The Vagina Monologues excite and inform the crowd at War Memorial last weekend
Written by Kelsey Rideout

It’s only once a year that War Memorial Hall becomes packed with women talking about their vaginas, proud men wearing dress shirts reading “this is what a feminist looks like,” and couples smiling affectionately towards each other, while enjoying an on-stage production and licking chocolate “pussy-pops.”

Indeed, the Vagina Monologues is far off from a typical play. And to the delight of many, the one-of-a-kind show was performed on campus this past Friday evening.

The play opened with a simple set that consisted of a single couch and nearly a dozen women sitting, relaxing, and chatting together. The women made no delays about expressing their steadfast frustrations with one another – they were all mutually worried about the state of womens’ vaginas.

Monologue after monologue, the actresses defended that concern, depicting a wide range of problems that women and their vaginas are faced with on an ongoing basis.

Amanda Kutner, a second year theatre student, explained the whirlwind of emotions that she was going through, during and after performing her piece, “The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could”.

“I feel shaky. There is excitement everywhere. Once you get on the stage it’s nervousness, and once you get off, it’s just excitement. Everyone responded so positively to everything…I was so happy there were so many males in the audience, taking such an active part in it.”

After many daily five-hour rehearsals, Vagina Monologues executive producer Melissa Strickland was glowing with pride after seeing the play come together on stage.

“These girls blew my mind,” said Strickland. “I feel so excited. I’m so grateful for this cast and I can’t get over how amazing they are.”

This year’s organizers emphasized that the play was about much more than women gossiping about their “titas,” “G-spots” and “beavers.” The Vagina Monologues raises funds for the V-Day Campaign, a global movement to end violence against women and girls. The money collected from Friday’s performance went towards aiding the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation plagued with war and femicide, the deliberate destruction of women and their bodies.

Ian Pietras, one of the executive event coordinators of the Vagina Monologues, discussed why it is so critical that men attend the play and absorb the script’s main messages centered on anti-violence.

“It’s extremely important to have males involved, and to get more males involved … as men are mostly the perpetrators. If men are not getting involved, we cannot stop violence against women,” Pietras explained
From ranting about the idiocy of cotton tampons to showing the horrors of sexual violence used against women as a tactic of war, the Vagina Monologues was captivating, leaving the audience laughing, crying and yelling “cunt” at the top of their lungs.

But at its core, the performance was certainly intended to help inspire the audience to make a difference for women everywhere.