Every year on Valentine’s Day, people around the world perform “The Vagina Monologues” as part of an international movement called the V-Day Campaign.
Friday evening, EFFECT and Women’s/Gender Studies presented Elon University’s own version of the show in Whitley Auditorium.
The campaign fights against and helps raise awareness about violence against women.
“I think ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ because of its theatrical nature, provides a unique way for Elon students of all genders to really think about what it means to be a woman in the world today,” said director Jessie Bond, a junior theater studies major.
Cost of entry was $5, and all proceeds went to Family Abuse Services in Burlington.
“One goal is to raise money to stop violence against women,” Bond said. “But on a more abstract level, the goal of the show is to get people to think and talk more about vaginas and womanhood. Even the word ‘vagina’ is so taboo in our culture, and that silence can be really harmful. This show gives people a chance to break the silence.”
Bond wore a bright red dress as she greeted people at the door before the show, a color that she said was the unofficial color of “The Vagina Monologues.”
Many of the girls were also sporting red accents, and their apparel personified the characters they were emulating on stage.
“We always get such a mix of people, from those who are studying acting here to those who did theater in high school to those who just love the show and want to be involved,” Bond said.
Freshman Monica Poston was one of the highlight performances with her rendition of “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.”
“I would totally do this again,” Poston said. “I met all of these people that I feel like I never would have met otherwise, and I like the message the show sends.”
Other standouts included Autumn Spriggs’ elderly woman impression and cackle, and Sarah Holland’s comedic timing in “My Angry Vagina.”
As each woman walked onstage to tell her story, everyone seated behind her listened and empathized intently, so the more difficult subject matter was immensely powerful to the audience.
“I went to the EFFECT meeting where they brought it up and sold pre-tickets, and I was intrigued. I enjoy theater, especially theater that is a little out there and could be considered controversial,” said freshman Christopher Greene.
Topics covered included everything from sex therapy and orgasms to rape and abuse.
“There is a message here that needs to be gotten across: that a woman’s body is her body and no one else’s,” Greene said. “The more we bring that to attention, the better we will all be for it.”