Appreciation For The Vagina

Women's vaginas want to be heard, acknowledged and respected.  It seems that in the man's world, it is harder for vaginas to be understood.  Men in general don't separate the vagina from the one.  If a woman is attractive, they presume that's what counts.  They will look at all her body and how they can use it to please themselves and not necessarily how they can please the women in her most private and intimate part.  Most men get on with the pleasurable part of sex, without looking at the vagina.  Going back to the witch's trial back in 1593, the married lawyer investigating the case, "discovered a clitoris for the first time; identified it as a devil's teat, sure proof of the witch's guilt."(31) It is astonishing that he has not looked closely at his wife, and if he had, would he also label her as a witch?  While interviewing women between the age group of 65 and 75, Eve Ensler realized that with regards to vaginas not much has changed since the 1550's for these women.  She concludes that "..most women in this age group had very little conscious relationship to their vaginas."(23) This is why, it is important for women to speak more about their vaginas, to say the word out loud, although vagina "never sounds like a word you want to say. It's totally ridiculous, completely unsexy word."(5) During sex it is not mentioned, but other words like "cunt" and "pussy" are acceptable and there mention sometimes arouses men.  This is perhaps that these words invoke sex and are a bit derogatory, and in a bizarre way they put back the women in a place where she is looked at solely for sexual pleasure.  This relates to the women whose husband wanted her to shave her vagina hair.  She didn't like doing it because it made her feel like a little girl and yet the husband insisted on it.  He had "screwed around" because he was looking at the vagina just to satisfy his needs and not admiring it for what it was or for whom it belonged to.  Eventually, when the wife agreed to have him shave the hair, he did it in a very inconsiderate manner, and did not notice that he made her bleed and feel uncomfortable.  It also did not stop him from cheating on her.  Most women are uncomfortable talking about vaginas, so men are not made aware that they need to be sensitive in attacking this issue.  "Andy drove me home and he never said another word and when I got out and closed his car door, I closed the whole store. Locked it. Never opened for business again."(28) Women need to overcome their issues and concerns about the vagina, and must not think that because it is hidden inside their bodies, it should remain hidden.  The more the vagina is discussed out in the open, society will find "alternatives to the old patriarchal dualism of feminine/masculine, body/mind, and sexual/spiritual that is rooted in the division of our physical selves into the 'the part we talk about' and the 'part we don't'."(Xvi)