woman shy, woman worthy, woman safe

i am currently reading Eve Ensler's Insecure At Last, a memoir of her journeys into the lives of men and women at home and abroad who have lost all security by way of rape, abuse, war-torn lives and families lost. No security, but peace and forgiveness and survival that leaves one wondering what security really is. I was looking for Ensler's Vagina Monolgues as i am helping coordinate a local presentation of the same, and i found this gem of a book instead. She refers often to her interviews with the women for the VMs and it's been pertinent to my clinic this week as i saw several women from faraway lands and different customs. I found myself answering questions for one shy woman for, well, the big night. I think the need to know and love our bodies is universal and her smile told me that what i was saying was okay. I'm not sure that talking about vaginas is the answer to preventing abuse, but the community that is built with people gathering to open up about once taboo topics is part of the answer. I am grateful that women trust me with their questions. I feel honored to offer some answers to the mysteries of our bodies, but mostly i am humbled that she asks, and in our talking together about such intimate things, her worth as a woman is validated.