From the pews of Hendricks Chapel, the audience watched Sami Kay stand up from her seat onstage and move to the forefront, clutching her cue cards. Silence filled the room. She held her ground with an intake of breath that foretold something important, something emphatic.

‘My vagina’s angry,’ she declared fiercely, her energy echoing and lingering throughout the chapel. ‘It’s pissed off. My vagina’s furious, and it needs to talk.’

As the cast of women sitting onstage proved, Kay, a sophomore television, radio and film major, wasn’t the only one who needed to talk. Female students of different ages and majors shared stories of female struggle and celebration.

This weekend’s four-performance run of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ was produced by Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment, an on-campus feminist organization that encourages safe-sex practices and works to prevent violence. All proceeds went to Vera House, Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse region and the Advocacy Center at Syracuse University.

The 21 monologues featured in the show dealt with themes of sex, love, rape, orgasm, masturbation, mutilation and menstruation all relating to the eponymous female organ. The monologues are part of V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. Co-director Eliana Gross said the driving force behind the show is to tell stories of a taboo subject.

‘We want people to understand that these are things that need saying, and they need saying over and over again, until it’s no longer taboo or inappropriate to talk about,’ said Gross, a senior child and family studies major.

This year marks Gross’ first time as a co-director during her three-year involvement with the monologues, based on an episodic play written by Eve Ensler. She notes that not much has changed throughout the show’s tenure except that the cast grows and becomes more diverse each year. Though this year’s cast did not feature faculty performers, she said so many women auditioned that the cast split in two, with each cast member performing two shows.

Gross said the monologues and SASSE provide a safe space for women.

‘Performing in this show was where I made the most friends and the most meaningful and lasting relationships.’

For this year’s show, performers sat onstage in black and red clothing, colors attached to the V-Day campaign led by Ensler. They helped create a sense of visual cohesiveness and unity among all the performers, said Carolyn Glavin, a junior illustration major and two-time participant in ‘The Vagina Monologues.’ This year she performed ‘Hair’ and ‘A 6-Year-Old Girl Was Asked.’

The performances enthralled the cast and audience alike. They laughed during ‘My Angry Vagina,’ a tirade against the injustices of tampons and obstetricians against the vagina. Some cried during ‘My Vagina Was My Village,’ a monologue comprising testimonies from raped Bosnian women.

‘Women have faced oppression and placement in submissive roles throughout history,’ said Emma Smelkinson, a sophomore sociology major. ‘The monologues strive to overcome those gendered boundaries.’

Smelkinson, a first-time performer in the monologues with ‘The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could,’ said that though the message behind the monologues hasn’t changed, audiences seem to be more receptive and accepting than in the past. Some may never fully understand the subject matter, but she said she hopes that more will recognize the need for activism.

Audience members echoed Smelkinson’s call for activism. Arlene Lammy, a sophomore English education major in the secondary program and repeat viewer of ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ pointed out the significance of the production. The show doesn’t fixate on individual age, race, beliefs, religion or social standing.

‘It’s just about being a woman,’ Lammy said. ‘It’s time to start breaking down these barriers and allowing women to be proud of our minds, bodies and feelings.’

Chelsea Stahl, a sophomore photojournalism major, read the published version of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ in high school. She said seeing a live production onstage for the first time was much more dynamic — it involved the audience more.

‘The show lets you know that there’s people out there who have to deal with sexuality and maybe don’t share it publicly,’ Stahl said. ‘But when you do share those feelings, you have someone to relate to. I think that’s important among girls.’

With its universal and relevant content, the monologues will continue raising awareness for women’s issues

‘Nearly all girls have probably gone through something brought up during the monologues,’ Stahl said. ‘You can nod your head and say to yourself, ‘That’s me.”

dataroy@syr.edu

 

Published on February 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm