Vagina. Vagina. Vagina. Having been employed as a writer for over four years, that’s exactly triple the number of times I’ve written that particular word. And that, at least in part, is the idea behind The Vagina Monologues, the much-celebrated play by Eve Ensler, which is based on interviews with hundreds of women from all over the world. It delves into the many issues surrounding women, their bodies and sexuality, exploring the funny, outrageous and tragic. The play, and the anti-violence movement it spawned, is coming to Charlotte.
In the mid-90s, when Ensler first started performing the piece — which contains monologues like “If Your Vagina Got Dressed, What Would It Wear?” and “My Angry Vagina” — it immediately struck a chord. Women in both small towns and large cities connected with the play’s message of empowerment and sisterhood. It also helped remove some of the taboos associated with the word, allowing women to speak freely about what is usually the most private of all their, well, private parts.
The play has also managed to change what was once considered a controversial and outrageous issue into a mainstream phenomenon, championed by celebrities, discussed on talk shows, and written about in newspapers. Indeed, never before has the “V-word” been so, um, in your face. It isn’t every day one can take in a play and see a revolving cast of women talk frankly and openly about everything from rape, childbirth and sex to feminine products and the many names there are for female genitalia.
More important than helping do away with stigmas or talking openly about sexuality, the play also revealed the personal, social, political and economic consequences of violence against women. As Ensler would finish her performances, audience members would often linger behind to tell her about their own struggles with violence and abuse. This inspired Ensler, a longtime feminist and activist, to start V-Day in 1998, now an annual and worldwide movement that celebrates women and calls for the end of abuse. The “V” stands for victory, valentine and vagina — the organization proclaims Valentine’s Day as V-Day until the violence stops.
In five years, the play and the movement have experienced amazing success, topped off last year at a V-Day event in Madison Square Garden attended by 18,000 people. So how do you top that?
“We went grassroots and global,” said Jerri Lynn Fields, development and communication director for V-Day. Specifically, the organization contacted colleges and cities it had worked with in the past, and set up a calendar of events anchored around Valentine’s Day. Eve gave up the rights to her play from February to April so different venues could put on benefit performances, and funnel the money back into the community.
Karen Obel is director of the V-Day College Campaign, and says that since the campaign was launched in 1998, it has grown from 65 participating schools in the US and Canada to 550 worldwide.
“The growth has been exponential, impressive, and it says there is a need and desire for such a movement,” Obel said. “There is a worldwide problem of violence against women and girls. What makes V-Day work is that it presents a solution to this problem in an unusual way — it’s activism through theater and arts.”
It was this global, grassroots movement that allowed Angelina Corbet to first see The Vagina Monologues in February 2001 at Davidson College as part of V-Day’s 2001 College Campaign. Corbet, who is founder of the Mobius Company, which does personal coaching and facilitation work, was so inspired by the experience she organized a local steering committee and started V-Day Charlotte, a local chapter of the national organization. It’s designed to help raise money and awareness about violence against women in the Queen City.
“One out of every three murder victims in this city is a victim of domestic violence,” Corbet said. “On average, a woman is raped every other day. So it occurred to me in looking at the play that wouldn’t it be wonderful if a city named after a woman distinguished itself by not tolerating violence against women.”
In addition to educating the public and creating an anti-violence coalition, V-Day Charlotte is also sponsoring this week’s production of The Vagina Monologues at Spirit Square (one of over 800 performances scheduled throughout the world during V-Day 2002). The production will draw from members of the Charlotte community, including business people, actresses and local celebrities.
“As you do any kind of project like this you have to stop every once in a while and take stock,” Corbet said. “For all the ups and downs this committee has had, we really feel blessed and grateful to be able to serve the women and girls of Charlotte.”
UNC-Charlotte will also host performances of the play as part of the V-Day 2002 College Campaign.
From Fringe To Phenomenon
While feminist beliefs have existed throughout history, feminism as an organized movement didn’t become widespread in Europe and the United States until the mid-1800s. At that time, women were barred by law from voting in elections or serving on juries, and most institutions of higher education as well as most professional careers were closed to women. Despite strong opposition, feminism grew in power during the 1800s and 1900s and won a number of new rights for women.
At first, the feminist movement concentrated on gaining legal equality –especially the right to vote, called suffrage. Women in the US and many European nations finally obtained the right to mark a ballot during the early 1900s.
During the mid-1900s, as more women entered the labor force, they found that many high-paying jobs were closed to them, and that they were being paid less for the same jobs compared to their male counterparts. During the 1960s and 1970s, groups like The National Organization for Women (NOW), and untold numbers of grassroots feminist (or “women’s liberation,” in 70s terms) groups fought to end educational and job discrimination against women, and to bring issues important to women into the mainstream. Large numbers of women entered law, medicine, politics, business, and other traditionally male fields. Feminists worked for wider availability of birth control information and legalized abortion. They also called for men and women to share childcare and other family responsibilities. While many people regard the feminist movement –and the resulting changes in the status of women — as a turning point in the history of society, many stress there is still far to go.
So while V-Day and The Vagina Monologues are by no means the first example of women organizing into a sort of movement, they’re certainly making a significant cultural and social impact. But just how did a small, one-woman show manage to grow into an off-Broadway hit, get translated into 25 languages, spark worldwide anti-violence campaigns and grassroots initiatives, help raise more than $7 million for charities, and this Valentine’s Day, debut on HBO?
“I think it reached an audience that wasn’t necessarily looking to get involved in violence-against-women issues,” said Lynn Fields. “I think these women were just looking to go see a play. But then they listened to the monologues and they were moved. Secondly, for women who have been involved in women’s movements, it’s really refreshing to have an organization that is very clear about its mission — we’re here to end violence. Period.”
Corbet says the play and V-Day movement are indeed a social phenomenon, and it’s no stretch to compare them to other feminist milestones of the 60s and 70s. However, Corbet points out that the reason why so many women are connecting to the movement is, unfortunately, because so many of them have experienced violence.
“What we’ve discovered over the past six or seven months while organizing V-Day Charlotte is that so many women have someone in their lives who has been touched by violence — a family member, a co-worker, a friend. It may have been domestic violence, rape, abuse as a child — the problem is rampant. That’s how this movement has grown so quickly. And that’s what’s so shocking — not the play, but the amount of violence in our society. So each monologue resonates differently with each person, depending on his or her experiences. There have even been men in the audiences who will admit that a particular monologue resonates with them.”
But do people really like discussing vaginas that much? Would “The Penis Monologues” elicit such attention?
“Every day is a penis monologue,” argues Jennifer Pruitt, a 23-year-old graduate student at UNC-Charlotte who helped spearhead the upcoming UNCC production of The Vagina Monologues. “You can say penis all you want and it’s no big deal. But there is still a big taboo associated with just saying vagina. It’s that taboo that keeps women quiet, and leads to society thinking women can be treated in certain ways.”
Pruitt said her interest in The Vagina Monologues was first piqued after reading about it in a woman’s magazine. “To me, it represented standing up for women’s rights and fighting violence,” she said. “The play has become an outlet to help combat violence against women and girls.”
Pruitt first broached the idea of a UNCC production of the play back in August. She said the faculty’s initial reactions were a bit wary.
“We would ask staff members to participate, and they would write back and say, ‘Thank you for inviting me to the above-mentioned program,'” Pruitt said. “They wouldn’t even call it by its name. That just showed me there are some people who are really uncomfortable with who they are, and these are women.”
Pruitt, who moved here from Lynchburg, VA, said some of these attitudes surprised her. “When I first moved here I thought, ‘Wow, I’m coming to a big city, it’s going to be more liberal and open-minded.’ And I was really surprised when it wasn’t, especially on a college campus with 18,000 people.”
However, she said once word got around that they were planning a performance, the students’ reactions were great, especially during the casting call. “We were thinking it would be fantastic if eight people showed up, and close to 30 people responded. So it’s been really amazing.”
So as The Vagina Monologues continue to make an impact at colleges and cities across the country, supporters and activists say the movement — because of its message and where we are as a people — is destined to leave a global mark.
“As a global movement, we’re about human rights,” said Lynn Field. “As long as you have a country that doesn’t value women, then human rights really don’t exist in that country. Afghanistan is a perfect example of this. What’s happening is that after 9/11 there is a heightened awareness of human rights issues, and specifically women’s rights issues. It’s all sort of coming together.”
“I think we’re at a wonderful crossroads in our culture,” Corbet said. “We have an opportunity to look at what has happened to women and girls and say this is not what we’re about as a city, a state, a country or a planet. It’s time to start making decisions from a place of love and acceptance, rather than a place of violence and hate.”
The benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues to be held on February 9, 2002 at McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square is sold out. To learn more about V-Day Charlotte, call 704 489-6439 or email the organization at vdayclt@bellsouth.net. To learn more about V-Day, the V-Day Worldwide Campaign or the V-Day College Campaign, visit www.vday.org
Women’s Programs and the Dean of Students Office at UNC Charlotte will present The Vagina Monologues at 7pm Friday-Saturday, February 15-16, and at 2pm Sunday, February 17, in the After Hours area of Cone University Center. Tickets are $5 for students, $8 for UNCC faculty and staff, and $10 for the general public. For information or tickets, call 704-687-3899.
Two additional events are scheduled at UNCC during the week of the performances. A rape defense workshop is set for 6:30pm Wednesday, February 13, at a campus location to be announced. The Vagina Carnival will be held from 2 to 4pm Friday, February 15, in After Hours prior to the first night of the production. The carnival will feature booths from groups such as the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, the Shelter for Battered Women and Women 1st.
Contact Sam Boykin at (704) 944-3623 or sam.boykin@cln.com
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2002.
