Alexandra Scicchitano—Online Editor
The Vagina Monologues was a good place to talk about things that are considered taboo in today’s society, said Justine Jarvie, a participant in the monologues.
“Are vaginas important? Absolutely,” said Jarvie, a graduate student studying women’s and genders studies. “I think feminine sexuality is really important and its something that has been shamed in our society for so long.”
Twenty years after Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues shattered taboos, the stakes simply could not be higher. As stated by OwlConnect, V-Day is a movement that grew out of the untold stories of woman, that spelling is used to include all people that identify as female. V-Day is a global activist movement to stop violence against woman and girls. We believe woman. We believe in their right to tell their stories and we believe their stories need to be heard – nothing is more powerful.
Besides talking about taboo topics about feminine sexuality, the goal of the production was to raise money and bring awareness to resources both on and off campus said Jarvie, who has participated in the show three times.
“It also links you to community resources. The YWCA of New Britain, who we are benefiting from these performances, they’re one of nine rape crisis centers in Connecticut,” she said.
The performance is intended to be very intimate, with no setting or props besides a stool or a stand, so the focus was only on the person performing, Jarvie said.
“With each individual person, they really made it their own,” said Paul Robinson, a secondyear masters social work graduate, who attended the show.
Ashley Seiler, an IT technician who works with Jarvie at another job, said she was invited by Jarvie to attend the performance, and Seiler brought along her friend Megan McGuire, a mental health nurse, to see it as well.
“I loved it, I loved the emotion behind [the performances,]” said Seiler.
“A lot of range from the serious to the very hilarious,” said McGuire.
The show can be different every time because there are different people, different monologues and “different energies,” which can make the shows “really always fun,” to do, said Jarvie.
“I love the honor and respect and the reverence of what they talked about,” said McGuire.
“It’s good to go to these kinds of events because it can get people, who don’t have vaginas [identifying males], to understand them and to understand topics like this that are still taboo in society today”, said Jessica Clark, a junior English second education major.
“I really liked it, [the show], I enjoyed how much feeling they had with it and I feel like you get lost in the monologues. Some were sad, some were funny, I really like that there [was] a lot of everything,” said Clark.
While wearing his ‘Stay Woke’ shirt to the performance, Robinson said he did not feel uncomfortable during it and pointed at his shirt to give credit as to why he wasn’t uncomfortable.
The Violence Prevention, Victim Advocacy Support center was invited to have a tabling where there was a VPAS representative at the production to give out brochures and talk to about what the center can do for students on campus, and off campus said Melissa Kissi, the sexual assault and violence prevention specialist for VPAS.
“I think it’s important for our office to be present in events like this just because the topic can be potentially triggering for people whether they’ve experienced sexual violence or not, or whether they know somebody [who has] or not,” said Kissi.
According to Jarvie, she said she was proud of the show and that she loved the cast, but she does wish that men would come to these events more often and become more actively aware of the some of the issues these women face today.
“I wish more men would engage with it,” Jarvie said. “I feel like coming to events like this makes it less taboo and people are more open to talk about it afterwards, or just really think about [vaginas,]” said Clark. “This celebrates our vaginas.”
Photo Credit: August Pelliccio
10/10 would read again.