It is called a VAGINA. VA-GI-NA.

By: phriendlyjaime
Published On: 2/8/2007 2:38:38 PM

UPDATE: Some people in Florida have shown some balls regarding the VAGINA controversy!!! Thanks to PM for the link.

"We got a complaint about this play The Vagina Monologues. I'm on the phone and asked 'What did you tell her?' She's like, 'I'm offended I had to answer the question,'" said Bryce Pfanenstiel, of the Atlantic Theater. "We decided we would just use child slang for it. That's how we decided on Hoohaa Monologues."

Two days later, The Hoohaa Monologues was restored to its original title -- The Vagina Monologues -- after the play's organizers demanded it be changed back.

The organizers are a group of Florida Coastal School of Law students who said the sign had to read the play's original title because they have rights to the well-known play only if they do not allow any censorship of its content.

"We are not allowed to censor anything because the whole play is about being a woman, about telling certain women's stories. Vagina is the essence of a woman, and if you're going to suppress the name, then you're suppressing us as women," said play organizer Elissa Saavedra.

I really hope the offended woman is ashamed of herself.  I also hope someone from the Daily Show goes out and interviews her so we can get a good look at America's most brilliant citizens.  And by brilliant, I mean bat shit crazy. 

In case you didn't see it, Keith Olbermann had this scandal on his worst people in the world list last night.  Pretty funny.

End Update

Before I became a political blogger and policy wonk, my interests were pretty much vested in theatre and music.  I went to college for musical theatre, and I have performed in numerous shows and theatre companies throughout the country.  After residing in Northern NJ and NYC for about a year after college graduation, I decided to make the move to Virginia and basically put my theatre career on the backburner to focus on "real life" for a while.  I have since decided to make theatre a fun hobby to participate in when and if I have the time; a decision I am totally comfortable and happy with.  I guess I no longer have stars in my eyes and dreams of my name in lights on Broadway, but that tends to happen when one realizes that a life spent waitressing, temping, and auditioning each and every day may very well take you nowhere.  So, why end up hating the craft because you can't make a living doing it?  I definitely took the road MOST traveled, and again; I am happy with my decision.

The first show I did in Richmond was a production of the Vagina Monologues at the Firehouse Theatre on Broad Street.  The work was unpaid, but that was fine with me, considering the proceeds went to help fund the VDay Project, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.  If you have not yet seen the Vagina Monologues, I highly suggest attending a performance.  The show is entertaining and educational, and all performance proceeds go to charity.  The production I was in helped provide additional funds to the Richmond Women's Shelter.  In fact, the Firehouse Theatre presents the show every year, so if you get a chance and are in Richmond next February, check it out!

However, if you happen to be in Florida, you will have to see the show with a new title.  Apparently, some Floridians were so insulted by the medical term used to describe a woman's most popular private part, they decided to change the name used in the title of the play.  A woman was "offended" when she drove by the theatre and had to explain to her niece (yes, a FEMALE) what a vagina was. 
I'm not kidding you.  A WOMAN was OFFENDED that she had to explain to a YOUNGER WOMAN what was in her own underwear.

THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the theatre, to "avoid controversy", has come up with a new title, which is in no way offensive at all. 

::snark and sarcasm galore coming up::

The theatre has renamed the title of the show "The Hoohaa Monologues".

The HOOHAAA Monologues.

My own body part has become a comical little joke in the state of Florida because a woman didn't want to explain to another woman what her private parts are called.  You know, you really can't make this shit up, folks.  This is one of those times I sincerely wish that this was a joke, but sadly, it isn't.

No vaginas please, we're Floridian
Thursday, February 8, 2007

What a load of hoohaaA theatre in Florida has had to change the title of a charity production of The Vagina Monologues on its marquee, after a woman complained that it was offensive.

The new name? They've decided on 'The Hoohaa Monologues'.

Atlantic Theatres in Atlantic Beach, Florida, received a complaint from a woman who'd seen the advertised title as she drove past with her niece. She said that it had made her niece ask her what a vagina was.

The theatre's Bryce Pfanenstiel commented: 'I'm on the phone and asked "What did you tell her?" She's like, "I'm offended I had to answer the question."'

So the theatre, anxious to avoid controversy, decided that the childish slang word 'hoohaa' was the most appropriate thing to replace 'vagina'.

Some have welcomed the change to 'The Hoohaa Monologues', while others have expressed some confusion. 'It sounds like a country band,' one passer by commented to local TV station WJXT.

The production was being staged by a group of law students, with all proceeds going to charity. The director of the play has asked that the title be changed back.

The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler's award-winning international hit play, is an attempt to celebrate the vagina as an object of empowerment, rather than of shame. There's some way to go with that one, clearly.

So there we have it, everyone.  Women, please stop referring to your vagina as a vagina, because someone might hear you and take offense at having to admit to herself that she has....GULP...
A VAGINA!!!!!
x-posted at West of shockoe, a blog run by a woman who has a vagina and is not afraid to admit it

Comments



One of the funnier posts I've read here recently... (cycle12 - 2/8/2007 4:22:25 PM)
And I learned a new "word":  hoohaa!

Well done, lady!

Thanks!

Steve



Also, you may remember that Eve Ensler... (cycle12 - 2/8/2007 4:28:19 PM)
...joined Jane Fonda and other celebrities at the recent peace rally in Washington, D. C.

Thanks again!

Steve



No problem. (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 4:52:20 PM)
It's funny, yes, but also pretty sad imo.  If a girl can read the word vagina, she should know what it is.


Well until very recently the Washington Post once would not print the "P" word (PM - 2/8/2007 5:05:54 PM)

Equally silly.

And by P word I'm referring to the thinking part of a younger male's anatomy.  (Eventually, the neuro system develops in the head.)



Still laughing, PM (Dianne - 2/10/2007 7:17:39 AM)
Love the last paragragh!!!!


What does she do (Chris Guy - 2/8/2007 5:34:27 PM)
when her daughter sees Florida on a map of the U.S.?....."OMG, America has a penis!"


Right. (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 5:46:25 PM)
This stupid woman is one of those "It is NOT MY JOB to teach my children or family about sex ed-it is too embarassing!"

Um, they came OUT OF YOUR VAGINA, lady.  get a grip.



Cue Helen Lovejoy from 'The Simpsons': (Chris Guy - 2/8/2007 7:22:35 PM)


In the eternal words of Nelson Muntz (pitin - 2/9/2007 8:58:44 AM)


I will never be able to look at a U.S. map the same way again! (PM - 2/8/2007 5:47:39 PM)
LOL

hahahahaha

Now I'm going to dream about the Great Lakes tonight



No one should be afraid of using the V word (Hugo Estrada - 2/8/2007 6:37:03 PM)
;)


For some reason... (doctormatt06 - 2/8/2007 7:03:21 PM)
That reminds me of Al Pacino in 'Scent of a Woman' when he goes...HOOOWAHHH!!!


LOL (Chris Guy - 2/8/2007 7:09:28 PM)
that's funny


Great Post, Jamie. (Eric - 2/8/2007 7:12:20 PM)
What total absurdity.

But please don't post to the front page - I hate to think what people would say about this post if we had to include a photo as we do with other front posts... 

;-)



HA! (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 7:40:04 PM)
That's why I didn't.  I figured "let people rec it and talk...but don't let the V word be shown too publicly..."

;)



You mean like this? (Lowell - 2/8/2007 11:05:14 PM)


NOOOOOO! MY EYES!!! (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 11:12:28 PM)
Lowell, I am offended.  I demand you put up a picture that isn't so...factual, and...REALISTIC.

;)



Thanks a lot Lowell (Chris Guy - 2/8/2007 11:15:46 PM)
Now I'm gonna have to throw my computer out. You've tarnished my virgin monitor.


body builder (Not Robert Roberts - 2/8/2007 11:25:58 PM)
that kinda looks like someone standing up and flexing their biceps.... anyone else see that or am I just crazy.


That explains the cramping! (Andrea Chamblee - 2/8/2007 11:35:14 PM)
and the extra 10 lbs is just the weights...


Calling Dr. Rorschach! (Lowell - 2/9/2007 7:50:05 AM)
Or should I call Dr. Freud on this one?  Ha.


PLEASE (CommonSense - 2/9/2007 8:51:23 PM)
For God's sake go back to Georgia O'Keeffe!!!
At least they require a LITTLE imagination and we can all pretend they are flowers...


I called someone a 'dick' online (Mark - 2/8/2007 7:32:18 PM)
and I thought I would never hear the end of it. (Yes, they were puritan wingnuts) Of course, 'dick' is slang, but so is 'hoohah'.

Really, are we mature as a society yet? Probably not from what I have seen this past week.

The wingnuts would be aghast if I called them what I was thinking of originally.



From the Nat'l Gallery of Art website this nice picture from Georgia O'Keefe (PM - 2/8/2007 8:54:56 PM)
would've made a nice picture for the article.  Or quite a few of her other works also.  a0000196


I love that piece. (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 9:38:06 PM)
I'm adding it to WOS, thanks!  :)


Ok...... (CommonSense - 2/8/2007 9:08:06 PM)
I was fine until I scrolled down and hit the Georgia O'Keefe........
Thank God I had put the coffee down.


My Laugh for the Day (AnonymousIsAWoman - 2/8/2007 11:02:39 PM)
Thanks Jaimie.  I needed that.

And for added perspective and irony (God, I'm becoming a fan of irony), Rudy Giuliani's former wife, Donna Hanover, who is an actress, also played in the Vagina Monologues in New York City.



That's it, he's out. Toast. Done. Insert Fork. (phriendlyjaime - 2/8/2007 11:05:11 PM)
yada yada yada.  ;)


The HooHaa State (Andrea Chamblee - 2/8/2007 11:04:39 PM)
I have the Georgia O'Keeffe in my living room.  It's huge and looming over me as I type...
I propose this picture, with or without the O'Keeffe:


Speaking of Bob Marshall . . . (PM - 2/8/2007 11:51:15 PM)
hey, you're the one who raised his image -----

from tomorrow's Post:

Part of this year's discussions have centered on a decision by Gene R. Nichol, president of the College of William and Mary, to remove a cross from the school's historic Wren Chapel.

Last fall, Nichol ordered that the 100-year-old cross be removed to make the chapel more inviting to non-Christians. The decision, which made national news, outraged many alumni and social conservatives who said the cross symbolized the school chapel's Anglican heritage.

To put pressure on Nichol, Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) sponsored an amendment to the budget to strip him of about half of his $331,000 annual salary if the cross is not returned to the chapel by summer.

"This is not intimidating. Only Dracula would shrink from it. We need to have it put back," Marshall said of the cross, which has been on display at the chapel since the 1930s.

But Democrats joined a dozen Republicans in rejecting the amendment, arguing that the General Assembly should not micromanage decisions made by the state's colleges and universities. The House then approved a budget amendment requiring the William and Mary Board of Visitors establish a task force to study the issue.

The school sent out a statement Thursday saying the Board of Visitors has begun exploring whether the cross should be put back.

http://www.washingto...

He is tiresome.



Seems to me (pitin - 2/9/2007 9:01:03 AM)
that Florida has a bit of "Electile dysfunction"!


Another potential picture (Andrea Chamblee - 2/8/2007 11:25:28 PM)
Found this surfing...


Bwaaaahhhhaaaaahhhaaaaahhhhaaaa! (Catzmaw - 2/9/2007 12:54:58 PM)


Remember the two wombed woman with triplets? (PM - 2/9/2007 12:03:59 AM)
http://www.howstuffw...

The BBC reported on this back in December.



Update: Vagina back on marquee (PM - 2/9/2007 9:28:51 AM)
http://www.news4jax....


What's on YOUR Google search engine? (Andrea Chamblee - 2/9/2007 10:09:49 AM)
PM, You are suspiciously very good at keeping up with this story.
;-)


I just like them -- don't know why (PM - 2/9/2007 2:33:40 PM)
I was going to see the sequel, The Clitoris Monologues, but I could never find it.


Gee (Kathy Gerber - 2/9/2007 5:36:37 PM)


Funniest post of the week. Month. (Andrea Chamblee - 2/10/2007 8:58:45 PM)
Year?


Last word? (Andrea Chamblee - 2/13/2007 12:27:01 AM)
My sister got my nephew a magnet of the statue of David, that comes with various clothes to put on him (Elvis, cowboy, bathing trunks). You may have seen the same thing with Venus de Milo and a cowgirl outfit and a prom dress.  Anyway, the teenager in the family sees it and is horrified with embarrassment at the nudity. My nephew then age 6 sees it and states David needs pants and proceeds to put pants on him. The 3 year old girl points her finger and asks, "What's THAT?"

Coming from the health care field, I took a deep breath and get ready with the long medical explanation. Thinking twice, I said, "that's what boys have."

"Oh," she said, now bored, and walked away.

All that Florida woman had to say to a toddler age girl is, "that's what girls have." You only have to add more if they ask.