Eve Ensler wrote the global theater phenomenon Vagina Monologues after interviewing more than 200 women about their bodies. Its success propelled her to found V-Day, a worldwide movement to end violence against women and girls.
Why you should listen to her:
Inspired by a few intimate conversations with friends about -- gasp! -- their vaginas, Eve Ensler created the Obie Award-winning solo piece Vagina Monologues. In this convention-breaking play, she recounts tender, funny, gripping and horrifying stories women have told her about their bodies, their sexual experiences, and yes, their hoo-haas. Since its first staging in 1996 in New York, the play has been translated into more than 45 languages, and performed in more than 120 countries.
Vagina Monologues' success helped Ensler to create V-Day, a movement to stop violence against women and girls, which has so far raised (and donated) more than $60 million for campaigns that raise awareness and take direct action toward preventing violence and protecting abused women (by building safe houses, for example). Ensler has also drawn praise for The Good Body, a play that cuts to women's obsession with their appearance, and her book Insecure at Last, a scathing look at the measures being taken in the name of safety.
"Eve is bringing women back, she's giving us our souls back."Glenn Close
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Security and insecurity: Eve Ensler on TED.com – September 18, 2008
Playwright Eve Ensler, the founder of V-Day, explores our modern craving for security -- and why it makes us less secure. Listen for inspiring, heartbreaking stories of women making change -- and the growth of a powerful new class of warrior. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 13:45.)
Watch Eve Ensler's 2005 talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of almost 300 TEDTalks -- including more talks about women.
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