http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcM0DPH2bNo

A friend shared this clip from stand-up comedian and actor Hal Sparks.

He leads with  this “I disagree—vehemently—with the use of the word “pussy” to describe a weak person. Because the vagina is the tougher of the two genitals…. by a long shot!”

And later…”It bleeds every month and it won’t die.”

That puzzled reaction to menstruation is as old as time, say the cultural historians of menstruation. We know now, of course, that the monthly shedding of the uterine lining is no mystery. Nor does this regular occurrence suggest that women are necessarily witches or demons or otherwise intrinsically cursed or even blessed.

But his point is a good one.

It IS important to reframe the female body as POWERFUL.  As RESILIENT.

And demonstrate how our language—especially the words we use to slur and to exalt—obscures this reality.

Thanks, Hal, for a good laugh and a better think.  You are a REAL pussy.