Image: "So Sad" by Efemera Photography
In the authors note, Ensler states that she did not interview girls about their experiences like interviewed women for The Vagina Monologues, and most of these stories were pure fiction, or based around ideas that she has heard. While reading this book I began to see how much of an impact personal stories have verses imagined ones. This book does not contain many complete stories, rather it contains imagined glimpses of the lives of these girls, and although all of the situations are highly probably, there was nothing genuine about them. I did not feel like I was reading the thoughts of a young girl, I felt like I was reading the product of an authors mind at attempt to sound like one. Also Ensler liked to tried to throw in universal themes into these girls thoughts, which I don't believe would ever run through their head. A good example would be from "Moving Towards The Hoop"where a biracial athletic girl is in the middle of a basketball game. Her thoughts begin with things related to the game such as "Blind pass, She passes back, Crossover dribble, They are double-teaming me." which is exactly what I could imagine running through the head of a girl who is playing an intense game, but later her thoughts drift to obscure topics such as women being raped and people being enslaved. I'm sorry, but that would NEVER be going through someones head at that moment, so I view it a ridiculous attempt to tie in the cultural background that ancestors of this girl could have gone through, to who she is in the present. There were many other more believable ways a topic like this could have been presented, but instead Ensler decided randomly place those thoughts where they did not belong.
I did not enjoy any of the stories in this book, and I mean that literally. All of the stories seemed to either be about insecure American girls, or about child sex slaves and laborers in foreign countries. Both things I have no interest in reading about. The story "Let Me In" stood out to be because of how pathetic I found it. The main character is an average American girl attempting to fit in with the popular clique at her school. She allows these girls to dictate her life, her wardrobe choices, and who she is friends with. It is clear that these girls do not even like her, and are not really her friends, yet she allows them to control and manipulate her and her way of thinking. I am only 20 years old, literally a year ago I WAS a teenager, yet I myself haven't dealt with anything like this since the fifth grade. I just wanted to go into this story and yell at this girl to snap out of it and be herself. I am very aware that bullying exists at almost every age, and that not just girls, but people will do almost anything to fit in with others. I pity people who feel like this (not feel sympathy for, pity.) If I could overcome issues like this as a child, I see no reason why any teenager or adult should allow themselves to become victims of it. I also thought the ending of this story was a total cop out. Ensler had a real chance to redeem this entire character and story if the girl had defended herself to her "friends," but she didn't. Honestly I am really not sure what happened. Throughout the entire section the narrator had been having a mental conversation with herself , imagining what she wishes she could say to these girls. She finally reaches her breaking point when she realizes that no one had saved her a seat, it indicates that she does (or wants to) throw a tantrum. You have no idea if it is only in her head or if it is really said out loud, but according to the text she says (or thinks) "I can't do it Julie. I can't keep up. I will never be invited. I won't ever get a guy. My hair is stringy and ugly and my breasts don't exist. I am a piece of shit shit shit. Let me in. Let me in."
It then indicates that she collapses. I was so disappointed that she did not stand up for herself in this passage, rather she seems to have become hysterical and begs these girls to accept her. I can't see why these girls SHOULD accept her, when she doesn't even accept herself. After this, the narrator claims that she has woken up at her friend Wendy's house, and Wendy tells her that she is "lucky it has happened so young. She says she will be my friend if i can stop worrying about being popular." Supposedly Wendy used to be one of the popular girls and them left them because she thought they were superficial and shallow. I would have MUCH rather read wendy's story than the narrators. Wendy is the kind of girl who needed to be featured in a story like this to make it successful, not a girl who is weak minded. In the last sentence the narrator says "Wendy is by my bed." This line confuses me since before she said that she was in Wendy's bed, I don't know if this was just a continuity error on Ensler's part, or if the narrator has no idea what she is talking about. Either way, it does not hep my perception of her character.
I did not find any of these "emotional creatures" to be inspirational, and that has nothing to do with that fact that I am an adult. Whether I was reading his book at age 10, 15, or 20 my reaction would have been the same. At any age these girls would not have inspired me to be more confident in myself, or to defend what I believe in. I wish I could have liked this book more, I think it was a very good concept and that girls need book to encourage them. Unfortunately in my opinion, this book really failed at its intended purpose.
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