A good question came up today from a commenter who is exploring the concept of women taking back our mojo. Should we “take back” the term mojo that has become predominantly male, or create a new term as like vojo? So why the V, when “women” starts with “W”. Why not wojo (see Charleen Tupper’s blog www.themojoproject.com)? I think the “V” in vojo first popped in my head when I read the book, The Da Vinci Code, by author Dan Brown. Even though this is a work of fiction, Brown writes about a “V” symbol and how that symbol was defined by Da Vinci as being a symbol for women. This got me thinking…

I love Leonardo Da Vinci (I was an art major) and wanted to know more about his “V” and the symbol for women or female. My first online search brought up a site about Da Vinci’s painting, The Last Supper, on www.eeggs.com. Brenda, a commenter there writes:

“the person to Jesus’ right hand is Mary Magdalene … The large “M” that Mary and Jesus form is also cut down to be something similar to the letter ‘V‘, which is a feminine symbol. An old symbol of the feminine ‘goddess'”

Melissa, from the same site mentions:

“The clothes that Jesus and ‘Mary Magdelene’ are wearing are the same colors only opposite which symbolizes unity in the ‘V’ that they form between them is the symbol for “women“

View a preview of the painting here: The Last Supper 1498

The other thing that was in my mind when I thought about vojo being the new mojo was our lovely female body part, the vagina, being a detail that truly sets us apart from men – another “V”. I’m not sure where the slang for vagina started from, but the term “vajayjay” has made it’s place in the urban dictionary. Oprah was the first to use it on television and it has also been mentioned on Grey’s Anatomy and on The Soup. The Urban dictionary says “the term can be used to refer to the ballsiness of female executives“. Vajayjay and Vojo just seem to go together.

Oh, and guess what… vojo is IN the Urban Dictionary already! “Mojo, but with vibe; Mojo + vibe = Vojo”. That works for me too, being a lover of music.

And then there’s the question: Should we just “take mojo back”? The word mojo has become somewhat diluted. It’s definitely male dominated and there are some negative terms associated with it as well – like calling Mexican immigrants mojos. Being from Texas, this hits a little too close to home. PLUS, in the spirit of creating our own path, I thought we could just redefine ourselves, as we are constantly having to do anyway, and use our own word. So for me, I’ve got vojo. But I think all ways of being empowered as a woman are valid, whether you use mojo, wojo or make up your own word. Being empowered, sexy and feeling like you are a goddess is the most important part.

Got Vojo? What do you think?