The issue of Violence against women has received intense worldwide attention of late. I watch the news, feeling helpless as incredible violence unfolds seemingly right before my eyes. A few years ago, I took it upon myself to address the violence I had experienced in my own life. I decided to try a creative approach to healing. I auditioned for the Vagina Monologues, a play written by Eve Ensler.
The Vagina Monologues is a compilation of a number of short monologues read by different women. Each one highlights the Varied issues women face from love, sex and rape to orgasm and birth. The monologues were written based on the 200 plus interviews Eve conducted with women across the U.S. It has become widely preformed since it was written in 1996 and has helped raise millions for Victims of violence.
I found out 3 weeks after the audition that I was to perform a monologue called Because He Liked to Look At It. Essentially, it is about how a woman overcomes the embarrassment and shame she feels about her vagina. I felt exposed and Vulnerable reading such a piece but as I prepared, the script seemed to take on a life of its own. Between Eve Ensler’s words, I felt as though my story were being told. Stepping on that stage before a packed theatre on performance night, was a profound and freeing experience. I felt connected with my own story, with the women Eve had interviewed, with the women sitting before me and in my own small way, with the women facing violence around the world. Through the Vagina Monologues, I felt that I had honored my story. I had held it, Validated it, screamed at it, cried at it. I left the stage that night Vibrating with energy, feeling just a little bit lighter.
The Vagina Monologues are usually performed on V-Day, which takes place on Feburary 14th. For more on V-day, Eve Ensler’s Vision and the incredible work being done to raise awareness and stop violence against women, visit: http://www.vday.org
“…find freedom, aliveness, and power not from what contains, locates, or protects us, but from what dissolves, reveals, and expands us.” – Eve Ensler
Naturality Design 