Vagina's and Penis's Cum together!!!

I enjoyed all 3 readings, especially the monologues done by Stephen Peace. It always interests me to hear what how guys feel and what they have to say about vaginas. When its spoken about playfully and in a slangish way its not as embarrassing but if you would ask either man or woman about it in a serious conversation, everyone is suddenly shy and not as responsive. What was really funny was when he talks about men grabbing their "things" in the street because I always notice when guys do that and sometimes they dont even try to hide it. It always happens the same way, they walk down the street and look straight ahead as to not cause any attention to their "thing", then they either move it around or scratch it. Guys are just animals. Im just writing about and it and still cant even write the word penis without having to refer to it as "thing". In my house vagina was called popola and penis was bing bing and in most families I bet they had their own set of nicknames just as I and Ensler did. The text related in one way for certain and that was the uncomfortableness of saying vagina and penis. People feel more comfortable saying excuse my language "Pussy" and "Dick", its so weird but as you can see from Diderot's monologue which was written in the 18th century all the way to Ensler's monologue that speaking of the vagina is just uncomfortable. The text also relate when speaking about woman not knowing as much about vaginas as men, both Ensler and Peace say the same thing. That just goes to show how much its not spoken about. I feel that they do invite the same type of readers because although people dont want to say the words aloud they are definitely thinking about it and interested in seeing what other people think about it.

I believe that both texts are written for the entertaining purpose as well as to evoke response since people are usually unwilling to discuss the topics raised in the readings. Due to resemblance of the main idea I would assume that "Vagina Monologue" and "Penis Monologue" invite the same "type of reader" and almost any type of reader since the topics discussed concern pretty much any of us.
Worth mentioning that "Vagina Monologue" is easier perceived rather that "Penis Monologue" due to a pinch of aggressiveness involved in the former. However such difference is not accidental. Women are tend to be less hostile than men in real life, therefore such dissimilarity is sensed in both texts.
I think these readings could be found entertaining in earlier centuries, because of the issues discussed during those times, maybe just not as openly as now. For example, in "The Indiscreet Jewels" Denis Diderot writes about the same topic as Eve Ensler did. It just Diderot uses more flowery terms to express himself. Taking all said above into consideration, these two texts could be universal since they are both pretty simple and evoke people to discuss about the things they are interested in, but still ashamed to talk about.

Let's Talk About What We're Not Supposed to Really Talk About...

Though both these texts talk about Vaginas and Penises, they approach the subject matter in totally different ways. In the Vagina Monologues, Ensler is trying to empower the female by saying it’s okay to be proud of your Vagina. It’s not something that has to be discussed behind closed doors and it’s okay to talk about your Vagina and what you do with it. I can see why the monologues would not be accepted in certain places and cultures because even in this day and age, women are taught to be proper and “quiet” in some cultures.
In Diderot’s Indiscreet Jewels, I think it sends a different message. Alcina lies to the emir about having an affair with his squire and the emir finds out the truth from Alcina’s “Jewel.” It’s amusing because this was written such a long time ago and Diderot did not use the word Vagina and I can assume it was not proper to blurt out such a word in those days. I think this story teaches you not to be so open about your Jewels and that you should be embarrassed at the mention of it.
In both of these writings the Vagina speaks. In the Monologues, Ensler talks about what the Vagina might say if it were to speak to you and Diderot uses the woman’s Jewel to tell the truth of Alcina’s behavior. I find both the Monologues and Indiscreet Jewels very amusing and I think both these writings reflect the times that they were written . Diderot writes a more discreet and censored story while Ensler’s Monologues are very blatant and does not use words such as “Jewels.” I think Ensler would cringe at Diderot’s mention of a woman’s jewels while Diderot may not be able to sit through the Vagina Monologues.

It's time for women (and men) to be open about sex more !

I think both Ensler's Vagina Monologues and Diderot's Indiscreet Jewels are written as entertainment and satire to correct social ills. They entertain the readers with an unexpected topic of talking vagina but something everyone want to know. Also, both readings criticize the unopened society to talking about women’s sex activities or their genitals. Although men must have wanted to know what women think about their sex activities and genitals, I cannot doubt there must have been men’s pressure on women being chaste. The Vagina Monologues are written to break the restriction of men and to free women to talk about the genitals. I believe the Vagina Monologues has given a lot of chances to women to talk about it. On the other hand, the Indiscreet Jewels describes the men’s contradiction toward women’s openness toward their sex issues and shows the reality of their sex activities, but I think Diderot did not try to change this situation eagerly because even if women’s jewels talk about their adventures, women themselves do not and will not feel comfortable to talk about it. In other words, women are still under control of men about the topic. This is also the influence of the author’s gender as a man. In terms of correcting social ills, however, Diderot also tried to criticize the ruined society reigned by the King of France at that time, Louis XV. As the sultan, Mongogul, in the Indiscreet Jewels is only interested in “jewels’ amorous adventures,” Louis XV had a few interest in government and were devoted to his lovers, Madame de Pompadour and the Comtesse du Barry. Eventually, his failures of ruling the country contributed to lead the French Revolution. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/louis_xv.shtml)

I think the Indiscreet Jewels are more acceptable to other countries and cultures than the Vagina Monologues. The Indiscreet Jewels is written as novel and uses metaphor to describe women’s genitals, so it is much easier for the readers to read it, especially in public. By contrast, although the Vagina Monologues is written as monologue and is not played by a man and a woman in the play to describe a sex activity, it must be hard for some of the countries and cultures to accept the word, vagina. But in respect of usefulness, the Vagina Monologues is more useful to the contemporary world. As a lot of American women have been influenced by it and have become much more open to sex conversation and have gained pride of having the vagina, the Vagina Monologues has great potential to change the view of women in other countries and cultures toward their genitals.

when was the last time you said Vagina!!

The two texts are similar in the sense they both discuss the same topic, however, from totally different perspectives. Both share the belief that there is so much that goes inside a woman’s mind , which she tend to keep to herself or learns to avoid.
The indiscreet Jewels , by Denis Diderot ,addresses a general audience who is looking for entertainment ,whereas, Excerpt Ensler's Vagina Monologue, by Eve Ensler, is more informative , seems to be addressing it to avant-garde women . She uses a lot of satire as means to correct social ills.
Denis doesn’t include his opinion in his writing as much as Eve does. Being women, Eve seems to be more comfortable talking about the subject especially that she’s more in tune to it than Denis is.
When it comes to spreading awareness ,Eve does a better job advising women in her own way to step up and take a stand , whereas Denis ends his story by the husband leaving the room the moment he hear his wife’s jewels speak. .

Both Vagina Monologues by Ensler and Indiscreet Jewels by Diderot address the same theme of exposing female genitalia. However, the fact that they were written two centuries apart significantly impacts the style and the language of the texts. Furthermore, the gender of the writers comes into play as well.
Vagina Monologues is written as a play performed by one actor. It is considered controversial even for the twentieth century. The author emphasizes that little education is given to the girls about their bodies either in school or by their mothers. Eve Ensler points out that people have “popular belief that men … knew more about women’s bodies than women did”. By these monologues she is trying to educate public about existing female problems in our society. She stresses that the reason girls are “unprotected against the shaming words and dirty jokes of the school yard” is because people feel very uncomfortable talking about the subject. By speaking openly about vagina Ensler invites others to follow her and not to be ashamed of talking to others about it. Vagina Monologues target a wide range of audience, male and female, teens and grown-ups.
Unlike Vagina Monologues, Indiscreet Jewels is written by a man in a form of a novel. Moreover, it was published anonymously which reinforces the shameful matter of the subject in the 18th century. In his novel Diderot expressed the desire of every man to know about women’s “amorous adventures past and present”. And he gives the answer to that too: “this has never been and never shall be”. The novel is written mostly for entertainment of men, backing up their beliefs of female indecent behaviors and lies. You can feel men’s point of view even in the words of the Alcina’s vagina itself.
Both Diderot and Ensler use talking vagina as their main theme. However, while Diderot’s “jewel” only talks about its “adventures”, Ensler shows much more angles to the story, such as sex, relationships, and violence against women. The use of language differs greatly as well. Ensler is more straightforward in her piece using such words as “vagina’, “clitoris”, and vagina’s expressions like “slow down – stay home”, “yum, yum – let’s play”, etc. Diderot, on the other hand, uses “jewels” and “amorous adventures” instead of “vagina” and “sex”, and expressions like “precautions taken to receive a husband” or “preparations”. I think, Diderot’s language is more universal and can be accepted in different centuries and countries, whereas Ensler’s Monologues is limited to a specific culture at a specific period of time. Even though it raised a lot of eyebrows even in democratic America, it was still accepted. However, I can’t imagine the reaction at the time it would produce in other countries, such as post-Soviet Union, for example.

P.S. Penis Monologues is a mere response from men to Vagina Monologues, which only emphasizes the importance of the latter. Stephen Peace criticizes Ensler saying that "if we talk about something then we demystify it". The piece is written in an ironic tone, and even though it raises a question about circumcision, it doesn't have the same effect as the Vagina's Monologues.

The Big Taboo

The Vagina and Penis monologues serve the same purpose of drawing attention to the fact that both genders are uncomfortable speaking about their own genitalia. The Vagina Monologues point seems to find excuses why the parents did not teach girls about their organs. On the other hand, the Penis Monologues were quite hilarious and was for humor more than resentment. The female version expressed anger that the girl was teased by others and had no idea what the other children were saying about her. The male version agrees with the female version as it is stated that “We hear penis or dick a lot more than we hear vagina.” I think that both monologues invite the same type of reader even though the tone of each story is completely different. In reference to style, the female version uses more technical vocabulary for describing genitals. The male version just outright says it repeatedly and uses an array of puns to add to the comedy. The gender affects the type of work because women tend to be more secretive about their privates than men. Men constantly talk about their penis and are more open than women. I think that the female text would be useful in an older time period so it encourages mothers to teach their daughters about their body. The male version would be more acceptable in modern times for a younger audience because the jokes use modern slang, such as “head”, to convey certain points.