Eve+Ensler

Eve Ensler

“I Am an Emotional Creature” by Eve Ensler is a novel simply about girls. More specifically it’s about all types of girls. Whether the girls are young, struggling, and immature or even abused it is a novel meant to relate all girls around the world no matter how different each of their situations are. Eve Ensler creates a safe haven for girls all over the world, in every situation in the protection of her words. Through the power of their words we experience women. True women. The simple idea this novel is meant for is the bringing together of women through sharing their stories allowing them to relate.  Eve Ensler being best known for her plays and role in women empowerment released “I am an emotional creature” in 2010 preceding her best seller, “Vagina Monologues”. Her past experiences growing up in abusive home give her an edge over other authors. This edge she has is experience. Through her own misfortunes she connects with her inner little girl to place exactly what struggling teenagers must hear. In a time of hormones and mixed emotions a “young woman” feels lost and in turmoil with pretty much everything. For some it is the pressure of fitting in while with others it is about escaping out of their homes to not be sold as a wife. Reading this book brings us all together as one as we are reminded that we are not aliens, alone and misunderstood in this crazy world. The thesis is that if a confused young woman shares her thoughts, and is accepted by others who also share the same thoughts but not might be in the exact same situation, then maybe they are not alone. Then maybe they are not the only ones who hate themselves, who are embarrassed, who are scared. By making abstract thoughts okay to be said aloud Ensler creates an openness to be who they truly are, out in the open for all to see.  I am an emotional creature uses its title to associate the many confusing and irrational emotions a young female endures. The statement of “I am an emotional creature” clues the coming of terms and acceptance to the unavoidable, unstable emotions known to the female. Eva Ensler calls to the awakening of females to accept this role. To embrace their ability of apathy and to feel everything that they do to its maximum freight. Ensler calls for a world wide appreciation and embracement to all that is woman. With these tales of young teenagers and their inner thoughts not only is the teenager releasing her most embarrassing and secret thoughts, she is sharing them. Others connect to these stories and realize that they are not alone.  This message is conveyed through a series of short stories and poems connecting each section. The style of writing is casual, bearing mistakes as if in the voice of an actual teenage girl speaking. The story based layout allows the attention lacking teen girl to focus and really experience the words on the page. Intermitted between chapters are facts and statistics about the preceding subject such as “Girls between thirteen and eighteen years of age constitute the largest group in the sex industry” in order to key in on an aspect of realism to the work. What really beings the facts to reality is the stories that follow. Any person can read a statistic but the short stories and poems allow us to meet the girls behind the numbers. One such character is Sofia from Bulgaria. Her story is told in a style of an inner monologue. It is written in a manner where it is as if we are going through her thoughts ourselves. We experience the confusing world. Her thoughts move from scared to her life to “I hate my hair”. How confusing is it that a girl about to be sold worries about something so seemingly insignificant about her hair? It is just another insight into the female mind where ones’ body image is comparable to the threat of death. What does it feel like to be 14 and in an arranged marriage? How about when your boyfriend hits you but you can’t walk away. What about if you’d be more willing to burn to death than to leave your working station? Our small world seems to open up and blossom as we open our eyes to bigger issues than we are used to.

For example, one passage is of a girl struggling with an eating disorder. An eating disorder such as anorexia and bulimia are most common in young women this age group. Symptoms are mostly mental rather than physical. The women report to feel alone, and in need to be in control of something as everything else seem to be spiraling out of control. Such things spiraling out of control include school, friends, family and extracurricular activities. Those of us who have never experienced a eating disorder find it hard to understand why she just can’t eat. One passage in this novel does an exceptional job at a young girls inner monologue “ can’t stop crying. Disguist myself. Family forced me to eat a meal ‘cause it’s Christmas eve. Now I’m gross. Putrid. Foul” (71) The inner thoughts of a young girl gives us an angle to understand the people we normally cannot. We experience what it is like to be the anorexic girl. This novel gives us a glimpse into someone else’s thought better allowing us to understand the people we are surrounded by.  Overall this novel empowers not only women but the human spirit. A better understanding of the world allows better communication through understanding. The style in which this novel is written adds to the entire concept of the novel. Proving once more the incredible broad range of feelings and emotions one can feel This novel connects women from around the world. It is a “feel good” novel which does its purpose. The author does not intend on merit but to last mentally in the back of our minds to stab at us before we dare judge another human being.

H.U. 2011