“Cunt! Cunt! Cunt!” the audience members of the Swope Music Auditorium cheered with SRU student Paige Niezelski, who was wearing a dress with the word “cunt” spelled out in large red capital letters.
This was a part of the episodic play The Vagina Monologues entitled “Reclaiming Cunt” in which a woman explains how the word “cunt” is actually a beautiful word despite often being used in a negative way. The Vagina Monologues is a play written by Tony award winning playwright Eve Ensler that features different monologues that focus on the female experience.
“The show is vulgar, honest, and it’s startling,” English professor and cast member Dr. Rebecca May said. “I think that’s the point of the show. It’s to startle people into acknowledging the silence that surrounds women’s sexuality, and the kinds of experiences women can have. Some of those are heartbreaking, some of those are terrifying, and some of those are hilarious.
Throughout the event, facts about violence against women were presented to the audience. An example provided by the National College Women Sexual Victimization Study was that an estimated 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 college women experienced a completed or attempted rape within their years at school. Another statistic stated that there have been 17.7 million reported cases of women being victims of completed or attempted rape.
Ensler is also the founder of V-Day, which is an organization that raises awareness about violence against women and girls.
“I want the issue of violence against women and the V-Day organization to be something that the audiences takes away from the show,” senior Political Science cast member Nicole Geyer said. “But I also want them to take away the fact that things don’t always have to be so serious. We don’t always have to be so upfront. We can be funny and can joke about things that women go through.”
The play will be performed from Wednesday Feb. 20 to Friday the Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, or $3 with a student ID. Proceds from the event will benefit Butler County VOICe and Lawrence County Crisis Shelter.
“Whether or not you have a vagina, you’re welcome to come to the show,” senior mathematics and professional studies major and cast member Grace Evans said. “A lot of it is funny, and a lot of it is serious. That dynamic provides a really good show for people to see. It’s not about bashing men. It’s about awareness and making every woman in the world feel like they have a voice in this matter.”
