Miller said it is hypocritical for the movement to oppose violence against women and girls, but still celebrate the portrayals.
Peter LaBarbera, also of Americans for Truth, said he is astonished Ensler and the vulgar play are being honored.
"Imagine if an adult homosexual man were to quiz a 6-year-old boy about his penis – or a straight man were to ask a little girl silly questions about her private parts – for use in play! Would such men be praised by the media and famous personalities?" he said.
Miller said she was appalled by the outrageous effort to glorify such "perversion."
She has multiple editions of the writings, has seen productions of them and has documented the changes.
She's also watched the growth in the interest in the production, capped by last weekend's celebration in New Orleans, and wants to change that.
"What we want to do is get people activated and fighting at the university level," she said.
"These [scenes] go way over the edge," she told WND.
"Essentially what we have here is a woman who testifies to abuse in her background … basically promoting the sexualization of children by adults," she said.
LaBarbera commented: "Beyond all this child stuff, it's amazing that they're talking about this play in high schools."
"That's what is constantly amazing about this agenda," he continued. "They just keep pushing the envelope wider and wider, almost like they get turned on by our shock and horror."
Finally, there's the irony that the project says it raises money to combat violence against women, he said, while portraying an assault on a child and the questioning of another child in terms more or less rated X.
"We want to know the details [of the project's depiction of the 6-year-old]," Miller said. "Who was the 6-year-old girl? Was it someone she knew? A relative? Friend? Did the girl's parents know the story here?"
She noted there are laws protecting children from sexual abuse.
"We will be fighting this on a year-round basis," Miller told WND.
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