The other ‘V-Day’

After dozens of interviews conducted with women in the New York City area, playwright and activist Eve Ensler wrote "The Vagina Monologue" in 1994. The play covers the untold issues and testimonials about women's sexuality and the social stigma surrounding rape, abuse, incest, female mutilation and sex slavery.

The performance consists of a selection of untold stories of women who are sexually liberated, have been raped, mutilated and those that have always considered sexuality taboo or shameful. The monologue is filled with curiosity, secrets and thoughts that lie deeply hidden in the vessels of their bosoms.

Those are the stories that have been shared with millions of women around the world, translated into over 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries connecting each soul to one another.

Ensler is a modern-day Eve who has arisen from the beautiful Garden of Eden and is resurrecting women of all races, lifting them up and offering them fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that is no longer considered to be forbidden or evil, thus giving all women the gift of empowerment that is deeply rooted through sexuality.

The Vagina Monologues are the rebirth, a celebration for women, and an experience that all women can enjoy, learn and live through vicariously.

On Valentine's Day 1998, Ensler along with a group of women in New York City established a non-profit organization that banned together to end violence against women around the world (VDay.org). The Vagina Monologues are just one of the many innovative works created by the organization along with awareness conferences, campaigns and films to educate women on what is happening to other women in countries foreign to the United States.

Some of the other performances include "A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer," "Any One of Us: Words from a Prison" and the film "Until the Violence Stops."

Most women are unknowledgeable of the issues women face daily in other parts of the world, such as female genital mutilation in the Global South, ‘corrective rape' in South Africa, and the ongoing rapes that continue in the Congo.

V-Day also support women in the countries where sexuality is sacred, such as Israel and Afghanistan where rape and violence against women happen everyday. V-Day shatters that ignorance, in hopes of educating more and more women each year and offering facts through performance and summits on the terrible things happening to women outside of the country and silently within it.

In 2008, V-Day celebrated its 10-year anniversary (V to the Tenth) and supported the cause "Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power to the Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo Campaign" as that years global spotlight.

In 2010, over 5,400 V-Day benefits took place that were produced by fearless activist, college students and local volunteers in the United States and all over the world, educating millions about the horrid reality of violence against women.

Just last year, V-Day was notably named one of the Top-Rated Organizations by Greatnonprofits.com. Certainly, this organization has proven itself to be more than a movement but a voice of triumph for all women in the world. In eleven years of dedicated endless service, V-Day raised over $80 million and has reached over 300 million people, grasping hold to the essence of women around the world, unifying them all and creating a force to be reckoned with in the battle to stop violence against women.

This year colleges across Ohio, such as University of Cincinnati, Miami University, Ohio State University and Bowling Green University and UT took part in performing The Vagina Monologues in honor of V-Day.

On Friday, February 11, UT students and local gave a phenomenal performance of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" which lasted the entire weekend at the Scott Park Auditorium.

The cast included Sarah Balser a fall 2010 graduate, receiving a Masters in Public Health at the University of Toledo and currently works at the Hope Center; an advocacy center for rape and protection center for abuse.

Balser also educates junior high and high schools about date rape. The cast also included Marcia Williams, a junior majoring in social work. Williams currently works at the Eberly Center for Women on UT's main campus.

The cast was very energetic and comfortable using words that tend to make women very uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the auditorium seats were filled with a mixture of both men and women during their opening night boiling with excitement and ready to do a bit of audience participation.

The show itself was intense and at some times comical. Overall the cast embraced each character in the monologues as if they had changed places and the story had officially became their own .

The true art of the performance was revealed as each cast member made it clear as to why The Vagina Monologues are so important by showing it through the power of words.

Although the Vagina Monologues touches on some comical issues, it also embraces some that are serious, discussing instances where people have been raped.

"It's a good way to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves," said Williams.

Williams mentioned the audience: women, young and old; some enjoying the show some virgins and some veterans of The Vagina Monologues.

"I had never talked about vaginas before this I saw this show, its just wasn't something that [we] talked about," said Balser.

These performances were not to do any ‘men bashing' but to shed light on the issues that women face daily; situations about rape, childbirth, lesbianism that men never get to hear about. The monologues are to empower all women, even those who don't think of themselves as feminists.

The coordinator of the Sexual Assault Education Prevention (SAEP), Diane Docis, was also present during The Vagina Monologues. Docis has even been a cast member and has directed some of the many performances given at The University of Toledo.