‘Monologues’ kicks off V-Day celebration

By Desiree Marx
Western Herald

(Brooke Klenow / Western Herald) Meghan Madigan, a recent graduate of WMU, performs her monologue on Friday night for Vagina Monologues at the Dalton Center Recital Hall.

Women and men packed the Dalton Center Recital Hall on Friday night to hear the “The Vagina Monologues.”
The monologues where made famous by Eve Ensler in 1996 after she compiled over 200 interviews with women. The interviews where done with women of different race, age, occupation and sexual orientation. They where asked about their experiences with sex, violence and relationships.

The WMU student organization Womyn’s Equality performs “The Vagina Monologues” annually in support of V-Day, a movement started by Ensler to stop violence against women.
Members of Womyn’s Equality perform the 16 individual monologues that complete the play. Each monologue represents either one woman’s interview or multiple interviews pieced together. The monologues discussed everything from pubic hair to rape.

The show began with an introduction of the many names attributed to the word vagina. The performers said the word itself is used infrequently and is often considered unsexy. They sought to change this view.
One of the most memorable performances of the night was called “If Your Vagina … ?”

Each woman stepped up to the microphone and gave her own unique answer to the questions, such as “If your vagina got dressed, what would it wear?” and “If your vagina could speak, what would it say?”

(Brooke Klenow / Western Herald) WMU alumni Jenna Pagan catches some laughs with her moaning impressions during her monologue on Friday night in the performance of Vagina Monologues at Dalton Center Recital Hall.

To this question the women replied in unison: “Slow down,” causing an eruption of laughter from the audience.

The most intriguing aspect of the show was it’s ability to reach women of any age or sexual orientation. One monologue was based on the story of a 72-year-old woman who had never experienced an orgasm, another told the experience of a 16-year-old girl who discovered her true self after being kissed by an older woman.
The show provided many laughs, but also touched on serious topics.

Ann Warsop shocked the audience with the chilling facts regarding the female mutilation practices that are still happening to three million women a year in 28 countries.

The audience was silent as Angela Simon performed “My Vagina Was My Village,” a monologue based on an interview with one of the many women raped by soldiers during the Bosnian War.

The last monologue, “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,” generated the most laughter of the night. Performed by Jenna Pagan, the performance was based on the interview with a dominatrix specializing in female clientele.

Pagan ended the segment by imitating the multitude of moans her character hears on the job; including the college moan, “Shh, my roommates can hear,” and the Western Michigan University moan, “Hurry up! I’m getting a parking ticket.”

The WMU personal touch was embraced by the audience.

As the performers took the stage for the curtain call they were met with a well-deserved body of applause that ranged from warm clapping to uproarious cheering that mirrored the mix of emotions Ensler’s Monologues evoke.

The Womyn’s Equality student organization is the only registered feminist group on campus. According to their mission statement, they strive to live in a society that is free from sexism, classism, racism, able-ism, size-ism, ageism, heterosexism and homophobia. They meet every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in the faculty lounge in the Bernhard Center.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 8 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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