Jessica Barner delivers a monologue entitled “My Angry Vagina” during Friday evening’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues” in Hughes-Trigg. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)
The Women’s Interest Network put on a benefit performance of “The Vagina Monologues” on Friday in the Hughes-Trigg Theater to raise awareness about “V-day.”
This episodic play was written by Eve Ensler and has grown in popularity since it started. V-Day is a non-profit movement that raises money for women’s anti-violence groups around the world.
“Until the Violence Stops” is the motto, and new monologues are added each year to represent a different struggle that has arisen among women around the world. In addition to ticket sales, WIN sold T-shirts, lollipops, buttons and stickers with the phrase “I Respect Vaginas” to raise money.
The play started with members of WIN randomly scattered in the audience. One by one they stood up and said a collection of different slang terms for vagina. Soon all 17 women, both college age and older, were on stage and ready to speak.
They all wore shades of red and black, the colors of the V-Day logo. The monologues were each introduced with a real-world crisis or struggle experienced by many women. “My Angry Vagina” was a comedic rant about the injustices of what a vagina has to go through, such as tampons, thong underwear and OBGYN instruments.
“My Vagina Was My Village” was a serious compilation of testimonies from Bosnian rape camps.
“The Little Coochie Snorcher that Could” was about a woman who explains a traumatic childhood of sexual abuse and how she had a healing sexual experience with an older woman who helped her realize she is still a good person.
Another monologue, “Reclaiming Cunt,” talked about how to use this particular word in a positive manner, unlike the negative connotation it normally has.
“The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy” was a story of a tax lawyer turned sex worker and included a vocal demonstration of a triple orgasm.
“Because He Likes to Look at It” was about a woman who thought her vagina was ugly and not a place of admiration until her sexual experience with a man named Bob who loved to look at it and said it was beautiful.
“I Was There in the Room” was the finale. Eve Ensler describes the birth of her granddaughter. The stories made the audience laugh, cry and cringe. This play was not designed to make one feel comfortable. It intends to take one out of a familiar zone and make one listen and hear stories and experiences one normally tries to avoid.
“This is the first time I experienced such openness about the word that society usually considers a private matter,” SMU student Cicely Hoelscher said.
The cast got into their roles and looked like they were having a great time on stage.
WIN was happy to see such a great turn out and they were thankful for the money raised to support abused women everywhere.
According to WIN, V-Day is an important cause to spread awareness about, and “The Vagina Monologues” is the perfect attention-grabbing outlet.
