There are now two threads on this topic. What I find sadly missing in both of them is an objection to the Monologues based not on what they contain (“pure filth,” as many wrote) but on what they lack; namely, an adequate recognition of and reverence for the beauty, mystery and sacredness of the female body.
I was at a talk once given by Christopher West. After his lecture, a young mother stood up and proceeded to regale us with a 10 minute account of all the ways that she fights impurity in our consumer culture. Her current target was the magazines in supermarkets, and she proudly explained how she had convinced various store managers to stop displaying tabloids and soft porn magazines on those shelves that were at the eye level of her children. She encouraged all of us to boycott stores that would not halt such displays, and waxed eloquent about the “disgusting, perverted trash” her children were constantly exposed to.
She did not get the applause I think she expected from West. “Why aren’t you focusing on the beauty and the dignity of the human body?” he asked her. "The problem with porn is not that it shows too much, but that it shows too little. Your children will be exposed to pictures, concepts and “art” that degrades the human body all of their lives. Instead of focusing your energy on attacking those abberations, focus on showing them why they are inadequate. Help your kids recognize the marvelous mystery of the human form, and the great responsibility and reverence it calls forth. Teach your kids to see the covers of such magazines and think “that is a lovely daughter of God, who has tragically degraded herself and is being degraded.”
Unlike perhaps many on this thread, I’ve read excerpts from the Monologues themselves. It is easy to call them trash, and that assesment is not wrong, but it’s inadequate. The supposed victories that the featured women attest to are hallow and forced. Their epiphanies about sexuality are pathetic. Reading them, it angered me to know that Monologue audiences, especially young girls, are essentially being forced to settle for a mediocre and superficial view of sexuality, while being promised so much more.
Fine, let’s fight to keep the Monologues off Catholic campuses. But are we fighting just as hard to see that the good news, the real, thrilling, true story about the beauty of sexuality is being taught? Rather than boycott Monologue events, we ought to be inviting speakers such as West, Janet Smith, Alice von Hildebrandt, etc. as “follow ups” or alternatives to the play.
The Monologues raise real, hard questions and don’t give any real, hard answers. The Catholic Church has all the wisdom, depth and truth to address the issues raised by the Monologues. I don’t mean to say the Monologues don’t claim to give answers, or that they don’t have an agenda which goes far beyond “raising questions.” But let’s not forget to give TRUE answers while attacking the ways uncomfortable questions are brought to us.
That is not converting them it is justifying the depravity.God Bless
