"The Vagina Monologues" is back in its seventh-annual performance at USC. The show will run Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Gambrell Hall auditorium.
Based on the award-winning play by Eve Ensler, "The Vagina Monologues" is part of the V-Day Campaign, which strives to end violence against women.
The proceeds from the production will benefit The Assessment Resource Center, which helps children that have been maltreated.
Karissa Lindsay, a fourth-year print journalism student, organized this year's production.
"It's for a good cause," she said. "It's dedicated to stopping violence against women and girls. I was involved with the play last year and I had a really good experience, and I thought it was an opportunity to get the word out about stopping violence against women."
Lindsay said her minor is in women's studies and that anything that has to do with the advancement of women interests her.
The play features a variety of monologues all centered on the vagina, in the form of rape, birth and mutilation, among others.
"It's kind of easy to say, 'OK, well, let's do "Vagina Monologues"' because it's "vagina" and we're on a college campus and that's going to catch people's attention," Lindsay said of the play. "But at the same time, the play still has substance to it."
The V-Day campaign has occurred on a national scale for 10 years, Lindsay said.
Last year, the play raised $6,000. This year, the organization is aiming higher.
In addition to the ticket proceeds, the group sold T-shirts and chocolate vaginas for the past three Wednesdays on Greene Street and held a "pink party" at Club Fusion.
"If you wore pink, you got a discount on admission," Lindsay said.
Fiona McDevitt, a social work graduate student, is narrating the play. She got involved for many of the same reasons as Lindsay.
"It's very much a woman's play and deals with women's issues that women face, not only in the United States but in the world; domestic violence, genital mutilation and discrimination against women, especially transgendered women."
McDevitt feels "The Vagina Monologues" and the V-Day Campaign aids in preventing and dealing with those issues.
"I think that the value [of "The Vagina Monologues"] is to raise awareness of women in a way that's a little bit shocking," she said. "I think the shock value does add to it. It's a way of women celebrating who they are and reclaiming themselves. I like the fact that it tends to be a lot of college that are putting it on and when women get to college, that's when you get to come into your own."
McDevitt also said "The Vagina Monologues" helps women's self-image.
"College women are exploring all side of themselves," she said. "They're not necessarily seeing themselves as virgins or whores. They're finding who they are and their own expression of who they are that does not necessarily fit into societal boundaries."
Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for non-students. They can be purchased at the door or at the Russell House information desk.
"If you want to do community service in an entertaining way, come to the play," McDevitt said.
Be the first to comment on this article!