question #5

Audience reaction is a major part of The Vagina Monologues, given her style of writing and topic choice.  I think that this is so crucial in this book, as well as any other piece of literature with the purpose of raising awareness, because, in order to raise somebody's awareness and truly get their attention, you must expose them to something that they are not used to seeing in a certain light.  I think she is successful in doing this, and, won't allow the reader to read the book without having a reaction to it simply because it is so easy to get a reaction from a topic that is so concealed in today's society.  Also, I think that to have any effect in society, this book must manufacture a strong reaction to have any success whatsoever.  I think that Ensler intentionally pushes the readers out of their comfort zones for the same reason.  For this book to be as gripping and raw as it is, it must be displayed in a way that is unfamiliar to its' readers.  This forces the reader to remember much more about the topic than would anything ever read in any health class or textbook, about the same topic.  Personally the monologue that resonated the most strongly with me was the one with the girl who had no vagina.  Her father took had a sort of awkward reaction, and told her that they would fix it, and that she would have a great vagina.  I think that this resonated the most strongly with me because it is a real scenario that could happen to any father, or mother, and I would not know how to handle, or perhaps even talk to my daughter about it.  I think that this monologue probably hit the closest to home for most male readers, because it is the only one, in my opinion that males can even slightly relate to. Having said that, the fact that this book was as gripping and informative as it was truly proves all of the questions asked of this post, and that Ensler's style really does have a strong affect on the reader.