The Dramatization of the Female Body: Discourses of Resistance and Power in of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues

Abstract

Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues (TVM) is an atypical play that centers on the most intimate part of the female anatomy: her vagina. This paper analyzes the double play of “jouissance” as the site of pleasure and resistance through the body and words. As a hearing and sharing of women’s experiences with one another, Ensler’s play delineates a new aesthetic grounded in the performance of individual and collective stories through the mediation of their voices/bodies. This paper analyzes the dramatization of the female body as site of resistance and power.