February 14th. V-Day. This year, I learned that date doesn’t just stand for Valentine’s Day. It’s also the day honoring an important movement to end violence against women that started in 2002. The catalyst for this movement is Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues. These monologues were crafted by Ensler based on hundreds of interviews with women. Originally designed to celebrate a part of the body that is typically thought of as taboo, some of the more serious monologues have transformed Ensler’s work into the V-day movement.
Northeastern hosted a showing of The Vagina Monologues through the Northeastern University Feminist Student Organization to celebrate V-Day. 100% of profits from the tickets of the show were donated to Rosie’s Place, the first women’s shelter in the United States that provides food, shelter, and educational services.
The show started off very funny, with amusing anecdotes about common terms for the vagina, which is often called anything except its proper name (Lists), what vaginas are supposed to look like according to men and the media (Hair), and what women believed their vagina would say or dress like. According to the monologues, women don’t often think about that part of their body as a part of their whole self, which is a direct foil to how men often think of their penises.
In the midst of jokes, there were messages about what the women that Ensler interviewed thought about their bodies. Most had been ashamed of their vaginas and the idea of sex at some point in their lives. Some never got over this shame, but some became empowered by other people in their lives and began to see themselves as beautiful as a whole.
The funniest monologue for me personally was My Angry Vagina, which is a rant about things like tampons and trips to the OB/GYN and how women are taught to hide their natural femininity. However, in addition to humor and body acceptance, the play also touches upon much more serious topics, such as rape, assault, and the abuse of transgender individuals. I think all of those topics were important to include, because although many do not like to face it, assaults on both women and transgenders happen all of the time all over the world. Unless this is recognized, nothing will change.
The show made people laugh and cry and each monologue had an effect on the audience’s heart in some way. Most girls has felt ashamed of their bodies or sexuality at some point… or proud, or fed up, or empowered. Each monologue recognized that, whether it was about empowerment being found or taken away. No matter the story being told, the show never stopped being captivating. Yes, some of the content is controversial and a question of morals, but when isn’t a topic related to sex a question of morals? The overlying arc of every monologue is that a women’s vagina and her sexual choices are hers.
If you didn’t get the chance to see the show, I would advise you to next year. Ensler’s message is one that every person deserves to hear.