No my blog has not been hijacked or hacked by ne’er-do-wells seeking to discredit me by slathering it with horrible words…this is actually serious. It has come to my attention that the word VAGINA is actually an offensive word…at least some would have us believe so.

Apparently it is so offensive a word (VAGINA) that using it (VAGINA) has gotten well known Christian author Rachel Held Evans’ latest book on biblical womanhood banned from LifeWay Christian bookstores. Really?

As a man who (thankfully) does not have a VAGINA I can admit that while they (VAGINAS) have held a certain enigmatic mystique they (VAGINAS) have never been downright offensive in any way. I mean even in the deepest Christian circles where, admittedly, the word VAGINA is not thrown around a lot, I never expected it (VAGINA) had the power to actually see an entire book banned from the largest Christian book retailer in the United States.

Evans references it (VAGINA) twice in her book according a Huffington Post article which states:

“Evans’ references of the currently infamous v-word are twofold: firstly in the description of a woman raped in the Congo, and second in a description of a teenaged Evans signing an abstinence pledge card as a promise “to God and my vagina.””

First of all what is she supposed to call it?

Seriously…

How can one have a serious conversation about rape or abstinence without referencing…you know…a VAGINA? Sure I suppose there are ways around it but that makes us start to sound a little silly. You know like kids in grade five learning physical terminology in health class and chuckling over how much it sounds like a certain capital (REGINA!) of a certain Canadian province (SASKATCHEWAN!).

We adults, however, are beyond such juvenile behavior of course. We are certainly no longer embarrassed by the proper anatomical name for a human body part. Right?

Admittedly I do not spend a lot of time using the word VAGINA. In fact I am guessing this post contains 98.7 percent of my total life’s usage of the word.

This level of fear does not speak well for LifeWay which for some obscure reason does not want people to know women have VAGINAS (maybe for fear that questions of usage will be asked and Lord knows where that will lead). Of course most of us are aware of this fact already so one wonders at the real reason behind the censorship here. It is censorship by the way…the fact that LifeWay would not carry the book with the word VAGINA led publisher Thomas Nelson to request it (VAGINA) be removed from the author’s book.

Does it say something about a sub-culture when the word VAGINA has become a “bad word”? Does it say something about that sub-culture’s repressed understanding of sexuality and gender when the very sight of VAGINA sends their readers (or at least their bookstores and publishers) scurrying to the hills in fear? Does it suggest anything that a female author cannot reference VAGINA in her book and have it carried by LifeWay but man’s man Christian author Mark Driscoll can write about anal sex and adult toys in his Christian book and have it carried by – you guessed it – LifeWay??

My suggestion – go here and order it: http://www.amazon.ca/Year-Biblical-Womanhood-Liberated-Covering/dp/1595553673.

This is the first time I have ever recommended a book I have yet to read but I am that offended by the treatment of it that I think it should be read. Heck the book isn’t even about VAGINAS…it’s not like VAGINAS are being cavalierly thrown around by the author for the sheer shock factor (which apparently it, VAGINA, has). It (VAGINA) is used twice and in circumstances that seem more than appropriate. The book itself sounds like a great take on A.J. Jacobs hilarious book The Year of Living Biblically and a great, worthwhile effort.

So in closing I would suggest that people who are shocked by VAGINAS get over it and come to understand that they do exist and they are not evil.

P.S. Notice I never once used the word PENIS here?

P.P.S. VAGINA!