My Granny

by: Jasmine Morrow

This past week, my granny passed away. This entire week has been extremely difficult for me, but I am trying to find ways to remember the great things about her life and how she has impacted mine. When I was younger I was the ultimate “tom boy”. I wanted to do everything the boys did. I wanted to play football, skateboard, climb trees, play video games, everything. I can remember one time I was sitting, slouched over, legs open and my granny hollered at me. She told me that I was a young lady and ladies don’t sit and act like little boys. I remember crying to my mom and my granny told me that I would thank her later.

Well that later has come. I am still a “tom boy” at heart, but I have learned throughout my life what my granny was really trying to tell me. She was born during a time where people of color were not allowed to do much of anything. She grew up in the country of Georgia. She has seen Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. She was able to grow up in a time when she was able to see real change taking place. She wanted me to understand that as a Black woman in this country we at one point were the lowest of the low. She wanted me to understand just how much oppression Black women have endured so that in my lifetime I could continue to make a change.

My granny is the reason why I am the feminist I am today. That is why the monologue about the woman who had a good experience with a man reminds me so much of her. When I was reading that monologue, Because He Liked to Look at It, I was instantly touched. This woman did not truly understand her worth as a woman. She did not see her true beauty within herself. Although I am sad it took a man to be able to open her eyes, I am happy she was finally able to see. My granny wanted me to always understand that I was beautiful and strong. She wanted me to understand to that I could do anything because I was a woman.

Our Bodies Ourselves

By: Yussett Navarrete
In the vagina monologues they have what they call, “vagina fact.” I was reading them and I came across the topic of genital mutilation. According to these vagina facts genital mutilation is when a girl gets her clitoris cut or removed then gets part or all of her labia sewn together.  It also says, “Genital mutilation has been inflicted on 80 to 100 million girls and young women.”  I was in total shock of the amount of girls and young women that are forced to undergo this procedure. Reading this made me think of labiaplasty. According to the book,Our bodies, ourselves labiaplasty is a surgery that some women undergo in which, their inner vaginal lips are cut and shortened to make them smaller or more symmetrical. In Our bodies, ourselves they also mention that some men are pressuring their female partners to have surgery so they more closely resemble the women in pornographic movies. This made me realize that the media has a lot to do with what we think of our body images. Every single part of our body no matter how hidden it may be can’t escape the criticism of society. According to www.ourbodiesourselves.org  “Every part of the female body is picked apart and scrutinized, with most articles telling us outright which products we should buy to fix--or at least camouflage--our numerous "flaws."” Women are pressured into looking like the supermodels in the magazines, the women in pornographic movies, and the women we see on television etc. Reality is that those women we see in the magazines or on television don’t really look like that in real life. They use photoshop to make them look skinnier with a smaller chin, no blemishes, longer legs, nicer lips, young, etc. Many are airbrushed and have had plastic surgery. In the article provided by www.Ourbodiesourselves.org they say, “Real women with pubic hair and breasts that aren’t perfect round orbs begin to seem unnatural compared to the altered images we see in the media.” This proves that we are brainwashed by the media to believe that to be beautiful you need to look like the supermodel in a magazine when in reality that supermodel doesn’t even look like that herself. Many women that are in the pornographic business have undergone labiaplasty to make themselves look more appealing and beautiful to the viewer. Then the viewer perceives this image of how a woman’s vulva “should” look like to be sexy and attractive. I believe that this is a trend that will always continue but, we need to learn to appreciate and love every part of our body just the way it is because no one is the same. We are each one of a kind.

I Call it CUNT

By: Krista Ahlgrim

I am rejecting the negative connotations you have put on it and reclaiming it for the sexual, powerful, vital, word that it is. CUNT. It is beautiful really. I don't know why in hell anyone would use it in a negative manner. Everyone likes them. Boys are fascinated by them, men cant get enough of them, women spend a good amount of time with it. I like to call it "me" time. Cunt Time. Personal time with me, myself, and my cunt.

When I hear the word thrown around in such a horrible way I always think to myself,

has a cunt really ever done anything bad?

What did a cunt ever do to you besides give you extreme pleasure, warmth, electricity through your entire body, love, tingling sensations..... hmmm now I am confused.

Maybe your missing the cunt?

Not getting the cunt?

Jealous of the cunt?

Abusing the cunt?

Hiding from the cunt? (you scared, scared thing)

Go ahead, call me a cunt. I like the word.

C U N T

cunt.

Found this video of this monologue and I fell in love with her. Enjoy Friends

Vaginas

by: Tri Nguyen

It is very interesting the way a vagina is described as another living person that is part of the woman. It explains why her vagina is angry from the many situations that it is put through such as tampons, doctor exams, and even sex. The vagina has its own personality and thoughts, “It wants kindness. It wants change. It wants silence and freedom and gentle kisses and warm liquids and deep touch” (Ensler, p. 73). She is very blunt in the way she explains how her “vagina” feels because these are all very emotional feelings that a person would have instead of a vagina.

I can definitely see how an angry and emotional vagina could affect a woman very much. A woman’s vagina goes through many situations on a daily basis and it should be known that it “wants” many things. There are also many factors involved with the vagina that could either stimulate better sex or make it worse, according to an article in the Daily Pennsylvanian,  “Members of the audience were surprised to hear that the average length of foreplay in the United States is only about thirty seconds, while the average length of intercourse can be anywhere between two to seven minutes” (Nandhakumar, p.1). In the Vagina Monologues, it explains that you need to work with vaginas correctly and prepare it the right way and that foreplay is what it is all about.