Junior Page Luneau walked on stage stomping and yelling, “My vagina is angry!”
Freshwoman Rebecca Parker explained, “My vagina is a shell.”
Rachel Gordezky, a sophomore, reclaimed the word “cunt.”
Junior Megan Wheelehan gave the audience an anatomy of the female moan.
Tina Sogliuzzo, a junior, told of the experience of seeing a birth.
The Vagina Friendly Club at Mills College held their annual production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues this past weekend and the monologues performed didn’t fail to make the audience laugh and cry.
“We had a great turn out this year and rose close to 1600 dollars,” said the production’s co-director, sophomore Frances Sarcona. “Everyone was really generous and donated a lot more than ticket price.”
The idea of Ensler’s play was to present the responses of over 200 hundred women she interviewed about their sexuality and how it related to their vaginas. The play at Mills featured more than 20 students coming into the roles of the women interviewed by Ensler.
“The show is really about oral histories and creating an oral history of the experiences of women,” said Sogliuzzo.
A plethora of interesting and important issues were brought to the forefront as the play moved through the emotions surrounding rape, transgender women, the objectification of women, and the complications of shaving, wearing thongs and having an orgasm.
“They are all special and individual,” said Jessica King, a sophomore and the production’s other co-director. “Everyone can relate to them on a different level.”
More than hearing the stories of countless women, The Vagina Monologues educates women and men about vaginas and both the sorrows and joys of owning one.
“Vaginas do quite amazing things. Some have a lot of talent and people need to pay more attention to them,” said King.
“Vaginas are important and they are the essence of women,” said Sarcona. “For years women didn’t talk about it, and if I weren’t at a women’s college I wouldn’t have the same awareness of it that I do now.”
Ninety percent of the proceeds from this year’s show are going to the local organization Free Battered Women. The grassroots organization works to free incarcerated survivors of domestic violence.
“When I think about the money we raised going to help a woman get out of jail or continue to survive, I’m really proud of what we did,” said Sarcona. “I think it’s ridiculous for a woman to go to jail or even get capital punishment for killing her abuser.”
The other 10 percent of proceeds is going to Afghan Women, the group sponsored by the V-day campaign.
