Flyers and funds - or a feminist statement?

See a photo slideshow from the Vagina Monologues here.

This week on Locust Walk, "vagina" is the new "register to vote."

As part of a week-long campaign to eliminate a taboo and promote the play, members of The Vagina Monologues have been inundating passersby with the word "vagina" from their table outside the Penn Women's Center.

"The week of The Vagina Monologues should be 'vagina week,'" said College senior and cast member Jessica Shanken, who promotes the event on Locust Walk. "Penn should be infiltrated with me screaming vagina and handing out vagina lollipops."

"If screaming 'vagina' makes five people more comfortable about hearing the word and not feeling awkward, then I've done something," she added. "It's so important to flood all their senses with 'vagina.'"

Of course, from any organizer's standpoint, the best technique is the one that raises the most funds for the V-Day campaign, which is dedicated to ending violence against women and girls.

"If me screaming 'vagina' has two frat boys coming over and being like, 'What is this about vagina?' and buying two tickets, then that's $16 for an important cause," Shanken said.

Several cast members acknowledged the "shock value" inherent in the tactic and acknowledged the risk of making people feel uncomfortable. Still, most defended the marketing strategy out of principle.

"I can understand someone being taken aback by it, and I regret the fact that it alienates some people," said College senior and cast member Nia Davis, who described herself as "one of those people on the Walk who likes being loud and obnoxious."

"But to some extent the point of the show is to make 'vagina' less of a topic that people keep hushed and behind closed doors," she said. "I don't think it should be a dirty word, so I feel free shouting it out."

Interestingly, many women who scream "vagina" in front of total strangers said they are not comfortable calling themselves "feminists" among friends.

College senior Jessica Gartner, the director of the play, said she has never considered herself a feminist.

"I don't like the word, and I think it's partly because I have images in my mind of women burning their bras and hating men," she said.

Beyond the negative stereotype, the reluctance to identify with "feminism" could also stem from the absence of a clear definition, said College senior Rachel Garber, the show's producer.

"I don't really know what a 'feminist' is," said Garber.

When asked for their own interpretations, cast members offered a wide range of definitions.

For College junior Chi-Chi Achebe, who said she is "totally" a feminist, "feminism just means that women and men should have equal rights and should be viewed as equals."

College junior and Daily Pennsylvanian editorial cartoonist Ilana Millner, who also self-identifies as a feminist, said feminism is being "in touch with and dedicated to women's issues."

Other phrases that surfaced in conversations about "feminism" included "loving yourself," "being comfortable with yourself," "being comfortable with your body," "standing up for yourself and other women," and being "pro-woman" - but cast members were unclear as to whether any of these concepts tied directly into the definition.

According to Penn Women's Center director Felicity Paxton, "To be a feminist is to keep the struggle for the equality of women central in one's daily life."

"It's to walk with the recognition that gender discrimination still exists, that it takes a number of forms and that it intersects with other forms of discrimination, particularly class and race discrimination," she said.

If anything can move "feminism" toward acquiring a universal definition, it's the kind of community The Vagina Monologues offers its cast members.

Millner said her involvement in the show has been instrumental in terms of becoming "more comfortable with feminism" and self-identifying with the term.

"You meet weekly with this fun, amazing group of women, and you talk to them about issues that you never talk to anyone else about," Millner said of the rehearsal process, which brings the cast together for activities, workshops and speakers, in addition to practice for the stage.

If Millner's path is any example, perhaps future casts of the show will begin to feel as comfortable with the "F-word" as this year's cast appears to be with the "V-word."

But for now, V-Day enthusiasts will stick with the "vagina" campaign on Locust Walk.

"It's not meant to offend people, and if it does, then we're not stopping," Garber said.

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