Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Vagina Monologues

I am currently nurturing gratitude for 'The Vagina Monologues' and 'V-Day.'

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a wonderful rendition of 'The Vagina Monologues' in my community. 'The Vagina Monologues' is essentially a play talking about vaginas, yes, 120 minutes of vaginas, and then some. The playwright, Eve Ensler, interviewed tons of women of different ages and ethnicities, asking them what they thought of their vaginas, and to basically, talk about vaginas. The end result is a beautifully empowered masterpiece, with a whole lot of humour and heartfelt truth about the violence towards women, both at home and around the world.

My first experience with 'The Vagina Monologues' was in 2001, when I got to watch a star-studded cast perform the play, including Eve Ensler and Oprah Winfrey, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I must admit I was kinda shocked and embarrassed to hear the word 'vagina' so many times, but by the end of the night, I was chanting 'Vagina, vagina, vagina' with a whole arena full of women and men. And last night, I was not in the mood to be chanting vagina and almost did not go; however, I was very glad to have gone afterall, and watch my community come together through this play, 10 years after the fact, even though the play was on a much smaller scale, yet equally powerful and engaging. I especially enjoyed the piece 'The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,' performed by Jody Tippett, about a lawyer turned sex worker who was a 'moan expert,' lol.

I also learned about V-Day, a global movement to end violence about women and girls. Here's the link:

http://www.vday.org/home

The proceeds from last night's show is benefitting a sexual assault counselling centre and a women's shelter, as well as a violence prevention program targeted towards youth.

Thank you, Eve Ensler, for writing a play that empowers so many women around the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment