Colleague’s Posting:

K. Harris

• Rita Dove’s, After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed, explains her experience in answering her daughter’s questions about her body (Dove, 1989). The poem is used to express a mother’s own questions about how to answer her daughter’s questions the “right” way (Dove, 1989). In Ensler’s In the body of the world, the experience of a child without a responsive mother to answer her life’s questions is explained in great, emotional, detail (Ensler, 2013). In one written work a mother is present and trying her best to respond, in the other, the mother is self-serving, and the daughter is neglected, alienated, and abused (Dove, 1989 & Ensler, 2013). While the first child’s experiences afterward are not expressed, Ensler shares how her hunger for knowledge on women’s bodies and health lead her around the world, acquiring the experiences of women across cultures, ultimately to write her book The Vagina Monologues (Ensler, 2013).
•            Both stories, in their own ways, express the importance of women’s health education, starting at a young age. The stories display a strong parallel between a child who is heard, nurtured, healthy, and educated about her body, and a child who is not. The first child expresses her excitement in learning about her and her mother’s bodies, and how it makes them alike (Dove, 1989). The young girl skips off and is full of pride in who she is (Dove, 1989). In Ensler’s story, however, a young Eve feels removed from herself, and regards her body as a “burden” (Ensler, 2013). These stories show the importance of places like “City of Joy,” where women can come together to heal from the trauma and violence against women of all ages (Ensler, 2013). As well, the stories show the importance of a safe environment for young girls to learn about their bodies.

Reference List

Dove, R. (1989). After reading ‘Mickey in the Night Kitchen’ for the third time before bed. In Grace notes: Poetry. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Retrieved from https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/dove/AfterRe…

 Ensler, E. (2013). In the body of the world [PDF]. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Company. Retrieved from http://inthebodyoftheworld.com/pdf/EveEnsler-InThe…