Fine For Temple, Too Risque for The Times

The February performance of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues is commonplace in cities across America. In Seattle, "V-Day" will be celebrated with a performance on February 24th at The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). Sponsoring the event is the Seattle Office of The National Council of Jewish Women. To advertise the performance, The Council produced the colorful print you see to the right. The advertisement is running in The Seattle Weekly and JT News, as well as being posted at several synagogues throughout the city.

The Seattle Times, however, has refused to publish the advertisement, unless the sponsors "alter the artwork." The Vice President of Seattle Times Advertising, Mei-Mei Chan, has said "The artwork is was something we didn't feel was appropriate for our audience." God forbid there's an artistic drawing of a clitoris amidst all the other sexual images found in the modern press!

While the mainstream Seattle press may be prudish about the advertisement, Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg of Temple B'nai Torah in Bellevue has the poster hanging in her Temple.

We have it hanging in several places in our Temple. I was just very disappointed that the Times didn't share our appreciation for what I consider to be tasteful and beautiful artwork. It's okay for a house of worship — I know it's hanging in many other synagogues and Jewish institutions.

Rabbi Kinberg went on to say she was disappointed in The Seattle Times' decision, and believed it went against what Eve Ensler's play is all about, making the vagina less taboo. Apparently, a decade after Ensler's play gained acclaim, The Seattle Times still hasn't gotten the memo.