Massive Crowd Gathers For Reading Of Vagina Monologues At Michigan Capitol

[deminks]

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/18/501841/massive-crowd-gathers-for-reading-of-vagina-monologues-at-michigan-capitol/



After two female legislators were banned from the Michigan House floor last week after saying “vagina” during a debate about an anti-abortion measure, a massive crowd has gathered at the state capitol for a reading of “The Vagina Monologues.” There are an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.

[MichiganVote]

1. Very big news here on this. Thousands and thousands of supporters for the "V" word.

[Skittles]

3. thank you Michigan!

[Cerridwen]

2. Kick and Recommend. (just smilies below)

[demmiblue]

4. K&R

Wish I was there!

[Texasgal]

5. VAGINA!

VAGINA! VAGINA! VAGINA!!!!!!

[longship]

6. A confluence of forces make (hopefully) national news.

The war on women is real; it's very much alive; and it lives solely in the Republican Party.

The Obama campaign must be taking notice. I trust that this will be a prominent issue in the upcoming campaign.

[postulater]

7. Wisconsin supports vaginas!

We're all in!

[Cerridwen]

8. How many men fainted from hearing the word...

[center][font size="6"]VAGINA!!!![/font][/center]

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Something is seriously fucked up in this country.

We can get a turn out like this here, in Wisconsin, war protests etc. etc. yet we still "lose" to the fucking repigs.

[KurtNYC]

10. You know I ask my date if she would like to go to the Vagina Monologues...

she said: I don't like ventriloquists.

[Tennessee Gal]

19. LOL!!!

Good one!

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

11. MSNBC Ed Show - Ed said he will show it later in his show

[demgrrrll]

12. Good.

[RebelOne]

13. Joy Behar had these legislators on her show tonight. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Smelling salts and earplugs are being distributed to delicate Michigan legislators.

[LuckyLib]

15. K & R !!!

[wendylaroux]

16. This is so great!!!

Vagina

[Zorra]

17. knr

[WillyT]

18. HUGE V & R !!!

[Spazito]

20. Love it!

Awesome turnout, the reading was an excellent, creative and powerful idea as a response to the banning.

[earthside]

21. Of all the stupid political stunts, this one takes the cake.

Are Democrats purposefully trying to drive away middle Americans?

Is this really the image of the Democratic Party that wants a majority vote from every day working Americans trying to raise families?

It may be fun to hoot about this on DU, but I sure hope this stays out of the mainstream press where most voters still get most of their information.

We want voters to be identifying Democrats with 'vagina' instead of jobs and health care?

Because this is exactly the kind of fringe stunt that makes Repuglicans leap for joy.

Sheer idiocy.

[intheflow]

24. These *are* middle Americans.

Are they driving away themselves? No. They exercising their free speech, a right that was denied two state Congresswomen by male majority/opposition party members. For the record, that's denying a first Amendment right due to sexism, and possibly fascism (in the dictatorial form of the word.) Do you prefer the kind of publicity stunt the Michigan Republicans are conducting - denying their legislative colleagues their right to free speech? Criminy, it's not like she was screaming "Fire" in a crowded theater for kicks, she was yelling fire in an actual fire!

[FightForMichigan]

25. Women aren't "fringe"

and we also don't cotton to a war on our bodies and our health care. I was there today. People were there from infants to people in their 70s and older, women AND men, students and apparently affluent people. Not fringe.

[sufrommich]

29. Welcome to DU,FightForMichigan!

Great post.

[riderinthestorm]

26. Oh my god, you have absolutely NOT seen this play then. It really is about ALL women

It transcends the word "vagina" and takes on the global effort to diminish women.

Its a brilliant, hysterical, sad commentary on the state of affairs for 50% of the world's population and the PERFECT response to what happened to Lisa Brown....

The Dems should embrace this full-on. The Rethugs really do have a war on women and it's time to use every tool possible...

K&R

[MsLeopard]

27. +1000 nt

[suffragette]

28. This is about health care

and about elected representatives being able to address legislation restricting women's health care choices.

By silencing the representatives from speaking on the House floor in opposition of the bill, they prevented them from appropriately representing the people who elected them.

Taking the issue to the street and directly to the people, including their constituents, is a valid way of opposing what happened.

[BlueMTexpat]

30. Women (complete with vaginas) ARE

"every day working Americans trying to raise families" and many of them are having to do it alone, with less pay than their male counterparts for the same work.

Do you truly believe that women and their concerns are "fringe" and that this was a "stunt?" Wow. Just wow.

If so, then you fit right in with those Republicans who are making war on women. True, their association is not with "vagina" - the anatomically correct term - but with the four- or five-letter words with which they are more comfortable and which I, for one, find truly offensive.

[hamsterjill]

33. I disagree with your statement.

This all originated over a bill regarding a woman's right to choose.

The legal ability for any woman to choose is a very BIG part of why I am a Democrat - - - and I know other Democratic women who feel exactly the same way.

Oh, and guess what - we vote. We vote at the polls every single time there's something to vote on. We take our vaginas right down there, stand in line, and vote!

[patrice]

35. Isn't your position a false dichotomy? I know "focus" is useful but it isn't EVERYTHING.

We CAN do more than one thing at a time.

I clearly remember being quite disappointed, when I first started being interested in my local party, to discover that there was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much that I/we weren't "allowed" to say. I don't think I'm alone in that response to politics.

Everything DOES have at least something to do with everything else. Clarifying those connections is good for the people doing it and for the people who are the context for that effort.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

37. Yeah, getting a lot of people together to protest is ineffective

Didn't these people have somewhere better to be? Think of how much work wasn't getting done because they were there. Didn't they realize they would antagonize the middle class?

!!!! SARCASM !!! (in deference to Sheldon Cooper, who sometimes needs a sign...)

[Vidar]

22. K&R

[AtomicKitten]

23. vaaaaaagina

yeah

[valerief]

31. Fuck Mother's Day. It's time for an official Vagina Day!

[sonias]

32. That is beautiful!

Way to go Michigan vagina lovers!

[catbyte]

34. I wish I could have made it over to Lansing

from Grand Rapids. Oh well--keep fighting evil and oppression!

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Leo, Taz & Nigel, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"Dogs Aren’t Luggage--HISS!”

[jtuck004]

36. Plaster casts of 400. Maybe they could arrange a traveling exhibition...

http://www.greatwallofvagina.co.uk/home

[kath]

38. Wow, that's so cool! Thanks for posting the link

Also very informative - the "education" page highlights a pre- and post-pregnancy vulva, transgender vulvas, post-labioplasty ones, various medical conditions. Cool.

[drynberg]

39. GREAT REACTION OF MICH PEOPLE TO DIM WIT GOPERS IN HOUSE OF LANSING

I especially like that about 5,000 folks dropped everything and "smelled the muffin".