Usually these questions come from males, who think the show is about bashing men, or from women, who are afraid of the terminology. It also comes from people who might be ignorant of the movement overall. When I hear these questions, I tell them they shouldn’t get their hopes up about seeing our vaginas, but they should listen to what the show is about.

The Vagina Monologues is a series of monologues based on women’s stories as they were told to the author Eve Ensler. Just to be clear, it does not include vaginal appearances.

Besides, could you imagine being a co-director and hosting auditions for a show where people actually showed their vaginas?! No matter how much love I have for this movement, that is just too much literal vagina in my face.

I normally respond by saying, “You came out of a vagina and you love them in one way or another, so investing in a minute of your time is well worth it.”

The show is meant to open people’s eyes to the prevalence of assault here in the community and globally. We do this through a range of skits ranging from gut-busters to tearjerkers.

I have never heard a bad review about the show from someone who gave it a chance, and that’s what I’m hoping people will do this weekend when the show is performed at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.

I understand there’s some animosity about what we do.

At Sparticipation or while hanging flyers in the area, I’ve seen people rip down our signs or insult us, and I assume that’s because people are uncomfortable.

The word vagina is taboo in society, and some people don’t understand the importance of the movement. But just because you might be a little bit uncomfortable doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give the show a chance.

As a cast, we want The Vagina Monologues audience to realize they should not be afraid to say vagina.

We also aim to fight back against victim blaming and slut shaming. Instead of seeing someone as weak for having a vagina, we should see them as strong individuals who fight against prejudices.

I also don’t want people to think this production is a product of man-hating lesbians. All sexual identifiers, all genders and all ages are welcome.

We have a rising number of males every year as audience members and as survivors who thank us for giving them a space to be cared about.

This show is meant to bring people together who want to stop sexual and domestic violence, and we need men in this fight now more than ever.

Men are also affected by these crimes and we as a cast want to show men that we care about them just as much as the women in and out of the audience.

Our goal is to change your perspective on the way you view the world.

As an advocate and a castmate, I ask you to put aside your judgments and skepticism and join The Vagina Monologues family this weekend.

Kimberly Kaiser is a women’s and gender studies senior and co-director of The Vagina Monologues. Reach her at kaiserki@msu.edu.