Fr. Shanley OP Finds the Flaw

I have always had an aversion to the Vagina Monologues, as a morally flawed piece of writing, but could never seem to put into words exactly what it was that bothered me so much about the play.

I have finally found someone who has said what it was that I was trying to put into words.

Father Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of Providence College released a statement as to why The Vagina Monologues would not be shown on his campus. The paragraph below says what I have been trying to say for so very long.

First, far from celebrating the complexity and mystery of female sexuality, The Vagina Monologues simplifies and demystifies it by reducing it to the vagina. In contrast, Roman Catholic teaching sees female sexuality as ordered toward a loving giving of self to another in a union of body, mind, and soul that is ordered to the procreation of new life. The deeper complexity and mystery lies in the capacity of human sexuality, both male and female, to sacramentalize the love of God in marriage. Any depiction of female sexuality that neglects its unitive and procreative dimensions diminishes its complexity, its mystery, and its dignity. Moreover, to explore fully the dignity of woman requires not only a consideration of female sexuality, but also of the capacity of women for intellectual, artistic, moral, and spiritual activity; none of these dimensions are featured in The Vagina Monologues.


So, to all the people whom I have ever argued about the merits of the Vagina Monologues with over the past few years . . .

what he said!


Thanks to Curt Jester for the link.

Pax