0:00:01.388,0:00:02.976 I bet you're worried. 0:00:03.000,0:00:04.976 (Laughter) 0:00:05.000,0:00:06.274 I was worried. 0:00:07.157,0:00:08.829 That's why I began this piece. 0:00:08.853,0:00:11.841 I was worried about vaginas. 0:00:12.765,0:00:14.976 I was worried what we think about vaginas 0:00:15.000,0:00:18.242 and even more worried[br]that we don't think about them. 0:00:18.654,0:00:20.829 I was worried about my own vagina. 0:00:20.853,0:00:25.285 It needed a context, a culture,[br]a community of other vaginas. 0:00:26.015,0:00:29.720 There is so much darkness[br]and secrecy surrounding them. 0:00:29.744,0:00:34.392 Like the Bermuda Triangle,[br]nobody ever reports back from there. 0:00:34.416,0:00:35.518 (Laughter) 0:00:35.542,0:00:39.335 In the first place, it's not so easy[br]to even find your vagina. 0:00:39.660,0:00:42.668 Women go days, weeks, months,[br]without looking at it. 0:00:43.136,0:00:45.461 I interviewed a high-powered[br]businesswoman; 0:00:45.485,0:00:47.977 she told me she didn't have time. 0:00:48.001,0:00:50.855 "Looking at your vagina,"[br]she said, "is a full day's work." 0:00:50.879,0:00:51.976 (Laughter) 0:00:52.000,0:00:55.096 "You've got to get down there[br]on your back, in front of a mirror, 0:00:55.120,0:00:56.419 full-length preferred. 0:00:56.443,0:00:59.545 You've got to get in the perfect position[br]with the perfect light, 0:00:59.569,0:01:01.976 which then becomes shadowed[br]by the angle you're at. 0:01:02.000,0:01:05.211 You're twisting your head up,[br]arching your back, it's exhausting." 0:01:05.235,0:01:07.354 She was busy; she didn't have time. 0:01:07.878,0:01:10.703 So I decided to talk to women[br]about their vaginas. 0:01:11.068,0:01:14.036 They began as casual vagina interviews, 0:01:14.060,0:01:16.740 and they turned into vagina monologues. 0:01:16.764,0:01:18.984 I talked with over 200 women. 0:01:19.008,0:01:21.409 I talked to older women, younger women, 0:01:21.433,0:01:24.139 married women, lesbians, single women. 0:01:24.163,0:01:28.976 I talked to corporate professionals,[br]college professors, actors, sex workers. 0:01:29.000,0:01:32.507 I talked to African-American women,[br]Asian-American women, 0:01:32.531,0:01:36.389 Native-American women,[br]Caucasian women, Jewish women. 0:01:36.762,0:01:41.592 OK, at first women were a little shy,[br]a little reluctant to talk. 0:01:42.052,0:01:44.724 Once they got going,[br]you couldn't stop them. 0:01:45.192,0:01:48.458 Women love to talk[br]about their vaginas, they do. 0:01:49.121,0:01:51.560 Mainly because no one's ever[br]asked them before. 0:01:51.584,0:01:52.654 (Laughter) 0:01:52.678,0:01:57.585 Let's just start with the word[br]"vagina" -- vagina, vagina. 0:01:58.000,0:02:00.195 It sounds like an infection, at best. 0:02:00.880,0:02:02.576 Maybe a medical instrument. 0:02:02.600,0:02:04.360 "Hurry, nurse, bring the vagina!" 0:02:04.384,0:02:05.445 (Laughter) 0:02:05.469,0:02:07.040 Vagina, vagina, vagina. 0:02:07.064,0:02:09.603 It doesn't matter how many times[br]you say the word, 0:02:09.627,0:02:11.976 it never sounds like a word[br]you want to say. 0:02:12.307,0:02:16.482 It's a completely ridiculous,[br]totally un-sexy word. 0:02:17.000,0:02:20.071 If you use it during sex,[br]trying to be politically correct, 0:02:20.095,0:02:23.306 "Darling, would you stroke my vagina," 0:02:23.330,0:02:25.423 you kill the act right there. 0:02:25.447,0:02:27.117 (Laughter) 0:02:27.141,0:02:30.439 I'm worried what we call them[br]and don't call them. 0:02:30.817,0:02:33.551 In Great Neck, New York,[br]they call it a Pussycat. 0:02:33.575,0:02:35.976 A woman told me there[br]her mother used to tell her, 0:02:36.000,0:02:38.408 "Don't wear panties, dear,[br]underneath your pajamas. 0:02:38.432,0:02:40.218 You need to air out your Pussycat." 0:02:40.242,0:02:43.976 (Laughter) 0:02:44.000,0:02:46.690 In Westchester, they call it a Pooki, 0:02:46.714,0:02:48.514 in New Jersey, a twat. 0:02:48.878,0:02:53.188 There's Powderbox, derriere,[br]a Pooky, a Poochi, a Poopi, 0:02:53.212,0:02:57.687 a Poopelu, a Pooninana,[br]a Padepachetchki, a Pal, and a Piche. 0:02:57.711,0:02:59.163 (Laughter) 0:02:59.187,0:03:04.587 There's Toadie, Dee Dee, Nishi,[br]Dignity, Coochi Snorcher, 0:03:04.611,0:03:09.457 Cooter, Labbe, Gladys Seagelman, VA, 0:03:09.481,0:03:13.976 Wee wee, Horsespot, Nappy Dugout, 0:03:14.000,0:03:20.206 Mongo, Ghoulie, Powderbox,[br]a Mimi in Miami, 0:03:20.230,0:03:22.337 a Split Knish in Philadelphia ... 0:03:22.361,0:03:23.448 (Laughter) 0:03:23.472,0:03:25.358 and a Schmende in the Bronx. 0:03:25.382,0:03:26.574 (Laughter) 0:03:26.598,0:03:28.547 I am worried about vaginas. 0:03:29.638,0:03:31.848 This is how the "Vagina[br]Monologues" begins. 0:03:32.444,0:03:35.050 But it really didn't begin there. 0:03:35.074,0:03:38.398 It began with a conversation with a woman. 0:03:38.723,0:03:41.212 We were having a conversation[br]about menopause, 0:03:41.236,0:03:43.267 and we got onto the subject of her vagina, 0:03:43.291,0:03:45.640 which you'll do if you're[br]talking about menopause. 0:03:45.664,0:03:48.602 And she said things that really[br]shocked me about her vagina -- 0:03:48.626,0:03:50.745 that it was dried-up[br]and finished and dead -- 0:03:50.769,0:03:52.022 and I was kind of shocked. 0:03:52.046,0:03:53.720 So I said to a friend casually, 0:03:53.744,0:03:55.798 "Well, what do you think[br]about your vagina?" 0:03:55.822,0:03:57.840 And that woman said[br]something more amazing, 0:03:57.864,0:04:00.298 and then the next woman said[br]something more amazing, 0:04:00.322,0:04:02.566 and before I knew it,[br]every woman was telling me 0:04:02.590,0:04:04.667 I had to talk to somebody[br]about their vagina 0:04:04.691,0:04:06.318 because they had an amazing story, 0:04:06.342,0:04:08.225 and I was sucked down the vagina trail. 0:04:08.249,0:04:09.559 (Laughter) 0:04:09.583,0:04:12.016 And I really haven't gotten off of it. 0:04:12.040,0:04:14.148 I think if you had told me[br]when I was younger 0:04:14.172,0:04:16.560 that I was going to grow up,[br]and be in shoe stores, 0:04:16.584,0:04:19.450 and people would scream out,[br]"There she is, the Vagina Lady!" 0:04:19.474,0:04:22.111 I don't know that that would have[br]been my life ambition. 0:04:22.135,0:04:23.138 (Laughter) 0:04:23.162,0:04:25.409 But I want to talk a little bit[br]about happiness, 0:04:25.433,0:04:27.786 and the relationship[br]to this whole vagina journey, 0:04:27.810,0:04:29.890 because it has been[br]an extraordinary journey 0:04:29.914,0:04:31.606 that began eight years ago. 0:04:31.630,0:04:33.896 I think before I did[br]the "Vagina Monologues," 0:04:33.920,0:04:36.724 I didn't really believe in happiness. 0:04:36.748,0:04:39.774 I thought that only idiots[br]were happy, to be honest. 0:04:39.798,0:04:43.592 I remember when I started[br]practicing Buddhism 14 years ago, 0:04:43.616,0:04:46.819 and I was told that the end[br]of this practice was to be happy, 0:04:46.843,0:04:50.191 I said, "How could you be happy[br]and live in this world of suffering 0:04:50.215,0:04:52.027 and live in this world of pain?" 0:04:52.051,0:04:55.976 I mistook happiness[br]for a lot of other things, 0:04:56.000,0:04:59.278 like numbness or decadence or selfishness. 0:04:59.723,0:05:02.690 And what happened through the course[br]of the "Vagina Monologues" 0:05:02.714,0:05:05.251 and this journey is,[br]I think I have come to understand 0:05:05.275,0:05:07.514 a little bit more about happiness. 0:05:07.538,0:05:09.976 There are three qualities[br]I want to talk about. 0:05:10.000,0:05:13.913 One is seeing what's[br]right in front of you, 0:05:13.937,0:05:16.395 and talking about it, and stating it. 0:05:16.419,0:05:18.976 I think what I learned[br]from talking about the vagina 0:05:19.000,0:05:22.143 and speaking about the vagina,[br]is it was the most obvious thing -- 0:05:22.167,0:05:25.406 it was right in the center of my body[br]and the center of the world -- 0:05:25.430,0:05:28.206 and yet it was the one thing[br]nobody talked about. 0:05:28.230,0:05:32.483 The second thing is that what talking[br]about the vagina did 0:05:32.507,0:05:35.418 is it opened this door[br]which allowed me to see 0:05:35.442,0:05:38.463 that there was a way to serve[br]the world to make it better. 0:05:38.487,0:05:41.976 And that's where the deepest happiness[br]has actually come from. 0:05:42.000,0:05:45.707 And the third principle of happiness,[br]which I've realized recently: 0:05:45.731,0:05:49.976 Eight years ago, this momentum[br]and this energy, this "V-wave" started -- 0:05:50.000,0:05:53.230 and I can only describe it[br]as a "V-wave" because, to be honest, 0:05:53.254,0:05:56.976 I really don't understand it completely;[br]I feel at the service of it. 0:05:57.000,0:05:59.976 But this wave started,[br]and if I question the wave, 0:06:00.000,0:06:03.438 or try to stop the wave[br]or look back at the wave, 0:06:03.462,0:06:05.976 I often have the experience of whiplash 0:06:06.000,0:06:08.252 or the potential of my neck breaking. 0:06:08.276,0:06:09.626 But if I go with the wave, 0:06:09.650,0:06:12.044 and I trust the wave[br]and I move with the wave, 0:06:12.068,0:06:16.575 I go to the next place, and it happens[br]logically and organically and truthfully. 0:06:16.599,0:06:22.301 And I started this piece, particularly[br]with stories and narratives, 0:06:22.325,0:06:25.159 and I was talking to one woman[br]and that led to another woman 0:06:25.183,0:06:27.001 and that led to another woman. 0:06:27.025,0:06:28.870 And then I wrote those stories down, 0:06:28.894,0:06:31.096 and I put them out[br]in front of other people. 0:06:31.120,0:06:33.692 And every single time[br]I did the show at the beginning, 0:06:33.716,0:06:36.394 women would literally[br]line up after the show, 0:06:36.418,0:06:38.653 because they wanted[br]to tell me their stories. 0:06:38.677,0:06:41.987 And at first I thought, "Oh great,[br]I'll hear about wonderful orgasms, 0:06:42.011,0:06:44.613 and great sex lives, and how women[br]love their vaginas." 0:06:44.637,0:06:47.976 But in fact, that's not[br]what women lined up to tell me. 0:06:48.310,0:06:51.402 What women lined up to tell me[br]was how they were raped, 0:06:51.426,0:06:53.904 and how they were battered,[br]and how they were beaten, 0:06:53.928,0:06:56.086 and how they were gang-raped[br]in parking lots, 0:06:56.110,0:06:58.131 and how they were incested[br]by their uncles. 0:06:58.155,0:07:00.853 And I wanted to stop doing[br]the "Vagina Monologues," 0:07:00.877,0:07:02.282 because it felt too daunting. 0:07:02.306,0:07:05.773 I felt like a war photographer[br]who takes pictures of terrible events, 0:07:05.797,0:07:08.156 but doesn't intervene on their behalf. 0:07:08.180,0:07:12.397 And so in 1997, I said,[br]"Let's get women together. 0:07:12.421,0:07:14.597 What could we do with this information 0:07:14.621,0:07:17.165 that all these women are being violated?" 0:07:17.537,0:07:20.722 And it turned out, after thinking[br]and investigating, 0:07:20.746,0:07:24.143 that I discovered -- and the UN[br]has actually said this recently -- 0:07:24.167,0:07:26.976 that one out of every three[br]women on this planet 0:07:27.000,0:07:29.580 will be beaten or raped in her lifetime. 0:07:30.103,0:07:31.667 That's essentially a gender; 0:07:31.691,0:07:35.086 that's essentially the resource[br]of the planet, which is women. 0:07:35.110,0:07:38.282 So in 1997 we got all these incredible[br]women together and we said, 0:07:38.306,0:07:42.421 "How can we use the play, this energy,[br]to stop violence against women?" 0:07:42.771,0:07:45.446 And we put on one event[br]in New York City, in the theater, 0:07:45.470,0:07:48.061 and all these great actors[br]came -- from Susan Sarandon, 0:07:48.085,0:07:49.895 to Glenn Close, to Whoopi Goldberg -- 0:07:49.919,0:07:52.759 and we did one performance on one evening, 0:07:52.783,0:07:56.638 and that catalyzed this wave, this energy. 0:07:57.000,0:07:59.051 And within five years, 0:07:59.075,0:08:01.540 this extraordinary thing began to happen. 0:08:01.564,0:08:04.976 One woman took that energy and she said,[br]"I want to bring this wave, 0:08:05.000,0:08:07.565 this energy, to college campuses," 0:08:07.589,0:08:09.607 and so she took the play and she said, 0:08:09.631,0:08:12.804 "Let's use the play and have[br]performances once a year, 0:08:12.828,0:08:15.417 where we can raise money[br]to stop violence against women 0:08:15.441,0:08:17.651 in local communities[br]all around the world." 0:08:17.675,0:08:20.834 And in one year, it went to 50 colleges,[br]and then it expanded. 0:08:21.167,0:08:23.447 And over the course of the last six years, 0:08:23.471,0:08:26.747 it's spread and it's spread[br]and it's spread around the world. 0:08:27.390,0:08:30.981 What I have learned is two things: 0:08:31.005,0:08:36.976 one, that the epidemic of violence[br]towards women is shocking; it's global; 0:08:37.000,0:08:39.048 it is so profound[br]and it is so devastating, 0:08:39.072,0:08:41.976 and it is so in every little pocket[br]of every little crater, 0:08:42.000,0:08:44.667 of every little society[br]that we don't even recognize it, 0:08:44.691,0:08:46.191 because it's become ordinary. 0:08:46.854,0:08:49.755 This journey has taken me to Afghanistan, 0:08:49.779,0:08:52.508 where I had the extraordinary[br]honor and privilege 0:08:52.532,0:08:56.857 to go into parts of Afghanistan[br]under the Taliban. 0:08:56.881,0:09:00.525 I was dressed in a burqa and I went in[br]with an extraordinary group, 0:09:00.549,0:09:03.918 called the Revolutionary Association[br]of the Women of Afghanistan. 0:09:03.942,0:09:06.976 And I saw firsthand[br]how women had been stripped 0:09:07.000,0:09:11.165 of every single right that was possible[br]to strip women of -- 0:09:11.189,0:09:13.696 from being educated, to being employed, 0:09:13.720,0:09:16.346 to being actually allowed[br]to eat ice cream. 0:09:16.723,0:09:18.264 For those of you who don't know, 0:09:18.288,0:09:20.636 it was illegal to eat ice cream[br]under the Taliban. 0:09:20.660,0:09:24.436 And I actually saw and met[br]women who had been flogged 0:09:24.460,0:09:26.771 for being caught eating vanilla ice cream. 0:09:26.795,0:09:31.197 I was taken to the secret ice cream-eating[br]place in a little town, 0:09:31.221,0:09:34.064 where we went to a back room,[br]and women were seated 0:09:34.088,0:09:37.820 and a curtain was pulled around us,[br]and they were served vanilla ice cream. 0:09:37.844,0:09:41.260 And women lifted their burqas[br]and ate this ice cream. 0:09:41.284,0:09:44.404 And I don't think I ever understood[br]pleasure until that moment, 0:09:44.428,0:09:47.976 and how women have found a way[br]to keep their pleasure alive. 0:09:48.000,0:09:50.548 It has taken me, this journey,[br]to Islamabad, 0:09:50.572,0:09:54.209 where I have witnessed and met women[br]with their faces melted off. 0:09:54.233,0:09:58.085 It has taken me to Juarez, Mexico,[br]where I was a week ago, 0:09:58.109,0:10:00.730 where I have literally been[br]there in parking lots, 0:10:00.754,0:10:02.603 where bones of women have washed up 0:10:02.627,0:10:06.196 and been dumped next to Coca-Cola bottles. 0:10:06.672,0:10:09.675 It has taken me to universities[br]all over this country, 0:10:09.699,0:10:12.191 where girls are date-raped and drugged. 0:10:12.215,0:10:15.976 I have seen terrible, terrible,[br]terrible violence. 0:10:16.376,0:10:20.279 But I have also recognized,[br]in the course of seeing that violence, 0:10:20.303,0:10:24.921 that being in the face of things[br]and seeing actually what's in front of us 0:10:24.945,0:10:27.781 is the antidote to depression, 0:10:27.805,0:10:30.976 and to a feeling that one[br]is worthless and has no value. 0:10:31.000,0:10:32.976 Because before the "Vagina Monologues," 0:10:33.000,0:10:35.976 I will say that 80 percent[br]of my consciousness was closed off 0:10:36.000,0:10:38.834 to what was really going on[br]in this reality, 0:10:38.858,0:10:43.180 and that closing-off closed off[br]my vitality and my life energy. 0:10:43.707,0:10:46.517 What has also happened[br]is in the course of these travels -- 0:10:46.541,0:10:49.073 and it's been an extraordinary thing -- 0:10:49.097,0:10:51.987 is that every single place[br]that I have gone to in the world, 0:10:52.011,0:10:53.423 I have met a new species. 0:10:53.447,0:10:57.161 And I really love hearing about all[br]these species at the bottom of the sea. 0:10:57.185,0:11:00.544 And I was thinking about how being[br]with these extraordinary people 0:11:00.568,0:11:02.202 on this particular panel, 0:11:02.226,0:11:04.976 that it's beneath, beyond and between, 0:11:05.000,0:11:07.976 and the vagina kind of fits[br]into all those categories. 0:11:08.000,0:11:09.462 (Laughter) 0:11:09.486,0:11:11.976 But one of the things[br]I've seen is this species -- 0:11:12.000,0:11:14.975 and it is a species,[br]and it is a new paradigm, 0:11:14.999,0:11:17.633 and it doesn't get reported[br]in the press or in the media 0:11:17.657,0:11:20.695 because I don't think[br]good news ever is news, 0:11:20.719,0:11:23.362 and I don't think people[br]who are transforming the planet 0:11:23.386,0:11:26.267 are what gets the ratings on TV shows. 0:11:26.291,0:11:28.315 But every single country I have been to -- 0:11:28.339,0:11:31.244 and in the last six years,[br]I've been to about 45 countries, 0:11:31.268,0:11:34.322 and many tiny little villages[br]and cities and towns -- 0:11:34.346,0:11:38.094 I have seen something what I've come[br]to call "vagina warriors." 0:11:38.118,0:11:42.293 A "vagina warrior" is a woman,[br]or a vagina-friendly man, 0:11:42.317,0:11:45.911 who has witnessed incredible[br]violence or suffered it, 0:11:45.935,0:11:50.306 and rather than getting an AK-47[br]or a weapon of mass destruction 0:11:50.330,0:11:52.770 or a machete, 0:11:52.794,0:11:55.531 they hold the violence in their bodies; 0:11:55.555,0:11:59.659 they grieve it; they experience it;[br]and then they go out 0:11:59.683,0:12:03.916 and devote their lives to making sure[br]it doesn't happen to anybody else. 0:12:03.940,0:12:06.660 I have met these women[br]everywhere on the planet, 0:12:06.684,0:12:08.446 and I want to tell a few stories, 0:12:08.470,0:12:11.976 because I believe that stories are the way[br]that we transmit information, 0:12:12.000,0:12:14.193 where it goes into our bodies. 0:12:14.217,0:12:18.184 And I think one of the things about being[br]at TED that's been very interesting 0:12:18.208,0:12:20.118 is that I live in my body a lot, 0:12:20.142,0:12:22.384 and I don't live in my head[br]very much anymore. 0:12:22.408,0:12:24.217 And this is a very heady place. 0:12:24.241,0:12:26.687 And it's been really interesting[br]to be in my head 0:12:26.711,0:12:29.429 for the last two days;[br]I've been very disoriented -- 0:12:29.453,0:12:30.454 (Laughter) 0:12:30.478,0:12:33.976 because I think the world, the V-world,[br]is very much in your body. 0:12:34.000,0:12:37.828 It's a body world, and the species[br]really exists in the body. 0:12:37.852,0:12:42.161 And I think there's a real significance[br]in us attaching our bodies to our heads, 0:12:42.185,0:12:45.291 that that separation has created a divide 0:12:45.315,0:12:48.821 that is often separating[br]purpose from intent. 0:12:48.845,0:12:51.991 And the connection between body and head 0:12:52.015,0:12:54.259 often brings those things into union. 0:12:54.735,0:12:57.782 I want to talk about three[br]particular people that I've met, 0:12:57.806,0:13:01.355 vagina warriors, who really[br]transformed my understanding 0:13:01.379,0:13:03.339 of this whole principle and species, 0:13:03.363,0:13:05.703 and one is a woman named Marsha Lopez. 0:13:06.251,0:13:09.312 Marsha Lopez was a woman[br]I met in Guatemala. 0:13:09.336,0:13:12.364 She was 14 years old,[br]and she was in a marriage 0:13:12.388,0:13:15.388 and her husband was beating her[br]on a regular basis. 0:13:15.412,0:13:16.881 And she couldn't get out, 0:13:16.905,0:13:19.023 because she was addicted[br]to the relationship, 0:13:19.047,0:13:20.325 and she had no money. 0:13:20.349,0:13:22.818 Her sister was younger than her,[br]and she applied -- 0:13:22.842,0:13:26.976 we had a "Stop Rape" contest[br]a few years ago in New York -- 0:13:27.000,0:13:29.976 and she applied, hoping[br]that she would become a finalist 0:13:30.000,0:13:31.842 and she could bring her sister. 0:13:31.866,0:13:35.976 She did become a finalist;[br]she brought Marsha to New York. 0:13:36.000,0:13:37.245 And at that time, 0:13:37.269,0:13:39.960 we did this extraordinary V-Day[br]at Madison Square Garden, 0:13:39.984,0:13:43.045 where we sold out the entire[br]testosterone-filled dome -- 0:13:43.069,0:13:46.656 18,000 people standing up[br]to say "Yes" to vaginas, 0:13:46.680,0:13:49.414 which was really a pretty[br]incredible transformation. 0:13:49.438,0:13:51.257 And she came, and she witnessed this, 0:13:51.281,0:13:54.367 and she decided that she would go back[br]and leave her husband, 0:13:54.391,0:13:56.454 and that she would bring[br]V-Day to Guatemala. 0:13:56.478,0:13:58.051 She was 21 years old. 0:13:58.075,0:14:03.269 I went to Guatemala and she had sold out[br]the National Theater of Guatemala. 0:14:03.293,0:14:07.727 And I watched her walk up on stage[br]in her red short dress and high heels, 0:14:07.751,0:14:11.232 and she stood there and said,[br]"My name is Marsha. 0:14:11.256,0:14:15.017 I was beaten by my husband for five years.[br]He almost murdered me. 0:14:15.041,0:14:17.198 I left and you can, too." 0:14:17.556,0:14:20.802 And the entire 2,000 people[br]went absolutely crazy. 0:14:21.325,0:14:24.817 There's a woman named Esther Chávez[br]who I met in Juarez, Mexico. 0:14:24.841,0:14:28.076 And Esther Chávez was[br]a brilliant accountant in Mexico City. 0:14:28.100,0:14:31.155 She was 72 years old[br]and she was planning to retire. 0:14:31.527,0:14:35.101 She went to Juarez[br]to take care of an ailing aunt, 0:14:35.125,0:14:38.197 and in the course of it, she began[br]to discover what was happening 0:14:38.221,0:14:41.590 to the murdered and disappeared[br]women of Juarez. 0:14:41.614,0:14:44.336 She gave up her life; she moved to Juarez. 0:14:44.360,0:14:48.453 She started to write the stories[br]which documented the disappeared women. 0:14:48.477,0:14:52.092 300 women have disappeared in a border[br]town because they're brown and poor. 0:14:52.116,0:14:54.378 There has been no response[br]to the disappearance, 0:14:54.402,0:14:56.639 and not one person[br]has been held accountable. 0:14:56.663,0:14:58.177 She began to document it. 0:14:58.201,0:15:01.780 She opened a center called[br]Casa Amiga, and in six years, 0:15:01.804,0:15:05.164 she has literally brought this[br]to the consciousness of the world. 0:15:05.188,0:15:06.577 We were there a week ago, 0:15:06.601,0:15:10.287 when there were 7,000 people[br]in the street, and it was truly a miracle. 0:15:10.311,0:15:12.151 And as we walked through the streets, 0:15:12.175,0:15:15.386 the people of Juarez, who normally[br]don't even come into the streets, 0:15:15.410,0:15:17.188 because the streets are so dangerous, 0:15:17.212,0:15:18.824 literally stood there and wept, 0:15:18.848,0:15:21.389 to see that other people[br]from the world had showed up 0:15:21.413,0:15:23.099 for that particular community. 0:15:23.810,0:15:25.533 There's another woman, named Agnes. 0:15:25.557,0:15:30.218 And Agnes, for me, epitomizes[br]what a vagina warrior is. 0:15:30.242,0:15:32.992 I met her three years ago in Kenya. 0:15:33.016,0:15:35.976 And Agnes was mutilated as a little girl; 0:15:36.000,0:15:40.609 she was circumcised against her will[br]when she was 10 years old, 0:15:40.633,0:15:42.133 and she really made a decision 0:15:42.157,0:15:45.976 that she didn't want this practice[br]to continue anymore in her community. 0:15:46.000,0:15:49.111 So when she got older,[br]she created this incredible thing: 0:15:49.135,0:15:54.428 it's an anatomical sculpture[br]of a woman's body, half a woman's body. 0:15:54.452,0:15:56.580 And she walked through the Rift Valley, 0:15:56.604,0:15:59.976 and she had vagina[br]and vagina replacement parts, 0:16:00.000,0:16:02.829 where she would teach girls[br]and parents and boys and girls 0:16:02.853,0:16:06.309 what a healthy vagina looks like,[br]and what a mutilated vagina looks like. 0:16:06.333,0:16:07.976 And in the course of her travel -- 0:16:08.000,0:16:11.039 she walked literally for eight years[br]through the Rift Valley, 0:16:11.063,0:16:13.324 through dust, through sleeping[br]on the ground, 0:16:13.348,0:16:15.523 because the Maasai are nomads, 0:16:15.547,0:16:18.976 and she would have to find them,[br]and they would move, 0:16:19.000,0:16:20.638 and she would find them again -- 0:16:20.662,0:16:23.557 she saved 1,500 girls from being cut. 0:16:23.946,0:16:26.527 And in that time, she created[br]an alternative ritual, 0:16:26.551,0:16:29.876 which involved girls[br]coming of age without the cut. 0:16:29.900,0:16:31.976 When we met her three years ago, 0:16:32.000,0:16:33.913 we said, "What could V-Day do for you?" 0:16:33.937,0:16:37.553 And she said, "Well, if you got me a jeep,[br]I could get around a lot faster." 0:16:37.577,0:16:38.578 (Laughter) 0:16:38.602,0:16:39.917 So we bought her a jeep. 0:16:39.941,0:16:44.223 And in the year that she had the jeep,[br]she saved 4,500 girls from being cut. 0:16:44.550,0:16:47.012 So we said to her,[br]"What else could we do for you?" 0:16:47.036,0:16:49.298 She said, "Well, Eve,[br]if you gave me some money, 0:16:49.322,0:16:51.472 I could open a house[br]and girls could run away, 0:16:51.496,0:16:52.890 and they could be saved." 0:16:53.224,0:16:56.105 And I want to tell this little story[br]about my own beginnings, 0:16:56.129,0:17:00.423 because it's very interrelated[br]to happiness and Agnes. 0:17:00.447,0:17:04.131 When I was a little girl --[br]I grew up in a wealthy community; 0:17:04.155,0:17:07.376 it was an upper-middle class[br]white community, 0:17:07.400,0:17:10.259 and it had all the trappings and the looks 0:17:10.283,0:17:13.918 of a perfectly nice,[br]wonderful, great life. 0:17:14.259,0:17:16.886 And everyone was supposed[br]to be happy in that community, 0:17:16.910,0:17:18.491 and, in fact, my life was hell. 0:17:18.515,0:17:20.048 I lived with an alcoholic father 0:17:20.072,0:17:22.976 who beat me and molested me,[br]and it was all inside that. 0:17:23.000,0:17:27.976 And always as a child I had this fantasy[br]that somebody would come and rescue me. 0:17:28.000,0:17:31.620 And I actually made up a little character[br]whose name was Mr. Alligator. 0:17:31.644,0:17:33.976 I would call him up[br]when things got really bad, 0:17:34.000,0:17:36.163 and say it was time[br]to come and pick me up. 0:17:36.187,0:17:39.976 And I would pack a little bag[br]and wait for Mr. Alligator to come. 0:17:40.000,0:17:42.182 Now, Mr. Alligator never did come, 0:17:42.206,0:17:46.680 but the idea of Mr. Alligator coming[br]actually saved my sanity 0:17:46.704,0:17:48.466 and made it OK for me to keep going, 0:17:48.490,0:17:50.221 because I believed, in the distance, 0:17:50.245,0:17:52.976 there would be someone[br]coming to rescue me. 0:17:53.000,0:17:55.469 Cut to 40-some odd years later, 0:17:55.493,0:17:58.723 we go to Kenya, and we're walking, 0:17:58.747,0:18:01.125 we arrive at the opening of this house. 0:18:01.490,0:18:03.907 And Agnes hadn't let me come[br]to the house for days, 0:18:03.931,0:18:06.084 because they were preparing[br]this whole ritual. 0:18:06.108,0:18:07.698 I want to tell you a great story. 0:18:07.722,0:18:09.344 When Agnes first started fighting 0:18:09.368,0:18:11.869 to stop female genital mutilation[br]in her community, 0:18:11.893,0:18:15.432 she had become an outcast,[br]and she was exiled and slandered, 0:18:15.456,0:18:17.487 and the whole community[br]turned against her. 0:18:17.511,0:18:19.869 But being a vagina warrior,[br]she kept going, 0:18:19.893,0:18:23.242 and she kept committing herself[br]to transforming consciousness. 0:18:23.266,0:18:24.874 And in the Maasai community, 0:18:24.898,0:18:27.699 goats and cows are the most[br]valued possession. 0:18:27.723,0:18:31.976 They're like the Mercedes-Benz[br]of the Rift Valley. 0:18:32.000,0:18:34.886 And she said two days[br]before the house opened, 0:18:34.910,0:18:37.773 two different people arrived[br]to give her a goat each, 0:18:37.797,0:18:38.948 and she said to me, 0:18:38.972,0:18:43.378 "I knew then that female genital[br]mutilation would end one day in Africa." 0:18:43.786,0:18:47.484 Anyway, we arrived, and when we arrived, 0:18:47.508,0:18:51.238 there were hundreds of girls[br]dressed in red homemade dresses -- 0:18:51.262,0:18:54.172 which is the color of the Maasai[br]and the color of V-Day -- 0:18:54.196,0:18:55.538 and they greeted us. 0:18:55.562,0:18:58.014 They had made up these songs[br]that they were singing, 0:18:58.038,0:19:00.591 about the end of suffering[br]and the end of mutilation, 0:19:00.615,0:19:02.310 and they walked us down the path. 0:19:02.334,0:19:04.699 It was a gorgeous day in the African sun, 0:19:04.723,0:19:07.176 and the dust was flying[br]and the girls were dancing, 0:19:07.200,0:19:11.726 and there was this house, and it said,[br]"V-Day Safe House for the Girls." 0:19:11.750,0:19:17.052 And it hit me in that moment[br]that it had taken 47 years, 0:19:17.076,0:19:19.679 but that Mr. Alligator[br]had finally shown up. 0:19:20.219,0:19:22.101 And he had shown up, obviously, 0:19:22.125,0:19:25.521 in a form that it took me[br]a long time to understand, 0:19:25.545,0:19:30.651 which is that when we give in the world[br]what we want the most, 0:19:30.675,0:19:33.976 we heal the broken part inside each of us. 0:19:34.483,0:19:36.857 And I feel, in the last eight years, 0:19:36.881,0:19:39.976 that this journey --[br]this miraculous vagina journey -- 0:19:40.000,0:19:42.802 has taught me this really simple thing, 0:19:42.826,0:19:47.249 which is that happiness exists in action; 0:19:47.273,0:19:51.408 it exists in telling the truth[br]and saying what your truth is; 0:19:51.432,0:19:54.976 and it exists in giving away[br]what you want the most. 0:19:55.000,0:19:58.976 And I feel that knowledge and that journey 0:19:59.000,0:20:01.453 has been an extraordinary privilege, 0:20:01.477,0:20:03.071 and I feel really blessed 0:20:03.095,0:20:05.515 to have been here today[br]to communicate that to you. 0:20:05.539,0:20:06.704 Thank you very much. 0:20:06.728,0:20:08.904 (Applause)