The Vagina Monologues was created by playwright and activist Eve Ensler. This version was acted out in Hashinger Hall.
Alex Robinson/KANSAN
KU V-Day's performance aims to end silence and stigma surrounding female anatomy
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Four students were the first to take to the stage Saturday night in Hashinger Hall. Dressed in black and illuminated by red stage light, the women gave a brief introduction to the play that would touch on one rather taboo topic.
"I bet you're worried," they said. "We were worried, we were worried about vaginas."
For over an hour, 16 students from the campus group KU V-Day went on to tell the trials, tribulations, joys and confusions of vaginas, something that they said is briefly, if ever, discussed.
"There's so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them," one actress told the audience. "Like the Bermuda Triangle, no one reports back from there."
"The Vagina Monologues," written by Eve
Ensler, first debuted on off-Broadway stages in 1996. The play is comprised of the stories of over 200 women Ensler interviewed, ranging from young to old and across all races and different sexualualities, all being asked to give their thoughts on the topic.
Some stories were long, others were short. Some, like the one titled "My Angry Vagina," had the audience laughing and shouting, while others, such as the stories of several Bosnian women's experiences in a rape-camp, had them stone-faced and serious, rapt with attention.
Since its success back in the late '90s, the play has become the cornerstone of V-Day, a campaign to end violence against women. Now, every February, campus groups put on productions of the monologues to raise money for local anti-violence organizations.
Saturday night, the students of KUV-Day, the local
campus campaign group performed the play to benefit the Willow Domestic Violence Center and the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center.
Keonya Jackson, a senior from Junction City and president of KU V-Day, said the essence of the play is combating the negative connotations that often surround femininity.
"Vagina' for a while was looked at as a bad word, but it's an anatomical body part, so in addition to that, any of those words that we used [...] can be used as insults," Jackson said. "We're taking that away."
Flanking the stage during the play were giant chalkboards covered in colorful drawings of the anatomical body part and the different words used to describe it. Although some women might be hesitant to broach such a topic, there was no tiptoeing around the subject during the play. At one point, audience members even began shouting "c---" at the prompting of one actress to "reclaim" the word, which is known for its derogatory use.
"We were worried, we were worried about vaginas."
"Vagina Monologues performer
Charlotte Nodarse, a sophomore from Leawood and one of the actresses in the monologues, said the production is about reclaiming what has been misconstrued as negative and dirty.
"For the longest time,
this language for female genitalia was so much worse than any slang term for male genitalia." Nodarse said. "You can say 'd--' on cable television."
The total production has been modified since its debut in 1996, with different pieces being omitted or added over the years. In 2013, Ensler added an episode about the struggles of transgender women to the play. "They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy -- Or So They Tried," told the stories of several transgender women's experiences with physical violence and ostra-cization.
Holly Mills, a Lawrence senior and one of the actresses, said it opened her eyes to the struggles of the transgender community.
"I definitely feel a lot more sympathy for the transgender people in particular, because that was the piece that I was in," Mills said. "And I think that piece got at it, where it was
really a whole life full of trying to beat them down, just pummel them through it."
"The Vagina Monologues" will hopefully be back again next February, Jackson said. Although KU V-Day comprises mostly seniors who are graduating this year, Jackson said there are some sophomores she hopes will carry on the tradition. Jackson said when people walk away from the play, she hopes they feel empowered to accept themselves.
"This is something that is real, it's me, a lot of people share this body part with me, and even people who don't have a vagina who identify as female, they are proud, and this is they are and there's no reason to be shocked," Jackson said. "Just accept it."
- Edited by Matthew Clough