V-Day brings annual Vagina Monologues to Lawrence -mrm DO NOT RUN -amb

Mary Born

V-day originated in 1998 as an offshoot of The Vagina Monologues, a play by Eve Ensler. The play touches on all aspects of being a woman, including the violence that happens against them every day all over the world. As a result of this play, a couple of women in New York, along with Ensler, formed V-Day, with the motto “until the violence stops”. This organization works tirelessly to raise money and awareness for rape, abuse, incest, genital mutilation and all kinds of violence against women in general.
The Lawrence chapter of V-Day will be putting on their own production of The Vagina Monologues at 3 and 8 pm on February 25 and 8 pm on February 26 at the Cloak Theatre, with a reception to follow. Tickets will be on sale at Downer (along with chocolate vaginas to get you in the spirit) during the next week and are 5 dollars for students and 10 for adults. All proceeds go to the various organizations V-Day supports. The local charity that will be benefiting is the sexual assault crisis center, here in Appleton, along with the national charity Men Can Stop Rape and the worldwide organization KIHOWDE, based in Rwanda.
The Lawrence presentation will be excerpts from Ensler’s play and will include humorous as well as very serious material. Kaitlin Mahr, a freshman and member of V-Day said of the play, “Its mostly about getting the issues out there and empowering women.and it’s a good time too!”
This play has a history of controversy, in large part because of the liberal use of the word vagina. “Women are even afraid to say it, girls in V-day were even a little uncomfortable,” says Kaitlin. When The Vagina Monologues first came out, the word vagina wasn’t being said on radio or TV and was hardly ever found in print. Five years later, it was being freely spoken and written all over the media, thanks to groups like V-Day and authors such as Eve Ensler who put it out there. “Don’t be afraid of vaginas!” Kaitlin says.