Sex and Politics

Sigmund Freud poisoned the well of eros by saying that there were two types of female orgasm -- clitoral and vaginal -- and that clitoral orgasms (those induced by hand) were immature. Vaginal orgasms (those induced by the penis during intercourse) were somehow mature. Masters and Johnson corrected Freud, saying the clitoris was the trigger for orgasm, and that orgasms involved the whole body.

That insight produced a major sexual moment, when female genitalia were on everyone's lips. In 1971, feminist Alix Shulman told women to "think clitoris." In Remaking Love: the Feminization of Sex, Barbara Ehrenreich, Elizabeth Hess and Gloria Jacobs declared, "If the vagina was the stronghold of Freudian male dominated sexuality, the clitoris was the first beachhead of feminist sexuality."

Sex educator Betty Dodson urged women to become "cunt positive." In 1971, feminist Germaine Greer took it even further. "It is time to dig cunt, to establish a woman's vocabulary of cunt -- prideful, affectionate, accurate and bold." Throughout the 1990s, playwright Eve Ensler performed a one-woman show, The Vagina Monologues, entirely devoted to women's experience about their private parts. She interviewed hundreds of women, asking such questions as, "If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?" "If your vagina could talk, what would it say, in two words?" "What does a vagina smell like?" "What does your vagina remind you of?"

She cataloged the answers on cue cards and read them aloud to appreciative audiences. In 1997, she met a group of activists and concocted V-day (in which celebrities would read from the play to raise money for networks and groups fighting to stop violence against women and girls), which would become an annual event. Last year, there were some 3,000 performances of The Vagina Monologues. In 10 years, V-day events have raised $50 million. This April, the 10th anniversary of V-day will be held at the New Orleans Superdome. Salma Hayek, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Hudson, Glenn Close, Julia Stiles and Ashley Judd are just a few of the celebrities who will be celebrating the power of private parts to raise money. Tickets range from $25-$1,000.