Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues, received the “Visionary in Residence” award, Tuesday night.
Photo: Andy Foust/The Dartmouth
Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and an advocate for ending violence against women, spent part of her stay at the College at luncheons with students and faculty and attending women and gender studies courses on Feb. 11 and 12. After Ensler’s visit to professor Susan Brison’s Feminism and Philosophy class, Brison said that she overheard male and female students discussing how to solve issues of violence.
Ensler’s visit — part of a college tour to promote the tenth anniversary of V-day, a campaign that aims to end violence against women — culminated with a dinner at the Roth Center, where she received the ” Visionary-in-Residence Award” from Dartmouth’s Center for Women and Gender.
“Eve Ensler has, in the last decade, arguably done more than anyone else to raise awareness in the U.S. about the problem of global violence against women,” Brison said.
At the dinner, Ensler criticized ignorance of the various abuses committed against women, such as female genital mutilation, and said that complacency can prevent people from helping others.
“If you’re born into privilege in the United States, then it is your obligation to serve other people,” she said. “I don’t long for comfort. I long to be connected to other people’s suffering.”
She closed with a reading of her autobiographical story, “Waiting for Mr. Alligator,” which detailed her experiences with an abusive father and her recovery from its emotional impact.
“Ensler emits an honesty and determination that is very inspiring,” said Nat Grainger ‘08, one of the few male students present at the dinner.
At Dartmouth, the celebration of V-day will culminate in performances of The Vagina Monologues on Feb. 14 and 15. The Center for Women and Gender organized this event and Julissa Llosa ‘10 will direct the production.
In her introduction of Ensler at the Roth Center, Xenia Markowitt, director of the Center for Women and Gender, said that she put on the first performance of The Vagina Monologues at The Top of the Hop approximately nine years ago. She later realized the extent of the play’s impact on the country and decided to make the performance an annual event.
“The most woman-friendly space at Dartmouth is where we perform the Vagina Monologues,” she said.
Parker Fagrelius ‘07, a performer in the show, explained that the play is more about complete acceptance of women, not only acceptance of their sexuality.
“It’s about not being uncomfortable with how women want to express themselves,” she said.
The Vagina Monologues has been translated into 45 different languages since its first performance in 1998 and is currently playing in theaters all over the world, according to the V-day website.
“Eve Ensler is my ‘She-ro,’” Markowitt said.
Three thousand V-day events took place around the world last year, and this year’s campaign will be larger, according to a press release issued by the Center for Women and Gender.
The culminating event for “V to the Tenth,” the title of this year’s campaign, will take place on April 11 and 12 in Louisiana at the New Orleans Arena and the Louisiana Superdome. Celebrities such as Salma Hayek, Oprah Winfrey and Glenn Close will attend.
