I wholeheartedly agree that the notion of privacy (or lack of same)has really gone "down the tubes" lately, and some of the VM chapters definitely illustrate that. (And yes, I am hung up on this--but the continual media ads for erectile dysfunction and similar erstwhile-private issues are really driving me batshit. Those, and feminine hygiene ads--I mean, jeeez! Do we REALLY need to be deluged with such intimate issues? --But I digress:)
 However, even while clucking my tongue, I am also open-minded enough to revel in the freedom and sense of liberation that classes and readings such as this allow--shoot, I have made confessions both aloud and in my journal entries and papers that I am neither ashamed of, nor am I second-guessing myself for having made in the first place, and the open-mindedness and acceptance of this class as awhole has been wonderfully refreshing and invigorating. (Thanks to all of you, BTW.)
 Anyway, I guess what it all comes right down to is that, as I said in class today, my genitalia has never been my focal point or what I consider to be my "identity"--it is a part of me with which I sometimes agree and sometimes disagree, but it is NOT my --what's the French phrase?--raison d'etre??? I also reiterate that READING these VM pieces is far more enjoyable; to be honest, I was so nonplussed at the performance several years ago that I fell asleep in self-defense!