Students call `The Vagina Monologues' important, liberating
By KAREN FINK
News Writer
Love the body and love it hard.
The sold out audience on Wednesday for Eve Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues" was advised to follow that advice from Toni Morrison's novel Beloved.
They came to hear, see and feel the sacredness of the female body and learn that the "splitting of the mind and body is not healthy." Some, however, came to see what all those advertisements around campus were about.
Saint Mary's junior Alyson Leatherman attended the show because she was curious.
"There has been so much discussion on campus about it," she said. "I know some people in the show and I want to support them. Plus, because this show is being performed at 150 campuses this year, I want to be a part of that and know what is going on."
Others were interested in the women's issues that the play discussed.
"I think that at a women's college, it is important to be aware of women's issues," sophomore Vanessa Hogan said, "and coming to a show like this helps us become more aware."
Both Leatherman and Hogan were impressed and happy to see men attending the female-oriented play as well.
Meredith Watt, a Notre Dame senior, and Ken O'Keefe, a recent Notre Dame graduate, both read the book from which the show was based and thought it the play was well performed.
"It is important to get over sexual taboos," she said.
O'Keefe said the way the text explored typically taboo topics was interesting. Because only one person performs in the show's Broadway rendition, he was curious to see how the cast would split the monologues.
The show began with comparing the vagina to the Bermuda Triangle, calling both mysteries. The narrator mentioned that the term "vagina" sounds like a disease to most people and she lists the various nicknames people give the anatomical part, such as "pal, monkey box and pussy cat."
Adding humor, the actress said, "I'm worried about vaginas."
The show addressed many topics in connection to the vagina, including hair, menstruation, orgasms and moaning.
At one point, the monologues answered the question, "If a vagina could talk, what would it say?" Answers included "slow down, yum-yum and start again."
Besides making light of the often-taboo topic, the show presented many serious and emotional segments, including one that concerned the rape of a Bosnian woman.
Immediately following the show, discussions began among the audience as they exited the auditorium.
"The show was empowering and liberating. It brought the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's community together," Watt said, "especially the women."
O'Keefe agreed, "It was powerful to see them speaking and giving voices to the text. The cast did a great job, and it leads to discussion between the sexes, something the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's community needs."
Hogan thought the show was surprising, but not an embarrassing surprise. She said, "It was definitely worth the five dollars. The Bosnian rape segment was the most poignant."
Saint Mary's sophomore Karen Hogan expected the presentation to be a risky, funny, off-edge and in-your-face show.
"It lived up to my expectations and the moaning segment was my favorite," she said.
"I was surprised and enthused that they brought the show to campus," freshman Kristen Mowry agreed. "It was serious, hysterical and had me laughing a lot. It definitely surpassed my expectations."
All News Stories for Thursday, February 17, 2000
