RADIO STATION BANS 'V' WORD Easy listeners won't hear `vagina' on CHFI - Other stations run ad for new Ensler play Richard Ouzounian – Toronto Star Sometimes Easy Listening isn't as easy as it seems.
Toronto radio station CHFI has refused to run a series of promotional spots for Eve Ensler's play The Good Body, which opens next month at the newly refurbished Music Hall on the Danforth.
The reason? The commercials use the word "vagina."
This, according to the play's Toronto producer, Corey Ross, is the text of the ad that the home of "Toronto's Lite Favourites" refused to run:
"The creator of The Vagina Monologues is back on stage exposing even more! Don't miss Eve Ensler in her hilarious and poignant Broadway hit, The Good Body. March 7th to 12th at the Music Hall."
Although other Toronto broadcasters, including CP24 and EZ Rock, also initially hesitated about using the word "vagina," they changed their minds.
"It was all a matter of context," said Ross. "Once they heard that it was being used as part of the title of an acclaimed piece of theatre, they had no problems."
No other Toronto media outlets have had concerns, with the overall attitude being typified by CBC Radio's Marichka Melnyk from Here and Now.
"As long as it's being used appropriately, we're fine with it," she said.
The one exception was Julie Adam, program director and general manager of CHFI.
She turned down $20,000 in advertising revenue because she didn't want to hear "vagina" on the air.
"I know this is a fabulous event," she said. "I've heard nothing but great things about it and, personally, I'm a woman who has no trouble with saying that word.
"But our mandate on CHFI is that we're family friendly. We don't put anything on the radio that a parent could be uncomfortable hearing with their child in a car. You use a word like that and the next thing you know they're asking, `Mommy or daddy, what's that mean?'"
Adam didn't seem concerned that her fellow Easy Listening stations, or the national public broadcaster, had no trouble with their listeners hearing someone say "vagina."
"These decisions are not personal. They're made for your audience.
"If you want safe, CHFI is your station." |