Seattle Times rejects "Vagina Monologues" ad because of artwork

The heart in the ad is too vagina-like for the daily newspaper. (Seattle Weekly)

Comments

[Cherie]

Seriously...a vagina..is just a part of the human anatomy...why are we, as a society, so freaked out by the human form?

[I Have A Vagina!]

" It's okay for a house of worship — I know it's hanging in many other synagogues and Jewish institutions."

Yes, but your Christian brothers and sisters though they believe they were made in the image of God, very much wish God hadn't included his/her "naughty bits". Because somehow when you're Christian, a natural allegedly God-given portion of your anatomy is somehow evil. I'm not sure which bible passage supports this bizarre belief, but there must be one. Right?

[fb]

This again? Will the prudes ever get a life?

[sometimesilie]

VAGINA!

[Ted]

A vagina is a hairy end of the gut, that's all.

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

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Seriously...a vagina..is just a part of the human anatomy...why are we, as a society, so freaked out by the human form?
-----

No its worse. It's a drawing that almost, but not quite, is kind of, an artistic rendering, that could be interpreted to represent the human form.

[Electric Mayhem]

Somebody was asleep in anatomy class.

[KC]

"...your Christian brothers and sisters..."

Let's not get into Christian-bashing or religion-bashing here.... I dare say there are plenty of Christian denominations or congregations that wouldn't have any more problem with it than this particular Jewish one, and also plenty of Jewish ones (for example, the more Orthodox varieties) that would have the same objections as the newspaper. As for other religions, I don't know, but I'd guess (for example) Islam would not look favorably on this kind of thing.

Yes, the vagina is part of the human form, but so is your asshole (which is actually "the hairy end of the gut," Ted, not the vagina). Would you take a crap in public, just because it's a natural bodily function, and claim that no one should object?

Laws against indecent exposure and so on may have their origins in religious strictures, but if that were the only reason for them, you'd think they'd have fallen away with the removal of religion from most aspects of public life. Laws against adultery and homosexuality, at least between consenting adults, pretty much *have* disappeared in this country, so you know that kind of change does occur. But we *do* still have laws against indecent exposure, which to me indicates that there's a component to them that goes beyond religion. Maybe it's about privacy or something, or it could be a holdover religious objection that just hasn't fully worn off yet.

I'm not saying this kind of image is the same as someone displaying an actual vagina in public, but where the line should be drawn is certainly not clear. What about an artistically done photograph? I respect the newspaper's decision to avoid offending their readership if that's what they think it would do.

[Phranqlin]

It's not as if it's an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog.

[UmberGryphon]

Apparently I'm the only one who wouldn't be comfortable with my 11-year-old son (if I had an 11-year-old son) seeing that artwork.

[Lylly]

I have a vagina...just sharing.
(No disrespect intended for any one trying to be serious.)

[slug]

Lylly,

Can we see it to compare it to the heart shaped one?

[Me]

Shhhh...don't anybody tell them about Joe Camel.

[arthurtwoshedsjackson]

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Apparently I'm the only one who wouldn't be comfortable with my 11-year-old son (if I had an 11-year-old son) seeing that artwork.
----

I think an 11 year old would have to have seen one before to be able to make it out in that artwork.

[sometimesilie]

Lylly, I am a fan, even though I don't have one myself. Keep up the good work.

:)

[LooseyGoosey]

Good grief. I wouldn't have a problem with a child of any age seeing that. Too young and they won't get that aspect, so what's the harm? A bit older? It might be funny. Older than that? Hopefully just adult and understanding about a piece of art.

Quick, someone spray paint over all those Georgia O'Keefe prints before some poor child gets drawn astray!!!

[Me]

sometimesilie, that spam filter is a drag, huh?

[sometimesilie]

I inadvertently hit the 'thumbs-up' button on my firefox bar. As I said, I got excited.

and LG, I think I'm going to try and find some of this Georgia O'Keefe you're talking about. What issue/month was she in?

[nellagain]

At a certain age, the image could be bone-crushingly embaressing. especially if you are with your trying-very-hard-to-be-hip parent.

Evokes, for me, RA Wilson and R Shea's discussion of the sacred heart image in "The Illuminatus". It was a little on the psychedelic side carrying on about red, wet, throbbing organ... made mass a little disturbing for a while.

[This post meets the USDA standard for MRROA ~ Minimum Required Reference to Original Article~as described in Publication 49-06D, Potrzebie]

[Cherie]

uhhhh Ted.....if you think that the vagina is the end of the gut...you might want to go back to high school and re-take Health and/or Anatomy...the colon is at the end of the gut...the vagina has nothing to do with the gut...., digestion, defication, etc.

[sometimesilie]

Nell: please stick to the topic: spiders crawling on my arm. What is to be done about them. Before I seriously freak out. Again.

Thank you.

[sometimesilie]

...make that spiders crawling on all our arms...

[Dave in Chicago]

I just wish the Seattle Times would stop beating around the... wait a minute.

[Yucca]

Okie Dokie boys. IF you have not read the Vagina Monologues then do it. Talk about new info. whew. I have a much greater apprciation for the plight of the vagina. I feel that men should read this book more than women. But I am a lesbian trapped in a mans body.
There's nothin' than coming up looking like a glazed doughnut. Num,num

Sorry...(no i'm not)

[KF]

Yes, this art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. They don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say, whereas without batting an eye, a man will refer to his dick, or his rod, or his Johnson.

[Yucca]

I don't think I maid myself clear. I simply love vaginas. The word vagina itself makes a little weak in the knees.

[BFT]

anyone remember the Everyone Loves Raymond episode where Marie takes up sculpting?

[Lambiepie]

without the title/play attached to the graphic, it's just a heart design and not terribly creative

[lawdog]

Everyone may love vaginas, however, they are not the most pleasant body part to view. I would much prefer to look at a this piece of artwork, or as LG previously stated, a Georgia O'Keefe (or in a pinch the flower in The Wall)

[Yucca]

I wrote "maid" instead of made. I crack me up.

[Wolf]

the plight of the vagina

Really...this sounds like a Disney movie, like "Flight of the Navigator."

"Plight of the Vagina," coming to Disney DVD and Blu Ray soon...

[Charles Brobst]

Looks like heart to me, just right for Valentine's day. Odd, I never connected hearts and vaginas before.
Let it run!

[Cherie]

BFT..yes, that was one of the funniest episodes.

[LOUIS SEBECKE]

OH C-MON..ITS JUST A WORD...AND A BEAUTIFUL ONE AT THAT...NOTIND DEGORATORY ABOUT IT...NOTING PERIOD..ITS NORMAL..
BUT THERE ARE STILL THESE MORONIC TYPES WHOM THINK THE WORD..VAGINIA IS DIRTY....ITS A NICE WORD..

[Lylly]

I tried to find Slug and Sometimesilie by their web address to show them but I couldn't find the right states.

[Lylly]

Yucca also cracks me up.

[WellThen]

So, the word "vagina" prominently on display in the ad doesn't bother the editors of the Times, but the vague, subject-to-interpretation heart graphic makes them blanche. Fascinating.

Also, I must respectfully disagree with lawdog on this one. I find the vagina a very pleasant part of the anatomy to view.

[sometimesilie]

Lylly, I'm here! I live in a good state! It's Pennsylvania, not Mississippi. We can even sell sex toys here. Don't forget about me!

[yucca]

Lylly
I'm in Idaho...

[KC]

Lawdog vs. WellThen on whether it's a "pleasant body part to view...." It depends on your perspective (or gender and/or sexual orientation). I am reminded of a song from Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Gondoliers," sung by the lovely Gianetta about the prospect of being separated from her beloved Marco for a time, part of which says:

Some kind of charm you seem to find
In womankind,
Some source of unexplained delight,
Unless you're jesting.
But what attracts you, I confess
I cannot guess;
To me a woman's face is quite
Uninteresting.

But I suppose even someone interested in experiencing a vagina in other ways might still not be particularly keen on *looking* at one.

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[Revitol]

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