One woman’s idea inspires legions of women (and men) to stand up and speak out.
by Nicole Elsasser, with files by Zack Macrae
“You can’t love a vagina unless you love hair…”
“My vagina is angry, it is, it is pissed off…”
“My mama told me to stop scratching my coochie snorcher…”
Melissa Strickland just had to meet Eve Ensler.
The theatre was packed and Ensler, creator of the Vagina Monologues and founder of the V-Day movement, was on stage in a Toronto theatre performing an excerpt from her latest book. The audience was captivated by Ensler; struck by the power of her person, her words and their importance.
Inspired by the performance, Strickland, a Women’s Studies student at the University of Guelph, was determined to sneak backstage with her friends to meet the icon.
And she did just that.
“It was probably the coolest thing in my life,” said Strickland.
After getting the opportunity to talk with Ensler, Strickland was affected to take on a much larger role with the Vagina Monologues. This year she is both producing the play as well as performing a monologue herself, “I Was There In The Room,” which was written by Ensler about the birth of her granddaughter.
Ensler wrote the Vagina Monologues, after conducting a series of interviews with women encouraging them to share their views on sex, relationships and violence against women. The Monologues have been performed since 1996.
The play is structured as a series of episodes discussing various aspects of female sexuality, and by extension, a woman’s relationship with her vagina.
“On a global scale [The Vagina Monologues] are to raise awareness about men’s violence against women. To name it, to say it and then to support the survivors,” said Strickland. “On campus the monologues act as a vehicle to create awareness … our campus is 70 per cent women, so this is a prevalent issue for a lot of people on campus.”
While for some the monologues can be an uncomfortable experience, Strickland sees the honesty in the monologues as an important agent in creating a safe space for victims of sexual violence.
“It offers a place of support for these women,” said Strickland. “Some of the women that come and try out for the play have seen, or heard [of], or survived some really horrific things … It gives them a venue to try these things out in a really safe space.”
Since the creation of the Vagina Monologues, Ensler’s movement to empower women and encourage discussion around sexual violence has inspired other plays, including A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and a Prayer (MMRP) which will appear along with The Vagina Monologues from Feb. 5 to 7 at venues on the University of Guelph.
Encompassing both plays and a variety of related workshops is V Day, a campaign founded by Ensler in 2004 that serves to raise awareness about sexual violence as well as fundraise for both local and international organizations seeking to empower women.
Ensler does not charge money for the rights to her plays when performed as part of a V Day campaign. This allows for more money to go to organizations that support and empower women.
Ian Pietras, an event co-ordinator for V Day, said that while the campaign will be raising money for Guelph Women in Crisis and the Wellness Centre on the U of G campus, it will also be raising money for a global organization which they call the “global spotlight.” For the second time, this year’s V Day campaign will be raising money for “Women in the Congo.”
Pietras said the “Women in the Congo” organization is establishing what they call The City of Joy project, a community centered around a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that works with rape victims from war. It is the only hospital of its kind in the area. According to Pietras, because of the violent conflict that continues to plague the DRC, close to 500,000 woman and girls have been raped or have experienced sexual violence. After the sexual assault, nearly all women suffer a certain amount of discrimination because of the stigma surrounding rape in the DRC. This, Pietras explains demonstrates how crucial it is to have a community like the City of Joy where woman can be supported by and support other victims.
Each year, in an effort to comment on the continuous presence of violence against women, Ensler writes a new monologue to be the Vagina Monologues. This year the spotlight monologue will focus on women working in the sex trade in the DRC.
Along with the two plays, this year’s V Day events at Guelph will include a V Man workshop, which, according to Pietras, allows men to get more involved in the V Day movement.
“You can’t really look to end violence against women unless you’re including men,” said Pietras. “It’s basically a safe space for men to go in and talk about gender violence and their feelings on it.”
Pietras said that through the V Men workshops, a new play will be created for the following year’s V Day campaign addressing the role of men in stopping gender violence.
This action to include men in the V Day movement flies directly in the face of the common criticism that the Vagina Monologues are solely performed by woman and therefore not inclusive.
According to Strickland, it’s simply the sensitive nature of the monologues, that women are the soul performers in the Vagina Monologues.
“The big thing is that the monologues themselves are written by women, so it’s women being portrayed,” said Strickland. “These monologues are really hard to deal with, and for a lot of these women, they need a really safe space to convey these stories.”
This being said, Strickland maintains that there is definitely a place for men in the V Day movement and the fight against violence toward women.
“It takes a strong man to be a feminist. It takes a strong man to stand up [against] violence against women and to stand up for women’s rights,” said Strickland. “It’s not about being feminine. It’s not about being anything but who you are. [It’s] just about standing up and supporting equality.”
Strickland says that many men can be effected by the message of the Vagina Monologues as an audience member. In support of these men, organizers of V Day at the U of G decided to allow an opportunity for men to be more directly involved. While men are not allowed to perform in or direct the Vagina Monologues, both men and women perform in MMRP.
“The big reason that we introduced MMRP into our plays this year is that it’s important in this fight for equality and this fight against violence against women to have men on board,” said Strickland. “So many men are effected … all these men are coming forward and saying, ‘You know we’ve had experiences surrounding this, we have female friends, and mothers, and sisters and we need to talk about it too.’”
Alyssa England, director of MMRP and a first-year student at the U of G, echoed these sentiments when trying to articulate the difference between The Vagina Monologues and MMRP.
“We are trying to get the male point of view. I think that’s pretty important,” said England. “Definitely something that differentiates MMRP from the Vagina Monologues is that it does include [men]. It focuses very much on sexual violence and different situations where there has been sexual violence somewhere and some people wouldn’t even consider it [significant].”
Pietras sees the main difference between the two plays in the general tone of the performances.
“The Vagina Monologues is looking at sexual violence as well as female sexuality and there are pieces that are funny and there are pieces that are very serious,” said Pietras. “MMRP is more just serious pieces looking at sexual violence.”
No matter the tone of the performance or whether the play is performed only by women or by men as well, it’s hard to ignore a strong use of the theatrical medium in furthering the aims of V Day. According to Pietras, the medium is very well suited to the kind of messages being conveyed and the overall mission of the V Day campaign.
“It’s a really creative way to bring about this topic and it’s a way of being able to engage a lot of people,” said Pietras. “It’s a fairly intimate and interactive setting where you have to sit there and listen to what’s being presented to you. It’s a really good way of bringing the subject to a lot of people that wouldn’t normally be listening or just conscious of the issue that’s happening.”
With the mission to spread a message of gender equality and the empowerment of women, the productions seem to be well on their way to actualizing this goal. With only a few days remaining before the Vagina Monologues are performed at War Memorial Hall and MMRP hits the stage at the Bullring, both on the U of G campus, tickets for the plays are almost entirely sold out. Strickland is optimistic about the campaign but urges newcomers to the Vagina Monologues and its sister initiatives, not to be intimidated by the potentially sensitive subject matter.
“I hope that [people] come in very open to what they are about to see,” said Strickland. “I hope [people] come in relaxed. It’s a movement but it’s also a play. A lot of it is very comedic. We are here to perform for you. We are here to make you laugh, we are here to make you think, and we are here to entertain.”