‘Vagina’ uses humor to raise money

IU’s 2009 production of “The Vagina Monologues” sought to educate and entertain audiences about female empowerment and the multiple personalities of the vagina.

Indira Dammu, president of the IU Women’s Student Association, treasurer for the Vagina Monologues and Indiana Daily Student columnist said this year the production raised $5,615.78, much less than last year’s $6,150.

Ninety percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Middle Way House and 10 percent will benefit Eve Ensler’s International V-day Campaign.

The show began by playing recorded audio clips from an assortment of 16 monologues from each woman. The clips played while the women walked onto the stage one by one.

Each woman wore a purple accessory on a different part of her body.

“The Vagina Monologue’s” director, senior Emily Patterson, said the significance of the
purple flair was to unify the cast.

“Purple symbolizes a lot,” she said. “It means power, and women are very powerful.”

After all the women were seated on both sides of the stage, sophomore Mia Tapella began a monologue. Her monologue focused on this year’s International V-day Campaign spotlight – the women and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who have survived daily sexual violence associated with the war.   

“Femicide is the global warming of women,” Tapella said.  

After Tapella’s monologue, a short video about the sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo played. Following the video, the entire cast performed “What Would Your Vagina Wear?”

Answers to the question ranged from wearing a Mets cap backwards to see-through, crotch-less panties.

Sixteen actresses, who portrayed characters ranging from 6 to 72 years old, performed different monologues and covered topics from homosexuality to different types of sexual moans.

The monologue “My Angry Vagina” stood out in particular to audience member Ali Darley, a Butler University student who directed a production of Vagina Monologues two years ago and had friends in IU’s production.

She said she enjoyed all the monologues, but “My Angry Vagina” was “too funny to pass up.”

The monologue, performed by IU senior Michelle Davenport, discussed the idea that women would be “coming” all day long in public places, including some at IU.

“They’ll be comin’ in Ballantine and comin’ in Mo’ Bears,” Davenport said, during the performance.

Patterson said localizing the monologues gets the audience involved.

“I think it allows the audiences to feel like they are a part of the show,” she said. “They go, ‘Ballantine. Ha! I know where that is.’”

Audience member and IU student Iulia Scheibehenne said she found the show interesting because the monologues were each done by a different woman.

“It was a very funny, feminine sketch,” she said.
Scheibehenne said she saw a performance in Europe and one actress did the whole show.

Some monologues took on a more serious note. The monologue “My Vagina Was My Village,” performed by IU senior Amanda Morales, was about a Bosnian woman who was raped numerous times by the militia. Morales said she watched footage of the women in Bosnia and tried to think of them when she recited her monologue.

Perhaps the performance of The Vagina Monologues is best assessed by the enthusiasm of the cast. Morales, a member of one of the monologues’ sponsors, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, said she was happy that all her hard work paid off.

“I’m a feminist to the core,” she said. “From an activist’s angle, it’s incredible to be able to put things together.”