2008 Woodie Awards
VAGINA!
V-Day College Campaign raises awareness about violence against women
Christina Bosche
Issue date: 2/21/06 Section: News
|
The production of The Vagina Monologues at UVM is a part of the nation-wide V-Day College Campaign, which promotes creative ways of raising awareness about violence against women and the organizations that work to eradicate it.
Proceeds from tickets for the Monologues and all V-Day events are donated to local organizations involved in the struggle against this kind of violence, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation, and sexual slavery.
V-Day and The Vagina Monologues themselves are Eve Ensler's creations. A 1975 graduate of nearby Middlebury College, Ensler wrote the first Monologues in 1996 as a response to the embarrassed, guilty connections and feelings women often have with their bodies and sexuality.
Since initially being performed in SoHo cafes by Ensler herself, the Monologues have been expanded, translated in over a dozen languages, and performed world-wide by casts composed of college students and famous actresses alike.
So what exactly is a vagina monologue? Being a virgin (to The Vagina Monologues, that is), I had an idea of what would unfold on stage once the show started, but still didn't know exactly what to expect.
Upon arriving at The Carpenter Auditorium one is immediately greeted by a slew of signs designed to put me in a vagina-friendly mood: "VAGINA LOVERS UNITE," "STAND BY YOUR VAGINA," and even a direct order-"MASTURBATE."
Marking V-Day's equally essential emphasis on anti-violence were tables and displays hosted by the local beneficiaries involved in the event. Among these were: the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance; Women Helping Battered Women; SafeSpace; The Women's Rape Crisis Center; and UVM Men Advocating Change.
Various pieces from In Vivo, In Vitro, painted by Sarah Rutherford served as an aesthetic background.
The Carpenter is at most two-thirds the size of the CC Theater, seating around 140 people. In past years the Monologues have been put on in Ira Allen Chapel as well as CC Theater, both venues that offer much more available seating then the Carpenter.