The Vagina Monologues are starting up again! If you don’t know what that is, it is a theater production written by Eve Ensler after interviewing 200 women about sex and their bodies. It is written in an episodic style, so different women preform disparate, but similarly themed, monologues based on real-life experiences of those 200 women.
Bowling Green has put on the show for many years. Its proceeds go to the Cocoon, a women’s shelter in Bowling Green.
The show covers many topics from sex to periods to sexual assault. Many are very funny and some are completely serious. It does try to encapsulate the wide range of women’s issues, concerns, experiences and stories.
Despite the name, this is also inclusive to trans women and nonbinary people. There is a monologue that is explicitly specific to the experiences of trans women, but many others are also relatable and open to feminine people. As it says in the poster, “BGSU’s Vagina Monologues is a show about the experiences of those with vaginas, but also the experiences of women and femmes more broadly. Cisgender female, MTF, FTM and nonbinary folx welcome!”
Along the lines of inclusion, many queer women are featured in the stories told. This show is all about the experiences of all women, as it makes clear in its opening monologue, “Older women, young women, married women, lesbians, single women, college professors, actors, corporate professionals, sex workers, African American women, Asian American women, Hispanic women, Native American women, Caucasian women, Jewish women.”
This is an important show for a lot of reasons. Its focus on the nitty-gritty of the feminine experience is still pretty rare within our media. And its focus on the gross-but-funny parts of being a women is also somewhat hard to find.
The Monologues are validating for women but can ask everyone, but especially men, to step outside of what is familiar to them and see things in a new light. Being able to step into someone else’s shoes is a skill everyone should learn, and the Monologues provide a way to do that.
Some content in the show can be triggering for survivors of sexual assault, but there are advocates from the Cocoon there to help people.
This year the show is being directed by Elle Fullenkamp and Mira Kokomoor. The show is not until next semester but auditions are this month! The auditions are walk-in and there is no preparation needed.
Auditions are on Oct. 30, 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. and 31, 2:30 p.m.-5:45 p.m. in BTSU room 403. If you really want to be in the show but can’t make these times, you can email Fullenkamp at [email protected].
