When someone first mentionsThe Vagina Monologues , you might mechanically associate the idea of verbal vaginas with the movieTeeth . But theMonologueshas nothing to do with eat up or kill men . Dismantling patriarchy and end gender - base force ? Yes . Murder and mayhem ? Not so much .
In 2012 , I attendedThe Vagina Monologuesfor the first time with no clue what it was or what to expect . Would women be defenseless ? Would there bepuppets ? Is this effectual ? As a college senior , mainlining blanched wine and trying to graduate , I was intrigued .
TheMonologuescame from Eve Ensler ’s exploration of women and their relationship with their vagina . We all know the story of why women hate their vaginas : abstinence - only education , misogyny , rape refinement , Drake songs … So Ensler set out to transform that self - loathing into discourse . She question cleaning woman from all over the world about themselves as women , but also about the personification of their vaginas : " If your vagina got dressed , what would it break ? " " If your vagina could babble , what would it say ? "
Jennifer Garza Photography
The women discussed pubic pilus , squirting , rape , transgender experiences , and sex employment . The monologues became a chorus line of relatability : women lastly talking about a part of their body society has deemed unmentionable . Those conversation became the book that would give birth the show I follow from a darkened theatre seat . I was run . So I joined the troupe . Having now been part of theMonologuesfor five days , I ’ve learned three major thing about myself .
1. My vagina is my village
When I was 18 , I liked my vagina well enough , but not concretely . Then I was raped , three times within a year . After that , my vagina became a war zona :
My vagina . A live tight water system village . They encroach upon it . slaughter it and burned it down . I do not touch now . Do not inflict . I live someplace else now . I do n’t love where that is.– " My Vagina Was My Village "
The Vagina Monologuestaught me reclamation . Trauma travel along us , stab and blinding us , keeping our body bleed and broken . For me , trauma fractured me into two selves : one was normal and have good score ; the other was reckless and suicidal . And I made sure no one saw a trouble . When I first get a line " My Vagina Was My Village " perform in 2013 , I bawl . On stage . The piece depicted how I felt : fracture , compartmentalized . Someone see that experience . So maybe I did n’t have to stay broken . Maybe I could be put back together .
2. My vagina changes
move from a fractured self to a whole self is a process , and theMonologuesplayed a prominent use in that process ( along with multiple therapist and prescription ) . So as a worshiper ofThe Vagina Monologues , I read it over and over , watch over clip on YouTube , and see its recital almost daily for calendar month on end in preparation for its performances . When you expend that much fourth dimension with a school text , noticing its defect is inevitable .
Without a doubt , theMonologuesis powerful . The performance fire intense reactions : laughter , tears , distress , uncomfortableness , even frustration . However , certain parts are a small behind the times . Many of the vagina names in the " presentation " are unpronounceable , allow alone recognizable , and others are just offensive ( referring to lesbians as " bulldaggers " ) . And of row , at times , the show perimeter on valet de chambre - bashing :
I became a grumbler . It made most human nervous . Frankly , it terrorize them . I was loud and they could n’t contract on what they were doing . They ’d miss focus . And they ’d lose everything . – " The adult female Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy "
Most performances are n’t revise and rereleased . However , Eve Ensler modifies the annual yield of theMonologuesby writing a novel " Spotlight " to conclude each show . She opt which monologues are performed , and by include a fresh one each year , she has the force to revise the others . The pieces are intend to portray the voices of many woman , not to demean Man . In this sense , theMonologueshas taught me the conflict for intersectionality and cellular inclusion when it come to speaking for an entire group . Being politically right is n’t the point . But maybe being modern is . Does anyone call a vagina a " poopelu " or a " piche " ? earnestly .
3. My vagina is a warrior
class in and year out , I buzz Vagina Monologuesand theV - Day organizationdo incredible thing . People dance in the street . maltreater are locked up . Laws change . The different monologues can trigger trauma , but they also trigger change and healing .
The heart is capable of sacrifice . So is the vagina . The heart is able to forgive and mend . It can transfer its form to let us in . It can inflate to let us out . So can the vagina . – " I Was There in the Room "
The Vagina Monologuestaught me the power of my vagina , metaphorically and literally . Healing depart from just being understand . And no , domesticated fierceness wo n’t end with a group of woman clapperclaw " cunt ! " at a frightened hearing . But at least it ’ll make the fight a little less intimidating . At least we ’re not fighting alone .
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