Extra Credit-The Vagina Monologues

Attending “The Vagina Monologues” was incredibly eye opening in so many different ways. This event focused on preventing violence against women by raising awareness about the situation.

“The Vagina Monologues” was relevant to Body Image vs. Reality because it focused on women loving their bodies, even the part that is taboo to talk about, the vagina. Each monologue focused on different issues. Some of them were extremely descriptive, while others told stories of real women’s lives.

This event enriched my knowledge of the frequent abuse of women and the insecurities abuse creates. The statistics that were quoted between monologues were shocking and made me realize that this is an issue that doesn’t receive much attention, but is certainly a problem. It’s different to read about it on paper than to actually hear in graphic detail what has happened to some women. They become actual people instead of just a number. It also enhanced my understanding of what women are fighting for and against.

The word “vagina” was said so many times, I actually became indifferent to it, and it was amazing to see how many people showed up to the event. I expected the crowd to be full of women, but rather it was a mixture of both genders. This tells me that violence against women is a large enough problem to have a following. I applaud the actresses in “The Vagina Monologues” greatly for getting up on stage and sharing what were sometimes uncomfortable sentiments. Although the monologues were not about the actors, they gave voices to women without one. They represented the women all over the world who suffer silently.

This really opened my eyes to the different types of abuse and how subtle some forms can be. For instance, the first monologue, “Hair,” was a tale of how a woman shaved her pubic hair to please her husband. This was a very painful process for the women, but it was something that the husband demanded. Even something that seems so trivial can be classified as abuse because of the psychological harm it inflicts.

I applaud the efforts of “The Vagina Monologues” to dare to put on a shock-value production, but sometimes it is the only way to raise attention for a cause