For my first winter on campus since freshman year, I felt thrilled to finally participate in “The Vagina Monologues.” I felt I had been missing an important part of my Dartmouth experience as a woman and feminist. Auditions came for both “Voices,” the new production of monologues written by Dartmouth students, and “The Vagina Monologues.”
In “The Vagina Monologues,” I was cast as “The Woman Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy.” Unbeknownst to me, the monologue often faces criticism because the performer acts out various “moans,” which differ based on minority group. Obviously, these jokes are problematic. As such, leaders of V-February organized a panel this year, “The Vagina Monologues Controversies,” on which I could give my perspective of the monologue. I agreed this type of conversation was important, and I thought I was doing the right thing.
Then came “Voices.”
I still remember it so clearly. I performed my anonymous, Latina peer’s experience of being groped by a mall Santa. At first, the audience laughed as I demonstrated the author’s embarrassment of waiting to see Santa at 15. When I delivered the line revealing Santa’s inappropriate groping, the room went silent. The excruciating quiet continued as I detailed how her mother refused to believe her when she explained what happened. For the first time, I performed in front of an audience that could not anticipate what I would say. As the room gasped and an unbearable silence took over, my shock at this frightening reaction hit me. I had known it, but a whole room showed me they understood that this story was horrible. This story was, in fact, not funny at all. I left the stage feeling sick, but I knew I had shared something incredibly important.
With “Voices” over, rehearsals for “The Vagina Monologues” weighed heavily on me. How could I share the story of the Latina teenager and then openly mock minority women? The “just a play” argument no longer held value. I could not, as a person and a woman, behave as though I condoned the piece. As a survivor of assault like the girl in my “Voices” piece, I could not relate to her in one way and diminish her personhood in another. I could not perform in “The Vagina Monologues” and accept the laughter I would receive. I could not pretend that simply speaking on a panel afterward would cleanse me of the injustice I would perpetuate by speaking derogatory, racist, marginalizing words as a white, straight-passing, cisgender woman.
I knew I had to react. I could not continue with the show. Even if I promoted the educational value of discussing the monologue’s problems, I could not comfortably participate, no matter how much I encouraged audience members to attend some panel. I decided to quit the show, still speak on the panel and publicly write about my decision.
“The Vagina Monologues” represents a contemporary feminist tradition. The production opened a new realm of discussion for women, for whom talking about their genitalia has long been, and remains, taboo. For many women today, the monologues still symbolize a gateway into a world of women’s empowerment and frank discussion of sexuality, gender-based violence, and women’s bodies. These benefits, however, mask the unfortunate reality of the production, which is a white, cisgender woman’s appropriation of other women’s experiences, particularly those of queer women and women of color.
“The Vagina Monologues” had its time in feminist history, but that time has passed. We must examine why we continue to idolize a production built on appropriation. Storytelling holds the most power and truth when the voice comes directly from the source. Rather than continue the tradition of “The Vagina Monologues,” Dartmouth and its community should rally behind “Voices,” a show that captures the various forms of empowerment that self-identifying women find. The women of Dartmouth are diverse, brave and strong. We should extol these students’ telling of their own experiences rather than continue to share stories that have already been rewritten and framed by one person.
Dartmouth no longer needs “The Vagina Monologues.” Dartmouth needs a new feminist tradition for the month of February and always, and a space for the voices of self-identifying women. Dartmouth needs “Voices.”
Kate Shelton '14 is a guest columnist.
