V-Blahg: In Awe and Reverence of Vaginas

We forget the vagina—All of Us

what else could explain

our lack of awe, our lack of reverence.

From “I Was There In The Room”—The Vagina Monologues

The season is upon us.  As you read this, all around the world, thousands of groups of activists are organizing, collaborating, creating, directing, and talking about The Vagina Monologues for their upcoming performances and surrounding V-Week events.

For those of you who have yet to have the pleasure of seeing a production of this show, the series of monologues written by Eve Ensler are based on her collection of interviews of many different women from all around the world.  Set out with the goal of bringing out the stories and issues that make up the complex and unspoken world of female sexuality, Eve’s production, The Vagina Monologues, raises a wide breadth of topics encompassing both the pleasure of womanhood and sexuality, and the danger that sometimes accompanies it.

The first time that I saw the Vagina Monologues, the entire show was performed by four women, each taking turns telling the different stories with different voices and personas.  I left feeling stunningly empowered, inspired, proud, and like I was part of a community that I had not known existed prior to seeing this show.  Having previously believed that the experiences and thoughts that I had around my own sexuality and my... vagina... were unique and that I was alone in these thoughts, the Vagina Monologues brought to light the notion that every one of us has a complex relationship with these difficult and interesting topics.  The show brilliantly highlights the profound joy, pleasure, and beauty of being a woman, while at the same time delving into the frustrations, the pain, and the trauma that far too many of us throughout the world experience.

I’ve found that this year’s script is particularly heavy, as a reflection of the current state of sexual assault in our world.  How is it, I wonder, that this epidemic of rape and sexual assault lives on so strongly and so silently to this day.  Indeed, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just recently released the research results that reveal the immense prevalence of sexual assault in our society.  The CDC reports that 1 in 5 women will experience sexual assault, and (even more rarely discussed) that 1 in 7 men will experience violence in their lifetimes… a shocking and sobering set of statistics.***

V-Day and The Vagina Monologues, a global movement against sexual assault all around the world entering its 15^th year of activism, is one of the most effective and proactive grassroots movements that I know of.  Through entertainment, education, and awareness-raising, Eve Ensler and the many people who create this show each year, work towards the essential paradigm shift that will lead to the end of the violence.

This year over 5,000 productions of the Vagina Monologues are being performed around the world, every one of them donating 75-95% of their proceeds to local organizations that provide services and educate people in the realms of domestic violence and sexual assault, and to the V-Day spotlight cause of the year.  

Of note, the spotlight cause of the last two years, the women and girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape and abuse against women and girls is used as a strategic tactic of war, has raised enough money to create the City of Joy, a place of empowerment, safety, and community for women who have survived sexual assault and violence.

To the men in the audience (of the show and of this blahg), I hope for you that you experience the show as a source of knowledge and enlightenment and walk away as unfaltering lifelong allies of this cause.  You are vital co-warriors towards the end of this destructive pandemic, this unspoken war.  The change will happen only once everyone embraces that notion.

The Vagina Monologues are a piece of art, a source of power, and an evolving movement towards the end of sexual violence in the world.  Each year the show grows exponentially in its prevalence, and I urge every one of you to give yourself, your community, and the world the benefit of attending a production of The Vagina Monologues in your community this year, (even if you have before, for each year it’s directed differently, has new monologues, and supports an extremely important cause). 

(And, if you happen to be in the New York area, come to the show that I have had the honor of producing and directing at Columbia University Medical Center!)

As one survivor of sexual assault among the millions, I regard V-Day and The Vagina Monologues as our voice in this systematically silenced war, and with every individual and organization that joins the cause, our voice grows louder and more powerful.

I commend the thousands and thousands of Vagina Warriors who perform, produce, attend, and support the Vagina Monologues each year.  And we will keep on… Until the violence stops.

Love your tree. An excerpt from "America the Beautiful".


Thanks to Anna for introducing this Eve clip to me.

*** A clarification of the stated statistic: According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 1 in 71 men have experienced rape in their lives, while 1 in 7 have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.