Tilghman to perform in Vagina Monologues

Who knew vaginas had feelings too? This weekend vaginas take center stage at Frist Performance Theatre as a group of female students presents the fourth annual production of the "Vagina Monologues" by Eve Ensler.

This production, directed by Jessica Brondo '04 and Jade Guanchez '05 and sponsored by Wym'onStage, OWL and SHARE is part of V-Day, an event organized by Ensler in 1998 to address the worldwide issue of violence against women.

"The Vagina Monologues" originated as a solo monologue performed by Ensler and won an Obie award in 1997.

When she began working on the play, Ensler interviewed women from diverse backgrounds in order to find out what they really thought about their sexuality and, more directly, their vaginas.

From these interviews, Ensler crafted a work that combined a gamut of complex emotions with a variety of powerful characters and voices.

"This play touches so many different people," Brondo said.

"Different women relate to different monologues. The pieces are often funny and spontaneous, but at the same time they have important meanings behind them."

Brondo said she hopes the monologues, some of which deal with rape, genital mutilation and the Taliban, will inform and inspire the audience to take action.

These monologues speak to men as well as to women, "awakening men to some of things they were not aware of and removing a lot of the myths about female sexuality," Brondo added.

"The Vagina Monologues" addresses a wide range of situations facing women all over the world, creating a sense of shared experiences among women of many different cultural backgrounds and bringing serious issues to the attention of the audience.

But while "The Vagina Monologues" addresses many important issues in today's society, it has not failed to generate controversy.

The original version of the play included a monologue titled "The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could" that depicted an encounter between a 24 year-old woman and a 13 year-old girl in which the woman plies the girl with alcohol and then sexually seduces her.

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Because the rape was portrayed in a positive light, with the child even calling it a "good rape," many audience members were enraged by what they considered to be the hypocrisy of the play.

While the play denounced male violence against women it seemed to glorify female-on-female rape. Though this scene was eventually removed from the script, controversy over the seeming double standard still continues on college campuses throughout the country.

But Brondo insists that despite the controversies surrounding the play, "The Vagina Monologues" is still an important piece that touches a broad spectrum of people.

"Controversy is welcome because it stirs up a reaction from the audience," Brondo said. "All the monologues are appropriate for different reasons, and they do not contain anti-male sentiment.

"While some of the monologues address very serious issues, others address positive experiences with vaginas as well as presenting humorous situations such as one vagina's anger over tampons and gynecological procedures."

Each year a new monologue is added to the play in order to address a specific issue related to violence against women.

This year the new piece deals with the trials faced by Native American women for whom the rate of rape is 3.5 times higher than that of women from other ethnic groups.

The production will also feature special performances by President Tilghman on Saturday afternoon as well as Dr. Thema Bryant, coordinator of the SHARE program, on Thursday evening.

Both women will present three "vagina facts" that highlight different aspects of the vagina - facts that are happy, sad or simply outrageous, Gaunchez said.

V-Day, an event that will take place this weekend on college campuses and at corporate venues around the world, attempts to foster open discussion about sexual issues as well as make men and women more aware of the staggering rate of sexual abuse and violence committed against women.

Other activities are also organized for V-Day in order to increase awareness of violence.

For example, a white ribbon campaign has distributed ribbons to men as a way for them to demonstrate their opposition to violence against women.

Also, proceeds from the production will directly go to charities committed to addressing violence against women.

Seventy-five percent of the money will go to WomenSpace, a female activist organization, and the remaining 25 percent will go to benefit Native American women.

"These monologues are an example of strong women sharing their stories and taking a stand against violence," said Anna Evans '03, one of the cast members.

"Domestic violence victims are predominantly female. Rape victims are predominantly female. Sexual harassment victims are predominantly female. We have yet to have a female president. The job of the feminist is far from over."