April 17, 2014
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monologue dialogues follow scripps’ we’re all performance of the vagina Monologues somebody’s type E I
By Lucy Altman-Newell ‘17 Staff Writer very year, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues is performed in hundreds of countries around the world. According to the V-Day Claremont Colleges Facebook group, “The award-winning play is based on V-Day Founder/playwright Eve Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women. With humor and grace the piece celebrates women’s sexuality and strength. Through this play and the liberation of this one word [“vagina”], countless women throughout the world have taken control of their bodies and their lives. For more than twelve years, The Vagina Monologues has given voice to experiences and feelings not previously exposed in public.” From April 3rd to April 5th, 5C students performed the series of fifteen monologues revolving around (cisgender) women and their vaginas in Benson Auditorium at Pitzer College. The performances were regarded as a huge success. Benson was packed full, with students lining the back wall of the auditorium. Informational tables with representatives from House of Ruth, a local organization that assists women and children who have endured domestic violence, and to which the proceeds from the 5C performances of “The Vagina Monologues” went, were present both before and after each performance to answer questions and to provide any necessary support. The actresses — coming from Scripps, Pitzer, Pomona, Mudd, CMC, and the wider, local community — were brilliant, taking the breathless audience through the emotional highs and lows of the Monologues. But what was perhaps most interesting was the openness with which the performers and producers spoke about critiques of Eve Ensler’s “Monologues,” both before the auditorium cleared, and
Inside This Issue:
The Monologue Dialogues will take place on Friday, April 26 from 7-9 p.m. on the Miss America Steps. For more information contact family@scrippscollege.edu.
in the Q&A period after the official end of the show. At the end of each performance, co-producer Rachel Kipnes (Pitzer ’14) took time to address the recognized, inherent limitations of the show as written by Eve Ensler — primarily, that while The Vagina Monologues does give a voice to some individuals, it is a very limited group. Co-producer Robin Brody (Pitzer ’15) and directors Emery Lieverman-Auerbach ’14 and Eden Olsen ’14 joined in, explaining that they recognize that the Monologues doesn’t address queer bodies at all, and that the fact that Eve Ensler is a white, educated, upper-middle-class woman is very transparent, especially as many of the monologues are written as white voices: “This is violent and offensive to people who don’t see themselves here [in the narrow group of people for whom Ensler provides a voice].” Kipnes explained during the Q&A period that although there are severe limitations within The Vagina Monologues that need to be addressed, it is important that voices are heard, and that those that are not heard are recognized. Because the Monologues is well-known, it draws a crowd. If even a quarter of the crowd hears her statement at the end of each performance expressing the problems with the show, she explained, that’s doing something important. It’s spreading
awareness. As she announced at the end of the performance, The Monologue Dialogues is the event to go to, as it deals directly with the voices who do not receive attention in Ensler’s play. The Monologue Dialogues: Amplifying Unheard Narratives is a 7C event which will take place on Friday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. on the Miss America Steps of Scripps College. According to Claire Hirschberg ’15, who has been heavily involved in the organization of the event, the Dialogues “is a part of Family’s GAYpril events and will be a mic night event where people can share poems, songs, monologues, collaborative performances, and any other self-expression someone wants to bring to our stage. We recognize that our event stands in contrast to The Vagina Monologues. However, our goal is not to exist in opposition to the play, as we recognize that for many people it’s a powerful and significant performance. In putting on The Monologue Dialogues, we are trying to create a different type of space; one where marginalized narratives are centralized, and one in which self-expression is welcomed, allowing the contextualization of each person’s story.” The Dialogues recognizes that womanhood is not based on the vagina, and
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1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 744 email: scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XVII | Issue Eleven
By Alex Washburn Guest Contributor n an effort to raise awareness about the Red Cross’ outdated policies regarding certain populations and donating blood and promote national change to those policies, there will be a student demonstration called We’re All Somebody’s Type on April 22 at the Red Cross blood drive at the Smith Campus Center. Throughout the duration of the blood drive 12-6 p.m., we will be offering free confidential HIV testing, a letter writing campaign, and a photography project to further convey to the FDA that there are many supportive individuals from these communities that should not be banned from giving blood. The early 1980s represented the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States. Scientists and public health officials were only just beginning to understand what the disease was and how it was being spread, and as news and rumors about it also spread, the public began to panic. Early reports of the first victims of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Karposi’s sarcoma (two of several opportunistic infections that indicate an AIDS diagnosis) showed that the disease was appearing in gay men and intravenous drug users. Government organizations and scientific institutions did not look too much into these cases, however, because they were considered to be part of groups at risk of contracting AIDS, and were already being systematically neglected and denied the biomedical research, resources, and care that they needed. It was only when non-using, heterosexual individuals began showing symptoms of these strange diseases after receiving blood transfusions that anyone started paying attention. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center continued on page 2
Page 11 - Arts & Culture
Read about the thrilling HBO series Game of Thrones!