Submit Your Questions for Eve Ensler, Celebrating 10 Years of V-Day

Hi Tre,

Thanks for your comments. Your thoughts are very relevant and always welcome. I hope you will have some time to listen to the really wonderful and amazing dialog we had. ( http://www.blogher.com/podcast-bloghers-interview-... )

BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/maria-niles )
PopConsumer ( http://consumerpop.typepad.com/popconsumer )
Beyond Help ( http://mariax.vox.com/ )

hey to all.

i'm just finding this comment trail..whoosh. what a dialogue.

as i read the ?s and as i thought about what I watched last april and what denise's mom asked i wonder if Eve could turn the questions back to us....what are we each doing to stop violence against women? how are we each perpetuating the vagina monologues.

i need to write a blogpost on this and will....but my short response here is to address each and evey ounce of degradation toward manhood and womanhood you witness or experience. as best as you're able and hopefully without endangering anyone.

i have in the past week received several wraunchy group join requests on facebook. and in the past i delete the group and the person requesting it. today i took it a step further and emailed directly both senders and explained why the group request they posited (sex in the library) was offensive to men and women. i will save my enlightened rant for my blogpost....but so much potential good that social media tools have matters less to me than opposing outwardly and directly to what they both felt was a 'humorous' request. the ad group visual expressed negative images of men and women wearing next to nothing in an academic setting and truthfully was an insult to the pursuit of highereducation and the respect such endeavors deserve. 

my comments were brief. my point much greater--violence of any kind toward either gender is doing nothing but perpetuating animosity and fueling its more heinous expressions. So I continue to be in deep respect of the awareness raising the Vagina Monologues promote and I know I'll surely be seeking ways day in and day out for how to promote respect for all, dignity for all, embracing individuality of all and shutting down and out all anger and aggressive behaviors. Whether honking at someone in traffic or mentally sabotaging another silently, we each can sooo pause and just check ourselves more and more to be sure our actions are promoting that peace we seek....and moment to moment living.

Thanks Maria way overdue for your post and your interview....:)

Tre~

http://thoughtbythought.net

evolveserenity@gmail.com

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.

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 ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

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 ( http://consumerpop.typepad.com/popconsumer )
Beyond Help ( http://mariax.vox.com/ )

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

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 ( http://lauriewrites.typepad.com )

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

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

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 ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

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 ( http://5resolutions.blogspot.com )

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

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 ( http://www.megansminute.com )
Video Runway ( http://www.womenonwomenblog.com/megan/ )

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...

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 ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

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 ( http://www.thepaulagcompany.com ) or
popular blog www.coaching4lesbians.com ( http://www.coaching4lesbians.com ) .

Last night, as I was logging off for the evening, an email came in that basically said, "We have an interview with Eve Ensler..." and I just smiled for a minute and let the idea of Ensler talking to Maria on behalf of BlogHer wash over me. Awesome.

And then I started to type. A lot. Logistics and all that stuff. And in the back of my head I was thinking "so what would I ask Ensler... what would I ask her?" And there's the problem, I don't know.

I logged off and asked TW what she would ask Ensler. She smiled and then she was quiet and then she smiled again.

"You can't ask her questions, she's the kind of woman you take for coffee and just have a conversation with."

Exactly my problem. I don't have questions, I have this conversation in my head that's been going on between me and Ensler for 10 years. Also, I'm very sure I'd end up giving her my personal vagina interview, which she really doesn't need, she gets enough of those every day.

So, I picked up the phone and left a message on my mom's voice mail "If you could ask Ensler a question, what would it be?" TW was sure my mother would think it was just me asking some random question. I knew she'd understand that this wasn't hypothetical at all. And I knew she'd call me back with a question. She did.

It's been 10 years. 10 years of trying to end violence against women. How much longer is it going to take? Do you really believe there will be a time when we won't need a VDay or Vagina Warriors who are fighting every day to stop violence against women? Will we be here in 10 more years, with the same goal?

Also, she's wondering about Afghanistan.

In 2003, you said this is the most fragile time for Afghanistan ( http://www.vday.org/contents/vday/press/media/0305... ).... how do you feel about Afghanistan today, five years later?

While I was waiting for my mom to call me back, Michelle came downstairs and I stopped her and said, "If you could ask Eve Ensler a question, what would it be?" She didn't hesitate. She got a huge grin on her face and said...

What would your vagina wear?

Interesting because I have always found the question "What would your vagina say?" to be the most interesting. Ah the difference between the 18 year old who first saw the VMs when she was 14 and the 45 year old who first saw the VMs when she was 35...

This is long, and far exceeds my self-imposed 3 paragraphs for a reply rule... so I'll stop. I have more, but will blog the "more" and try and pull my own questions from whatever flows into that post.

I am looking forward to reading the questions from the community and thinking about them in comparison to mine and those of my mom and my family.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )

My family has questions for Eve. Several. So many that I think I need to write an entire post but then I run the risk of doing my own vagina monologue, which happens to Ensler every day.

I will be back when I have made it through my morning, but in the meantime I'll leave you with a photo of Michelle Belle wearing a VDay tshirt from 2005 (or was it 2004?) ... she was 14 or 15 when this was taken.

( http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamingohouse/1885577... )

Value Your Vaginas - Vote! Best VDay message ever.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )