I am very encouraged that there are many on campus willing to have an open discussion on the issues raised by "The Vagina Monologues."

Sexual violence and female empowerment are important topics in our time that do not often receive the attention they deserve.

Yet I am surprised that after carefully reading the script, Smith, Tadelski, Morey, Rumple and DuMontier ("'Vagina Monologues' insults women's dignity") came away with the idea that the play was degrading and un-Christian. If anything.

"The Vagina Monologues" is a highly moral piece of art on women's conflicted views of their bodies.

It is true that many of the horrible experiences of the women in the play were at the hands of a male abuser, but never once does the play say that all men are evil, all men rape or that the world would be better off without men. In fact, in a powerful segment, the play asserts the opposite.

A woman speaks of how she was raised to think her genitals were ugly. With the help of a loving boyfriend, he helps her see that every part of her God created is beautiful.

To quote directly from the script, the character says, "I began to see myself the way he saw me. I began to feel beautiful…"

But this play is obviously not only about fulfilling relationships, it's also about abuse. Rape is a vile, disgusting act.

One in six women and one in 33 men are victims of sexual assault. Thousands go unreported. The only vulgarity is that rape happens. To be "modest" or to limit the discussion of rape to only therapeutic settings is to send the message that victims have something to be ashamed of, and therefore to keep silent.

Demanding someone to censure herself on her experience for the sake of others robs victims of the dignity they have fought for after being raped. This issue needs uncensored, public voice so that everyone knows rape is never, ever okay and that it is not the fault of the victim.

This play is only a small part of a much larger issue. We live in a confusing time. In the media, we are bombarded with images of highly sexual female bodies. We have radio hosts reducing great female athletes to "nappy-headed hos." Never do we see those women as fully human.

They are objects valued for nothing but their vaginas. In the play, the vagina is a symbol of women's sexuality. It is a source of immense pleasure and terrible pain, yet the dialogues themselves are constructed in such a way to show there are deeply complex humans attached to the vagina and that they cannot be reduced to the crude words constantly used against them.

I agree that Marquette needs to offer more opportunities to explore these issues. I disagree that "The Vagina Monologues" is un-Christian. This play is a celebration of the God-given gifts of our bodies; something to be cherished, something to be protected, something that no one should ever be ashamed of.

Chapman is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.