On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sonoma State University welcomed back a popular campus tradition: the Vagina Monologues. With 100% of proceeds donated to Verity, Sonoma County’s only dedicated rape crisis, trauma and healing center, the show attracted impressively large and enthusiastic crowds. The talented cast, composed of an overwhelmingly female majority, managed to fully captivate the audience for nearly two hours.
“It’s okay to feel uncomfortable because you should feel uncomfortable,” said Grace Martin, the show’s producer, to kick off the night. The Vagina Monologues was a play first performed in 1996. It is based on a series of real-life interviews with a diverse group of women- from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, gender identities, and ages- on femininity, womanhood, and the daily struggles faced by women of all kinds. In addition to the Vagina Monologues skits, original performances were also carried out by students.
Each act seemed to elicit its own rollercoaster of emotions from the audience. The sadness in the air was palpable during the deeply poignant interview with an elderly woman who had never once experienced sexual pleasure and was haunted by nightmares throughout her youth after being sexually shamed and humiliated by her first boyfriend. Another act featuring the testimony of three transgender women who faced violence and brutality as teenagers, one stating through gritted teeth “they kicked the sh-t of me every day”, earned the complete silence of the full audience. One skit featuring three young women recalling the social implications of their first periods seemed to deeply resonate with many female audience members.
Not every act of the night was poignant or heartbreaking. One skit featuring two sex workers caused multiple bursts of uncontrollable laughter, with one particular joke causing a girl in the front row of the audience to scream and whoop until the entire audience had broken into hyena-like laughter; the performers keeping their composure like professionals. The shared experience among hundreds of people seemed to be unifying for the audience, and an icebreaker for conversations about important social topics which may initially make most people uncomfortable. From female genital mutilation to rape on college campuses to homophobia and more, this performance certainly did not shy away from discussing uncomfortable topics- but it did so in a way that left audience members feeling empowered to go out, start conversations, and make a difference.
SSU student Aliya Conway said that the performance made her feel “incredibly empowered to be a woman,” adding that she has always looked forward to attending since her first time seeing the show as a freshman. “This performance strives to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women and girls all over the world,” she explained.
In an advertisement, the play describes itself as having “the sole purpose to raise awareness and create positive change all the while promoting body positivity, self-love, and the acceptance of ALL identities.”
Though 24 years have passed since The Vagina Monologues was first performed, it seems more relevant than ever in today’s political climate. Though much progress has been made with a number of social issues worldwide since then, the show served as reminder to students that we still have a long way to go, and that it is everyone’s responsibility to participate in creating progress.
