Seeking a "Context" to Understand the Body: An Analysis of "The Vagina Monologues" as a Counterpublic Sphere

Authors

Amber Davisson, Western Illinois University

Abstract

"The Vagina Monologues," has impacted hundreds of audiences across the country and sparked an international movement. This article looks at the rhetorical conventions of the texts in order to understand its success and its relationship to the V-Day Movement. The main argument is that the play, in combination with the movement, has created what Fraser (1994) calls a counterpublic sphere; and, in doing so, has provoked a dialogue about the body that has been nurtured within the sphere of the movement and cross engaged the public sphere to give women a new language to "speak" the vagina.

Journal Title

Iowa Journal of Communication

Volume

38

Issue

1

First Page

127

Last Page

143

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Davisson, Amber (2006) "Seeking a "Context" to Understand the Body: An Analysis of "The Vagina Monologues" as a Counterpublic Sphere," Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 38: No. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol38/iss1/9

Copyright

©2006 Iowa Communication Association