The Vagina Monologues is performed in dozens of communities each year as they take part in V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
This year Fresno State̢۪s women̢۪s studies club P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized for Women̢۪s Empowerment and Representation) and the Women̢۪s Resource Center are participating by having a two-night performance of the Vagina Monologues yesterday and tonight.
The Vagina Monologues is an award winning play based on the writer, Eve Ensler̢۪s conversations as she traveled across the globe speaking to women about their diverse backgrounds and experiences. She shares those experiences by telling various women̢۪s stories through their vaginas̢۪ perspective. As part of the V-Day celebration, Ensler allows The Vagina Monologues to be performed without cost during the months of February and March. The only condition is that all of the proceeds from these performances must be donated to organizations working to end violence against women.
One such organization is P.O.W.E.R., that has previously donated money to help build a shelter in Jaurez, Mexico and to the Marjaree Mason Center, among other women̢۪s charities.
P.O.W.E.R. President Ashley Fairburn helped bring the production on campus and performs a segment of the play called, “my vagina was my village,â€Â about a woman who was raped in Bosnia. Fairburn said that although her monologue looks at a more violent aspect of a woman’s experience, most of the other monologues have a lighter tone and are funny.
“Watching the Vagina Monologues is an experience that will move the audience from laughter to tears and back again,â€Â Fairburn said.
Fairburn said that one in four women in the U.S. will be assaulted in their lifetime and that is why she feels that most women have a personal connection to the need to stop violence whether they are conscious of it or not.
“Most women deal with violence on a day in and day out basis with certain types of people who think that they can show us that they have power over us in certain ways,â€Â Fairburn said. “Whether it be yelling at us out the car window when we are walking home alone or telling you ‘hey girl seeing you just made my day.’â€Â
Proceeds from the Vagina Monologues will benefit The Violence Prevention Project, Centro La Familia, and United Hmong Women and Men Against Violence.
Tickets can be purchased at the Women̢۪s Resource Center, at Retro Rags in the Tower District or at the door. Students can catch tonight̢۪s last showing in the Satellite Student Union at 7 p.m. for $5.