Students who want to expand their intimate knowledge of female genitalia will be able to satisfy their needs Valentine’s Day weekend by watching “The Vagina Monologues” on campus.
Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” a show that promotes female empowerment and redefines the taboos surrounding female genitalia, will be performed Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m in Ryan Family Auditorium.
This year’s performance will include several new components, including a student-produced documentary.
“The show will feature women who are telling stories about their lives, in turn reclaiming the negativity that society associates with the vagina,” said Communication senior
Win-Sie Tow, the artistic producer of the show.
Sponsored by Women’s Coalition, the monologues are part of V-Day, an internationally celebrated movement that falls around Valentine’s Day and promotes ending violence
toward women.
Each year Women’s Coalition donates the money generated from the show to charities that benefit women. This year’s beneficiary is the Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, an organization that helps women cope with the disease and lead ordinary lives.
“We’re trying to support different women who have hardships that we don’t necessarily equate with womanhood,” Tow said. “We always choose the charity that needs our help the most, where our donations make more of an impact.”
Although the gist of the show remains the same each year, Eva Ensler, the show’s writer, tweaks the monologues every one to two years.
This year’s show will feature a new monologue called “They Beat the Girl out of my Boy. Or So They Tried,” which portrays transgender individuals reacting to discrimination.
“The new (dialogue) is very dynamic because it deals with transgender issues in a very direct way,” said Communication sophomore Barrak Alzaid, the business producer of the show.
The show is composed of a 10-person cast that takes turns sitting on stools on stage to tell their stories. This year’s show also will feature a documentary of interviews with minority women. The film, produced by Tow, also showcases interviews with men discussing their views on female genitalia.
Most of those who tried out for the show were white women, but Tow said Women’s Coalition wanted to include more minority voices.
“We wanted to give a voice to minority women to speak about their vagina, and also give men an opportunity to think about issues that typically deal with the female sphere,” Tow said.
Ninety minutes before the show, students will have a chance to test their intimate knowledge of female sexuality at the “vagina carnival” in the lobby outside the auditorium.
Several student groups will host booths in the lobby that give out free condoms and feature games like “place the clit on the vagina” and “vagina origami.”
Students also can enter a raffle to win sex toys, T-shirts and tickets to “The Last Five Years,” a student production opening in March.
“The carnival is just a way raise awareness for various issues relating to the show,” Alzaid said. “We’re trying to get people used to the word ‘vagina’ before they go in and watch the show.”
Tickets for the show are $5 and can be purchased the Norris Box Office or at the door.
Reach Allan Madrid at [email protected].
