After today's discourse on speaking genitals, I could not help but wonder what would encourage producers to include talking vaginas in their work. What is this really saying about sex and gender? Who are we to determine what a vagina or penis would say if they could speak?
This all goes back to idea of performativity. We may have a designated sex, but how we act upon the given sex is up to the individual. Even though there is a gender hierarchical structure set in place even before we are born, there is still the possibility of acting upon our desires regardless of what has been destined. Who is to say that we must follow in others footsteps?
Perhaps having talking vaginas on prime-time television may not be the best way to perform gender and sex, but it's a start. Whether they are commenting on sexuality or race (i.e. Summer's Eve's commercial targeting women of color), the fact that these ideas are penetrating societal communications says a great deal. Awareness is key in order to understand one's sexuality. Maybe talking vagina's will one day lead to a gender-less vocabulary. Who knows?
However, with such awareness and commentary, audiences are certainly questioning what defines their sexuality. The Summer's Eve's commercial may not have been the most effective way to translate gender onto television but it definitely spurred some commotion among the media industry. As long as there is an outlet to transfer messages of sexuality, we continue to improve and move towards a more accepting culture.
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