BlogHer - V-Day - Comments

Wish you were there

Nordette — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:31:16 -0500

Thank you for the comments, Virginia and Maria. It was an experience I'll cherish.

You did a great job with your Eve Ensler interview, Maria. I enjoyed listening to the podcast, which I did before I went to the V-Day celebration.

Nordette Adams is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.org.

Fantastic Nordette!

Maria Niles — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:28:29 -0500

I so wish I could have traveled to New Orleans for this event but your reporting has helped me feel a little of the power of Superlove. I'm so glad you were able to share with us. Thank you!

Beyond Help

Again, thanks

Virginia DeBolt — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:44:25 -0500

wonderful event, wonderful post. Thanks for making me feel like I was there.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

tribute to: Eve Ensler, pioneer

a little bird told me — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:28:19 -0500

Even Ensler is a modern day hero... When I was at the University of Michigan I headed the executive board producing the Vagina Monologues. The amount of people this play- and movement - allowed us to help was astounding. Astounding, and absolutely inspiring.

I have two questions:

one: where do you see the Vagina Monologues 5 years from now? 10 years from now?

two: when the show was over, i felt this sense of panic... what do i do now??

my question is, how do we take the values and principals learned through VM and apply them to our daily lives? what role can political activism play in the day to day existence of "normal" people? in a nutshell, what can we do to perpetuate this movement?

thanks for opening this up to us, and allowing us to ask some personal questions! look forward to watching the interview.

peace,
robin.

P>S>

Mata H — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:23:07 -0500

Two aded things I should have said earlier:

1. I am delighted, Maria, that you are doing the interview -- I think you have so much to bring to that process!

2. In addition to the questions we all have, I'd like to say the following to Ms Ensler -- "Thank You!" (Then, if she is open to being huggable, I'd hug her.)

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs relentlessly at Time's Fool

Thanks and keep the questions coming!

Maria Niles — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:38:13 -0500

Thank you everyone for these amazing questions. Your interest and passion for these issues is palpable.

I feel fortunate and am looking forward to asking all your questions.

PopConsumer
Beyond Help

question for ms. ensler

litchic — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:25:48 -0500

i met eve ensler at an awards ceremony in d.c., she was incredible and so gracious (in spite of my star-struck geekiness). what i would have asked...if i had been able to formulate a sentence...is the following:

the thing i admire most about the vagina monologues is the way the play turned into a social movement. at what point did you know you were going to start vday? can you talk a bit about the early days of the movement? do you have any tips for grassroots activists interested in working on this issue?

thanks so much!

ellie
the katie girl project

“ladies, i’m having an epiphany! the world is made up of two kinds of girls, the simple girls and the katie girls, i’m a katie girl!”

https://litchic.wordpress.com

Question for Eve from a traveler

lauriewrites — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:23:29 -0500

Hi Maria -

What a wonderful opportunity!

My sister is a Women's Studies master's student who wrote her undergraduate thesis on the Vagina Monologues, so this topic is near to my heart for a variety of reasons. She in fact just received one of the first existing publisher's copies as a Christmas gift.

My question comes from my current perspective as an American traveling in Southeast Asia, where as a citizen of one of the wealthiest countries in the world, where I have freedom both personal and economic, I'm seeing things that are completely and literally foreign to my experience.

Problems both global and personal can seem so daunting that it makes any individual effort we could make to help seem futile. What is the most useful thing that I can do or action that I can take to help women in dangerous and oppressive situations around the world?

Laurie
LaurieWrites

I have to ask just one

Dana J. Tuszke — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:44:20 -0500

I have to ask just one question:

We live in a society where women and girls put so much stock in how they look and how much they weigh and whether or not they have the "perfect body". What advice do you have for overcoming the negative body image that so many women (me included) seem to have?

Dana Tuszke
http://thedanafiles.com

Question from my own very specific perspective

Elisa Camahort — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:51:30 -0500

I have always felt that most race-, gender- and class-based violence and oppression has as its root an ability the oppressor has to separate themselves from the oppressed. To believe that somehow that person is not the same as them. Inherently not as entitled as them. To be so inhumane, one must see their victim as less human.

I have also thought that we get trained in this kind of disassociation or separation from a very young age by how most societies treat animals. Some are pets, some food...even though they have essentially the same level of sentience. Some are simply more worthy of humane treatment than others. It seems quite arbitrary to children at first.

The stats on cruelty to animals being both a precursor and an accompaniment to cruelty to humans...and the incidences of cruelty to animals being part of how abused women and children are terrorized...further solidifies my belief that violence is violence, and that there is a connection.

So, my question to Eve is: Is she or has she ever considered becoming a vegetarian as a way of supporting her global dedication to non-violence?

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.org

my question

Mata H — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:49:44 -0500

What is the trend wiith FGM (female Genital Mutilation)? Has there been any real progress?

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs relentlessly at Time's Fool

Questions for Eve

5resolutions — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:11:39 -0500

Can't wait to see the interview!

Here are my questions:
As an advocate for girls, I have been particularly alarmed at the number of teen girls who are being emotionally and/or physically abused in their relationships. What advice would you offer to parents and other adults to help them recognize the signs of dating violence and intervene when girls need help? Are there specific resources you would recommend? Can you point to some examples of teen dating violence prevention programs that are making a positive impact?

Claire Mysko
5 Resolutions to Transform the Fashion and Beauty Industries

Author of the forthcoming Girls Inc. Presents: You're Amazing! A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self

A Question Related To Health

Megan Smith — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:09:47 -0500

My question involves health in relation to women's bodies.

Laura Bush just returned from a trip to Mexico where she was bringing attention to a joint initiative to fight breast cancer in Mexico. Evidently 95% of breast cancer cases in Mexico are diagnosed when they are in the advanced stages of the disease. Part of the reason according to several Mexican breast cancer survivors, was because Mexican women feel touching their breasts (in order to do self-examination) is wrong and somehow dirty. Either that or they are so afraid of finding something, they won't do self-exams.

My question is, what more can be done to encourage women in other cultures to teach the next generation that there's nothing wrong with their bodies, they should embrace the real names for their body parts, and an untreated case of cancer is more dangerous than a woman becoming more comfortable with her own nakedness?

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Actually, I have 10

alyssaroyse — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:38:40 -0500

Here's an unreasonable request, but i wouldn't be me if i didn't ask. :)

I'd love to do the JUST CAUSE 10 Questions with her. Would credit you and BlogHer, happily, gladly and gleefully! (She'd be in good company, Isabel Allende among others.)

In fact, happy to credit and cross post anyone you all find interesting..... let me know.

Here is a quick primer on our 10 Questions for the BlogHer community. http://www.blogher.com/just-10-questions-about-all-kinds-justice

Here are the JUST CAUSE 10 questions:

1. How does your career relate to your core “values” in how you approach life and what you want to share with others?

2. When you look at the impact your career has had on people around you, what makes you the most proud?

3. Was there a “defining moment” when you knew that this was what you wanted to focus your professional energy on?

4. In your personal life, what is the “cause” to which you dedicate the most time / energy / money? (eg., breast cancer, early childhood education, autism research, domestic violence?)

5. Why? Has it touched your life somehow?

6. What do you do – personally or professionally – to support that cause?

7. What do you wish people understood about your cause?

8. If you had a magic wand, what would you do? (Eliminate corn syrup? Make everyone feel sexy in their own skin? Officially declare chocolate to be a health food? )

9. What organizations support your cause that we should all know about? (Foundations, non-profit organizations etc…..)

10. Can you think of an example of a really innovative approach to solving this problem – either one that someone else did or that you would like to see someone do?

ANY OTHER PERSONAL STATEMENT YOU WANT TO ADD IN?

And really, I'd love to do the 10 questions with the BlogHer founders, and put them on our site and in the magazine. And if any of you are inspired by anyone out there and what they've done to make the world a better place, let me know, I'll interview them!

(PS, i met Eve years ago when we were both being interviewed on the Oxygen network. we talked in the green room, she was there for V monologues, and i was there for a non-profit that i started. She was great, indeed an imposing and inspiring figure.)
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

Question for Eve

paulag01 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:50:04 -0500

I just recently finished reading "Insecure at Last" and have to say it was one of the most spot on and disturbing (because its accurate, go figure) look at what security really means at home and around the world.

I would ask Even -- What have you seen change (better or worse) since the time you wrote the book a few years ago and now? How do you see the current views peppering the Presidential Race in the US as they relate to this issue?

What has been your experience - and what have you seen in terms of a shift in consciousness as a result of all the "V" work you have done?

Looking forward to the interview!! Thanks for all your courage and willingness to speak your truth!

Warmly
_Paula

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

Paula is the author of the 12 Part "Comfortable in Your Own Skin" eCourse
which you can sign up for free at her website www.thepaulagcompany.com or
popular blog www.coaching4lesbians.com .