Are Vaginas Offensive?

Trey Smith

[Michigan] House Republicans prohibited state Rep. Lisa Brown from speaking on the floor Thursday after she ended a speech Wednesday against a bill restricting abortions by referencing her female anatomy.

Brown, a West Bloomfield Democrat and mother of three, said a package of abortion regulation bills would violate her Jewish religious beliefs that abortions be allowed in cases where it is required to save the life of the mother.

"Finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but 'no' means 'no,'" Brown said Wednesday.

Brown's comment prompted a rebuke Thursday by House Republicans, who wouldn't allow her to voice her opinion on a school employee retirement bill.

"What she said was offensive," said Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville. "It was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company."
~ from Lawmaker Barred from Speaking After 'Vagina' Comment by Chad Livengood ~

Vagina.

It's such a simple word. It has three syllables, each featuring one consonant and one vowel. By definition, it means the passage leading from the opening of the vulva to the cervix of the uterus in female mammals.

Women have vaginas, but men don't. While Sigmund Freud made note of a thing he called penis envy, I'm left to wonder if some of the male conservatives in the Michigan House are suffering from vagina phobia!

I'm also wondering if representatives like Mike Callton would be offended if other known body parts were mentioned on his state's House floor. Would he faint if someone uttered the word, nipple? Would he have a conniption fit if someone dared to shout, spleen? What if someone inadvertently muttered patella or thyroid? Would such an individual be banned too?