A group of about 30 performers proudly belted out what many women across the world always have been afraid to say:
“We are worried about our vaginas!”
A generation of estrogen-powered women strike down all taboos and mention all unmentionables in the performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.”
“I hope people can understand the problems women have with violent crimes being committed against them,” director and theater sophomore Patti Wheeler said. “Hopefully people will begin to think about how women are oppressed about their sexuality but yet vulnerable to sexual crimes.”
The monologues will address issues about female genital mutilation, violence against lesbians and date rape, among others. The show is sponsored by ASMSU and the MSU Women’s Council.
“The Vagina Monologues” first began in New York City in 1998 to make women feel more comfortable about their genitalia and sexuality when they were always taught otherwise. With appearances from some of the nation’s biggest stars, including Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Lily Tomlin, and Calista Flockhart, the show was instantly a hit.
The monologues have been performed every year for the last five years at MSU to address the issue of violence against women.
V-Week has raised awareness of the problem of violence against women and girls around the world. Currently, 543 college campuses are participating worldwide. Several different activities take place this week up until the show, including vagina art, “Vaginas in History,” and “Vaginas in Print.”
“Those activities are created to raise awareness about women and all of the accomplishments they’ve had,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said everyone needs to realize that violent crimes against women are a problem and the issue is still everywhere.
“The reason we continued to bring this here is to raise awareness of violence,” Wheeler said.
A woman is battered in America by someone she knows every 15 seconds, according to the 2000 United Nations Study on the Status of Women. A woman is raped every 26 seconds in South Africa, according to a 1998 study by the University of South Africa. On college campuses in the United States there is a rape every 21 hours, according to Campus Outreach Services.
Laura Sorensen, a communication sophomore and performer in the production, said she introduces a segment called “The Burqa.”
“The new piece is about the oppression women of Afghanistan have received,” Sorensen said. “There is also another new piece called ‘Under my Skirt.’”
Sorensen said the piece was written prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but she felt that now was the right time to address the issue.
“We hope it will make people more aware of how those women are continuing being treated,” Sorensen said. “We’re trying to educate people and teach women not to be ashamed of their sexuality.”
Wheeler said the monologues are full of “in-your-face content.”
“We use strong words to get the people interested,” Wheeler said. “Everything in the monologues is true. We used real women who sometimes experience similar situations to express themselves.”
There is a wide range of characters portrayed in the performance, including a British woman who learns to love her vagina, a women whose husband made her shave, as well as other interesting characters.
“I play the Little Coochi Snorcher That Could,” social relations junior Argentina Lewis said. “It’s about a girl growing up, who hated her vagina and she didn’t love it until she turned 16.”
Lewis is new to acting, but was happy to get the part in the monologues.
“I’ve never performed in front of a lot of people,” she said. “But when I got the part I was like, ‘This is for me.’”
Other performers in the monologues are more than happy to be acting in the show, for their interest in the show as well as in the cause.
“I’m an actor - I’ve always been a feminist - I think it’s a really good cause to support,” theater senior Krista Akmon said.
James Madison freshman Kim Drotar said there are things that some people felt should be kept behind closed doors, but she said the monologues brings these ideas into the open.
“It brings attention to women’s sexuality,” Drotar said. “It’s spent many years just being repressed, and now it’s been brought into the mainstream.”
The play comes to the Auditorium’s Fairchild Theatre 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. All proceeds will benefit MSU Safe Place, Eve’s House and the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan. For ticket information, call the Wharton Center Box Office at (517)432-2000 or 1-800-WHARTON.
