So last week Eulalia and I went to see the performance of “The Good Body” by Eve Ensler (of The Vagina Monologues fame) – it was really fantastic. I recommend it for anyone who has a female body or knows someone who does. Nicely produced, very funny, thought-provoking and even disturbing, it was a great performance. It even briefly touched on some of the truth of being a guy who is quite fond of the female body (my favorite shape!) and sometimes compromised by this fact on numerous levels :-).
(Read no more if you want to form your own opinion of “The Good Body” first!)
My only complaint was that Ensler’s play did not really address the complexities of the issue. She makes the point (quite well in fact) that women are constantly forced (by society & themselves) into a kind of self-destructive relationship with their own bodies by having to be so preoccupied with their physical perfections and imperfections. But identifying this problem is pretty easy – the hard part is how to deal with it realistically – and by that I mean including the fact that we are all programmed to observe other bodies and I think women’s bodies in particular. In fact, it is one of my favorite things to do. So how do we all do it non-destructively? It isn’t going to go away.
Nonetheless this is a great performance, and I recommend it highly (Eulalia & I both liked it even more than The Vagina Monologues.)