This past weekend, about 400 people were enthralled, engaged and moved by the Emory students and community members who delivered monologues about vaginas.
Emory University’s Center for Women and student organization Feminists In Action’s production of The Vagina Monologues was performed on Feb. 28, March 1 and 2 in Harland Cinema.
“The Vagina Monologues” is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which first ran in the HERE Arts Center, a off-off Broadway theatre in 1996. However, it soon caught national and international attention and was picked up by HBO for a televised performance. In 1998, Ensler launched V-Day, a global non-profit that has been advocating for the end of gender-based violence and has raised up to $75 million for anti-violence groups.
Currently, hundreds of college campuses and community organizations put on performances of “The Vagina Monologues” every year.
All proceeds of Emory’s production went to the Day League, formerly known as the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center, an organization that provides direct services, prevention education and advocacy for youth and adult survivors of sexual assault, their families and the community as a whole.
So what are “The Vagina Monologues” about? Well, they are mostly solo monologues about women and their experiences with their vaginas. The monologues range from “My Angry Vagina” – a rant about tampons, douche sprays and intrusive vaginal exams – to “My Vagina Was My Village” – a monologue honoring the hundreds of Bosnian and Croatian women who were raped during the Yugoslav Wars – to “They Beat The Girl Out Of Me,” a short memoir of a trans*woman and her transitional journey.
I was the stage manager of the show and got the chance to see the production come to life from the first rehearsal to closing night. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I felt lucky to share space with my peers and grapple with pressing issues such as domestic violence, body image and trans*phobia through theatre.
It reminded me of the transformative capacity of art.
Cast member Kayley Scruggs, a College freshman who performed the monologue “I Was There In The Room” said that “being in the cast reminded me of the power of being in a group of such strong women. Watching these passionate women work together to create this thought-provoking production allowed me to experience a sense of community on Emory’s campus.”
There are criticisms of the monologues and they are absolutely not unfounded. Many feminists have pointed out that the play focuses too much on violent, non-consensual sex and not enough positive, consensual sexual experiences.
Wendy McElroy, a critic of the play, writes that the monologues paint “men as the enemy.” Andrea Smith, the co-founder of INCITE! Women of Color against Violence, has also written a sharp critique of the play and pointed to the fact that “Eve Ensler feminism” upholds the prison-industrial complex. She also writes that the play is not nuanced and does not take into account how the state and neo-colonialism still perpetuates violence against women.
Taking into consideration these criticisms, I still believe that “The Vagina Monologues” can and have started conversations about gender based violence, sex positivity and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* (LGBT) equality on college campuses and beyond.
Lauren Guilmette, a graduate fellow of the Center for Women, directed the play when she was an undergraduate student at Williams College in 2007. She said that she wanted to be involved in the production again “because the play is incredibly powerful for creating a supportive community of diverse women, which is sadly rare even on a diverse college campus.” She added that more than the performances she was excited “when the women of the cast and production team cheered each other on, listened to each other’s fears and excitement about performing such vulnerable pieces and unselfishly wanted the best for one another.”
Being involved in the production was an amazing solidarity building exercise and I hope that “The Vagina Monologues” continue to challenge gender inequality and be a springboard for women to create spaces for one another.
– By Nowmee Shehab
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