Valentine’s Day production goes ‘down there’
It’s an organ, and when mentioned in serious conversation, it is talked about in hush-hush tones. Its name is rarely used outside of a health class or doctor’s office. One play changes that, nullifying conservative stigmas surrounding women and praising the term of their most private part: vagina.
“At first, it’s kind of shocking, but it’s empowering,” said Hannah Gilman representative for LGBT Allies on campus.
According to the website for “The Vagina Monologues,” it is a play based on hundreds of interviews conducted by playwright Eve Ensler.
The collection disregards any and all reservations and formerly conservative outlooks of the female sex organ. It chronicles un-discussed vaginal experiences and reveals not-so-well-known facts about women and their parts that address women’s sexuality and social stigma surrounding rape and abuse.
“The Vagina Monologues” documents occurrences that are hardly, if ever, publicized in such a blunt, graphic manner.
In the introduction of her book about The Vagina Monologues, Ensler wrote, “I was worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried that we don’t think about them. There’s so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them.”
Ensler said she interviewed over 200 women of all demographics: African American women, white women, homeless women, young women, young girls, elderly women and foreign women. Once she collected their stories, some as composite interviews and some verbatim, she compiled them into a book and began to perform the piece on stage. After her performances, women would approach her to share their own stories.
“Night after night I heard the same stories, women being raped as teenagers, in college as little girls, as elderly women,” she wrote. “Slowly it dawned on me that nothing was more important than stopping the violence toward women. Women echoed each other. I let the voices bleed into one another.”
She said in all her interviews, she only met two women who had never been victims of incest or rape.
According to Ensler’s book, performances of “The Vagina Monologues” sparked a world-wide event now known as V-Day. Around Valentine’s Day, institutions and organizations such as universities, this year including USU, and even Broadway perform the script, raising awareness and funds to support local groups working to stop violence toward women.
According to the website, V-Day started as a single event in New York City on Valentine’s Day in 1998 and raised $250,000. Since its conception, the program has grown to over 5,400 events. Once a year, in February, March and April, Ensler allows all institutions and organizations involved in V-Day to produce a performance of the play, using all proceeds to invest in local and individual projects and programs that work to end violence against women and girls.
V-Day’s mission statement says the goal is “to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sex slavery.”
“It’s a cool movement. We’re excited to see the performances. And it’s something to do on Valentines Day,” said Jake Nelson, vice president for USU’s Allies on Campus.
Nelson said this isn’t the first time USU has taken part in V-day and produce a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” but it has been a few years since the last time it came to USU. This year, there are 15 local performers participating, mostly students. It will be performed both on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 and on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the TSC auditorium.
“We hope it will raise awareness about violence against women. It will make the word vagina less dirty and more acceptable,” Nelson said.
Gilman said due to its controversial nature, it may not be as well received a group here at USU might like.
“It will be something we have to build upon,” she said. “But once they understand what The Vagina Monologues is, they’ll be more receptive to it.”
Ensler wrote, “In order for the human race to continue, women must be safe and empowered.”
– shanelle.b@aggiemail.usu.edu