'Vagina Monologues' raise awareness

For most Penn students, the "V" in "V-Day" is associated with cards, candy and chocolate.

But for the standing-room only crowd at last night's performance of The Vagina Monologues, the "V" has adopted the much more sobering connotations of anger, abuse and anguish -- standing not for "Valentine," but rather, for "violence."

The packed production of the off-Broadway smash -- sponsored by a coalition of University women's groups -- marked the continuation of a six-year campus tradition, in which Penn students perform The Vagina Monologues as part of the global celebration of V-Day. The V-Day movement is an international campaign designed to raise awareness about and fight against violence toward women.

"For as long as I can remember, we've supported The Vagina Monologues," said College sophomore and Penn for Choice Vice President of Special Events Niva Kramek. "It allows all the groups [that] work on women's issues to come together and address the serious issue of sexual violence, which concerns us all."

To this end, approximately 25 female students re-enacted a number of different authentic monologues, portraying characters of diverse races, occupations, ages, religions and sexual orientations.

The performers tackled a wide range of issues pertaining to the female identity -- ranging from menstruation to birth to sex to rape -- but in an effort to desensitize a taboo topic, all were described through the lens of the vagina.

"The show is a real attention-getter," College senior and show performer Lindsey Gordon said. "The word 'vagina' itself is shocking to people, and by playing on this shock factor, the play enlightens the audience into the concept of feminine identity, which is not usually addressed in such an open way."

While the original goal of The Vagina Monologues was to provide an insight into female sexuality, due to its descriptions of rape and female genital mutilation, it has also come to embody the message of female oppression and is now used as a tool in the fight against domestic violence.

"The Vagina Monologues is about women's lives and their experiences, and unfortunately, violence is all too real in the lives of millions of women," said Penn Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi. "The Vagina Monologues keeps the issue of violence against women at the forefront and reminds people that violence is part of relationships everywhere -- and needs to stop."

The Vagina Monologues was first used as a means of combatting violence against women six years ago, when playwright Eve Ensler launched the global V-Day movement to raise awareness about, and ultimately end, sexual violence. The movement is commemorated each year through performances of the play on college campuses around the country on or around Valentine's Day and works year-round to raise money for a number of local women's organizations.

The proceeds from performances of The Vagina Monologues are a major source of these donations to women's organizations and allow V-Day to complement its goals of raising awareness by directly fighting against violence. This year, Penn's profits from ticket sales and chocolate "vagina pops" will go toward Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Women Organized Against Rape.

"Because we've been at war in Iraq, the funding for charitable organizations has been cut drastically," said Production Director and College senior Hilary Tanenbaum. "This year's performance of The Vagina Monologues is more meaningful and more important than ever."

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