If your vagina could speak, what would it say? Members of the Women Involved in Learning and Leadership program asked this question Wednesday night when they performed excerpts from the popular “The Vagina Monologues.” The performance was a part of a global V-Day movement which seeks to end violence against women.
The yearly production took place in the University Center Ballroom and was free to students. The ballroom was partitioned in half to fit a smaller audience. About 50 people attended, and seemed to receive the play well.
“The Vagina Monologues” is a unique play th at came out in the mid-’90s which features varying monologues about women’s issues, most of them focusing on the vagina as a source of empowerment. Working with a small cast, WILL chose a limited amount of monologues, including “My Angry Vagina,” about the frustrations of feminine hygiene and “Reclaiming Cunt,” that discusses the beauty of the word cunt in spite of social stigma. Difficult subjects such as rape, violence and genital mutilation were also covered.
Nathan Epstein, a senior majoring in computer science, and Amanda Barcelon, who attends Johns Hopkins school of Radiography, came out to support their friend who was in the performance. Neither had seen “The Vagina Monologues” and enjoyed it but Epstein had an issue with a few of the stories.
Epstein said, “there were some that were good, some were informative and important and some I didn’t like as much.”
Epstein didn’t get the point of “My Angry Vagina,” where the woman complained that tampons were an invasive necessity. He didn’t understand the vitriol toward the simple hygiene product.
“I was like, can you just do whatever you want? Is there someone following you around telling you what to do?,” Epstein elaborated.
Barcelon had a more positive perspective “The Vagina Monologues.”
“I could relate to it a lot,” she said. “It was conceptual. It was a different experience. I wish people talked about vaginas more often.”
Ayanna Holcomb, who graduated from Bowie College as a psychology major, also came to support a friend who performed. After seeing the performance, Holcomb wished she had seen “The Vagina Monologues” sooner.
“I feel like a latecomer in so many different things and this was one of those things,” she said. “But I think it’s on time because, in this period of my life, I can really appreciate and resonate with a lot of the monologues.”
“It’s really inspirational to see people when they’re passionate, to see that translate.”
