Vagina Monologues “Until the Violence Stops”

Women short and tall, curvaceous and slender, young and old took the stage as hysterical, angry, over-the-top, and cheery beings in an attempt to educate and raise awareness of today’s unfortunate reality of female mutilation, the removal of the clitoris. “Until the Violence Stops,” a Vagina Monologues V-day production, celebrates women’s sexuality and raises funds to end brutality towards women.
 
“My goal in this performance was essentially to inspire viewers. It ended up being so much more than that though!” says Kalie Kubes, performer and University of Texas at Austin sophomore. “I think I speak for each and almost every woman on that stage when I say that we feel a new sense of strength and confidence as women.”
 
Vagina Monologues celebrates V-day, a global movement to end violence against women of all ages. V-season lasts from February 1 to April 30 and hosts a plethora of performances and events in high schools, college campuses, and within communities to shed light on this harsh reality.
 
“I’ve learned more about myself, how I behave, advocate, and respond to various situations involving women, men, youth, and children,” says Lauren Kinast, ASL Vagina Monologues Organizer. “I am more sensitive and aware of the women’s movement.”
 
This year, Services for Students with Disabilities at UT teamed up with the SafePlace Deaf Services Program to conduct the second American Sign Language Vagina Monologues production.  Real life experiences were signed by 13 female volunteers at Austin Community College’s Eastview campus.
 
“This is the second performance put on with support from the Services for Students with Disabilities office here at UT,” says Kinast. “We hosted this in 2009 on campus, but due to UT being so big and the deaf community not being familiar with finding buildings, we decided to do this off campus at ACC where there are deaf community events held often.”
 
 
Some performances told the stories of battered women that suffered from female mutilation–something three million women a year experience–while other performances took a confident and playful approach to celebrate women’s sexuality.
 
Kalie Kubes performed for the first time in ASL Vagina Monologues. Kubes performed “Because He Liked to Look At It,” the story of a woman that was ashamed of her vagina until one partner took particular interest in it.
 
“The most valuable lesson I learned from the Vagina Monologues is to love myself for who I am,” says Kubes. “Through the Vagina Monologues I learned how to appreciate my body, accept my differences, and feel like a powerful woman who can make a difference in this world, no matter how many times people put me down.”
 
In the future, the deaf community in Austin plans to reach out to surrounding cities such as Houston and Dallas in an effort to rotate performances each year.
 
“The deaf community is often ‘screaming’ for Broadway shows and performances done in ASL,” says Kinast.“Yet an actual Broadway show like Beauty and the Beast or Wicked is rare if ever in ASL in the Austin area, only through interpreters.I hope to do this every two years.”
 
V-season continues to educate and empower women all over the country. Women are uniting to overcome this epidemic and love themselves for who they are.
 
“Vagina Monologues are known to have such an amazing impact on women all over the world and on their self-esteem and confidence,” says Kubes. “I knew I wanted to get up on that stage and inspire women to feel beautiful in their own skin.”