'Vagina monologues' deserves recognition

By Gary Iribarren

The Vagina Monologues" sold out their first showing this last Monday at a venue that, as in previous years, was required to be off campus. Before attending this opening performance, I didn't know much about the event except that it had created some controversy on campus.

If anything, I thought it would be funny to see women talking about their most intimate thoughts on the vagina, proclaiming to the world, "Listen to my vagina and the crazy things it has seen!"

In a naive way, I was right. However, I learned more from "The Vagina Monologues" than I could have ever imagined. I hadn't prepared myself for the depths that the women performing the monologues were going to take me.

After attending, however, I strongly feel that it deserves school-wide recognition by being allowed on campus.

"The Vagina Monologues" has been performed by Santa Clara students for the past three years. Each performance has been radically unique, with different directors, producers, actors and central themes. Meanwhile, the monologues themselves are performed differently each year. For instance, "My Vagina Was My Village" was performed last year by one woman. This year, seniors Rachel Wilde and Krystal Wu performed it together.

Changing the structure of the monologues in this way invites new interpretations and new ideas to explore what makes every moment of each performance fresh and unique. Last year, for instance, the production focused on the events in New Orleans and how they affected the community of women there. This year, the event centered around the travesties being committed against the women and girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All tickets sold prior to this year's production were sold via e-mail, Krystal Wu explained. "If we can sell out both shows by e-mail, imagine what we could do with ticket sales on campus," she said.

Ten free tickets were also contributed to the production by an anonymous professor for students that might not otherwise be able to afford a ticket.

Co-director and sophomore Kandace Arens said, "When I first got up on stage to try out, I could barely say the word vagina."

Co-producer and senior Joelle Strickland expressed a similar reaction to performing the monologues: "I never thought I would say the things I said on stage. You don't talk about those things. And you know it is happening, so lets talk about it."

But why not talk about it on campus?

The Santa Clara reported in last week's issue that university President Michael Engh, S.J., wrote to co-producers Jeana Williams and Strickland that "Santa Clara offers both a depth and breadth of programming and courses on justice for women," which suggests that matters of sexuality and violence against women are being adequately addressed on campus.

This is true, but only to a very limited extent. Last week's school-wide e-mail addressing the off-campus incidents with date-rape drugs and a woman being sexually assaulted suggests that our community has to do more.

Organizations like Feminists United, One in Four and Gay and Lesbian Alliance are examples of the clear tolerance that Santa Clara has for the sort of themes that are addressed in "The Vagina Monologues." Setting the event off campus, however, sends mixed signals about where the university stands on these matters. It concerns me, as I think it should concern the rest of the student body, that something that is so important to Santa Clara students and faculty is denied a voice on campus.

In a letter provided by Strickland about "The Vagina Monologues," Rev. Kevin Wildes, President of Loyola University New Orleans, was quoted as saying, "To exclude the play from a Catholic campus is to say either that these women are wrong, or that their experience has nothing important to say to us."

People care about the issues discussed in the show, even if not everyone approves of the event's format. That's the beauty of the system we have. "The Vagina Monologues" is about conquering the sort of alienating feelings that, if left silenced, could consume anything. The level of honesty, expression and connection between the audience and actors is something to be experienced.

As my friends and I left the show on Monday night, each of us felt the sort of victory that can't be touched, and no combination of words could truly describe that feeling of connectedness. Surely, this is an event to be celebrated.

Gary Iribarren is a junior English major.