Vagina Monologues

In February, I attended the "Vagina Monologues" at Luther College. Going into this performance I thought I would find very few connections to education, but in fact, I found one very important one.

Though I found each monologue intriguing, overall I was struck by one important thing: though this somewhat "taboo" topic had potential to be very awkward, it was not, because not only did the actresses acknowledge that they were blatantly discussing a "hushed" topic, but because they were so willing to do this.

Especially teaching in an upper-level English class, this lesson will be very important to me. Many works of great literature are based on "uncomfortable" themes, but are very important, nonetheless. As a teacher, I plan to have a lot of discussion in my classroom, and this experience helped me learn how to make uncomfortable and taboo topics open to discussion, so that all who hear them can gain knowledge and insight.