vagina

Eve Ensler (in Sisterhood Is Forever), creator of "The Vagina Monologues," says, "When I first began to perform these monologues, I realized that just saying the word 'vagina' caused enormous controversy, because vagina is in fact the most isolated, reviled word in the English language. The words anthrax or plutonium never caused anywhere near such a stir. The taboo on this word is no accident—for as long as we cannot say vagina, vaginas do not exist. They remain isolated and unprotected."