Vagina fever

Vagina warriors invaded the Woldman Theater in 112 Norton Hall on Wednesday and Thursday, performing The Vagina Monologues as part of the V-Day Campaign to end violence against women.

Written by Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues is based on over 200 original interviews conducted with women from all walks of life about their vaginas.

"At first women were reluctant to talk... but once they got started, you couldn't get them to stop," said Ashley Bennett, performing in the introduction.

The performance highlighted the misconceptions and taboos surrounding the vagina.

"There's so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them," said Christina Galea in the introduction. "[Vagina] sounds like an infection at best. It is a totally ridiculous... unsexy word."

Katie Mullen performed the monologue "Because He Liked To Look At It," about a woman who hated her vagina until she met a man who loved it.

"This monologue is based on an interview with a woman who had a good experience with a man," said narrator Cara Cohen, amid laughter from the audience.

Mullen's character spoke of her habit of pretending she had attractive furniture between her legs instead of a vagina. She begins to accept herself after her encounter with Bob, who loved her body.

"He was genuinely excited... I began to see myself the way he saw me. I began to love my vagina," Mullen said.

Patrice Francois performed the empowering "My Angry Vagina," forcing the audience's attention to the plethora of ways society attempts to mask and decorate the vagina.

"Don't believe him when he tells you its supposed to smell like roses when its supposed to smell like p*ssy," Francois said, talking about a number of things that make vaginas uncomfortable; everything from visits to the OB/GYN to thong underwear.

"That's the worst-thong underwear. Who thought that up?" she said. "Vaginas need comfort."

Many of the monologues took a serious tone, drawing the audience's attention to violence against women throughout the world. In "My Vagina Was My Village," Becca Stempel and Amanda Hibbard depicted the story of a woman, a victim of rape, whose life and village were torn apart by violence in Bosnia.

"Not since the soldiers put a... rifle inside of me, six of them, monsters," said Hibbard. "They left their sperm inside of me and I became a river of poison and puss... I do not touch now, I do not visit."

In Bosnia, 20,000 to 70,000 women have been raped amid the warring and violence, Cohen said. In the United States, 200,000 women are raped each year.

"People need to know that this happens every day," Francois said.

Sponsored by Sub-Board I, Inc. Health Education, the performances benefited the International Institute of Buffalo Human Trafficking Victim Services and UB's Anti-Rape Task Force. The UB Men's Group was also in attendance, selling chocolate Vagina-pops and passing out information about the group outside of the theater.

The Men's Group focuses on educating men, because 99 percent of violence against women is caused by men, according Steve Glamcevski, leader of the group. Despite the statistic, he noted that it is a small number of men who perpetrate the violence, but commit abusive acts multiple times.

"Since the majority of men are good guys, [they] can see other men stand up for something they believe in and join our cause," Glamcevski said.

The performances included "Vagina Happy Fact" and "Not So Happy Fact." The happy fact is that the clitoris is the only organ in the body designed for pleasure, with 8,000 nerve endings-twice that of the penis.

"Who needs a hand gun when you have a semi-automatic?" said performer Lauren Pollow. This happy fact was repeated frequently throughout the performance.

Safiyya Hunter presented the "Not So Happy Fact." She said that according to UNICEF, as of 2005, 130 million genital mutilations have been inflicted upon women, at a rate of 3 million girls a year, causing a number of horrific after-effects, from agony during childbirth to early death.

"Outrageous Vagina Fact" pointed out that in Alaska, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and Indiana, it is illegal to sell vibrators, and is punishable by up to $5,000 in fines.

"It is totally legal to sell guns in all these states," said performer Stacy Frederick. "We have yet to see a... murder caused by a vibrator."

The show gave the audience new ways of looking at the often-ignored and misunderstood vagina.

"Everyone saw something there they could identify with," said Raina Davis, a senior anthropology major.

Jessica Falco, a junior psychology and nursing major, thought the performance made good use of humor to illustrate important issues.

"It brought a good interpretation of women's rights issues," she said.

For Jane Fischer, director of SBI Health Education, events like The Vagina Monologues, with its dedicated performers and enthusiastic audience, show that the message of ending violence is reaching people, to build a better future.

"[It gives] hope for women, hope for society [and] hope for the young," she said.