A Proud Vagina

Amber Reed

Undergraduate/Creative Writing

            When this is published, it will be about one week from my favorite time of year: Vagina Season. I’m talking, of course, about The Vagina Monologues, and all of the wonderful vagina filled days leading up to it. If you’re reading this and asking, “Amber, what is The Vagina Monologues, and why should I care?”, then I’m happy you asked.

WHAT IS THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES? :

            The Vagina Monologues is a collection of monologues originally put together as a play written by Eve Ensler[1]. Because of these monologues, all of which “somehow relate to the vagina, be it through sex, love, rape, menstruation, mutilation, masturbation, birth, orgasm, the variety of names for the vagina, or simply as a physical aspect of the body,”[2] Ensler, along with others, started the national V-Day campaign, the motto of which is, “Until the Violence Stops.”[3] The violence, of course, refers to sexual violence and assault against women. “A recurring theme throughout the [monologues] is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality,”[4] and thus, by adapting these women’s stories (yes, stories about vaginas, but much, much more) from Ensler’s play, UWEC brings awareness to campus every year through this charity event that I am honored to have been a part of since my arrival here three years ago.

            Every year the women involved, and the stories we all hear, both from cast and guests, are phenomenal. I couldn’t imagine my college experience without the VMONs and these women. It really brings each and every kind of woman together, fighting for something we all, and everyone should, feel so strongly about. I have learned so much about not only the cause that the VMONs address and the campaign that V-Day runs, but about myself as well. This year we had an unbelievable amount of women audition for parts in the show, and that in itself, the idea that we’ve reached so many, and that the movement is catching on as it should be, is payment enough for putting the time and effort into the show. And the VMONs do not only benefit those in the cast.

            Each year the proceeds from the show, and the silent auction that accompanies it, are split up between the Bolton Refuge House and CASA (the Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault), both here in Eau Claire, and the Global V-Day Campaign’s charity focus. This year that focus is the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the hopes to establish a “refuge from genital mutilation.”[5] And (if you don’t mind me getting all mushy-gushy on you) I think everyone in attendance walks away a little richer.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? :

             Because you’re a woman. Or because you have a mother, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, and they’re women. Because if this were happening to you or the women you love, you would want someone to help you. We have the voice, and the power to help, to make a change. And if it were you, wouldn’t you want someone to be your voice when you’re being forced into silence? We all have the power to help and we can all give that voice and that strength to women in need all over the world, and right here in our own back yard, through the performances of The Vagina Monologues put on by V-Day chapter on our campus and WAGE (Women’s and Gender Equality). Whether you have chosen to be part of the cast, to volunteer to help with the set, stage, or auction, or to attend the show to support the women on stage and the women around the world…you’re helping, you’re speaking up. So why, when it is so easy to lend a hand, would you not stand up for women everywhere “until the violence stops”?

For information on tickets and show times visit the Facebook page or the Service Center in Davies.