I have been involved with the Vagina Monologues every year since I have been at Hanover College. This year, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to co-direct with Careen Turner. However, I would like you all to know that a lot of the credit should be given to Careen, she made the Vagina Monologues memorable, and really sent a powerful message to our audience.
We had a different ending to years past, which included two monologues and a powerful video. Latelty I have been reflecting on the monologue called "Spotlight Narration: Over It". Annabelle gave a powerful performance to the audience, and reminded the audience about things we have forgotten.
She talks about how passive people are when thinking about rape, and I remember how many times in high school I heard people laugh about rape. At the time it was sickening and borderline scary. Although we can look at high school students, and think they are just growing up, remember how much generations change, and now junior high students have access to the same concepts as high school students. How much further will this concept reach back, to elementary schools? We can hope not, but in many homes the concept is already known.
The most thought provoking thought was when she addressed the men in the audience with that line calling "Where the hell are you?". I feel this is another aspect we need to keep in mind when thinking about changing the world. Why are there so many good men who just stand by? We need a society where men and women stand up together, and protect one another. It's hard to image a changed world from the one we live in, but anything is possible. I hope as we continue to learn, what possible ways we could go about changing the male gaze.
I have to say that the "over it" monologue was by the most provoking, which I think is exactly the point of the VM's- to provoke us to stand up against the violence, ridicule, and harassment and overall indifference. This year the monologues (I thought) went beyond the usual 2hr "laugh about vaginas" entertainment that I have seen depicted the last 4 years. The monologues this year, like you said, were powerful beyond the point of laughter. I hope that this trend continues in coming years, and that in the end everyone will stand up against the violence and their own indifference
ReplyDeleteI agree -- I think the Vagina Monologues needed something to take it a step deeper than usual. The video and Annabelle's monologue did just that. Besides Elizabeth Hollis' performance, the video and the monologue were the aspects of the show I heard spoken of the most after the performances. Usually I am a little on the fence about how much good the Vagina Monologues do in bringing awareness to issues instead of simply bringing comedy and laughter to "girl problems." Through the video specifically we were exposed to real issues here and in other cultures which influenced the creation of the Vagina Monologues in the beginning.
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