As part of the global V-day movement, the College of St. Benedict supported a special public reading of the controversial book, “The Vagina Monologues.”
The public reading on Feb. 18 was the culmination of a project started by seniors Angela Tate and Heather Cederholm in October. Cederholm and Tate were co-facilitators of a reading group that read “The Vagina Monologues” credit in the Gender and Women Studies Department. The duo teamed with senior theater major Meghan Gunderson to produce the public reading of “The Vagina Monologues,” on campus for the first time since 2007.
CSB’s public reading was part of the more than 4,200 V-Day benefit events that took place in the United States and around the world. V-Day was founded by Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues,” and is a global movement to stop violence against women. According to the V-day Web site, V-Day “is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations.”
“We’re very happy with the way it turned out,” Cederholm said about the public reading.
The reading raised $230 that went to Anna Marie’s Alliance in St. Cloud, a safe shelter for battered women and their children.
“Reading ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is a unique and challenging avenue to address the issues,” Tate said.
Cederholm agreed.
“When we did the reading group, discussions often carried over to the dinner table,” Cederholm said. “We want to start discussions.”
The pair of co-facilitators admitted that, at times, the men who attended the event may have felt uncomfortable, but they still feel that it was a positive experience for them to be there.
“It provides a chance for men and women to talk openly and as equals about what’s going on,” Tate said.
Despite its ability to foster positive discussion, V-Day continues to face opposition. Citing the vulgarity of the book, certain groups protest the public readings. There was no opposition to the reading at CSB. With rumors swarming that donors were pulling donations because of the staging, the Director of Annual Giving, Heather Pieper-Olson, was quick to stamp out the flames.
After looking through donation records, Pieper-Olson was not able to find any former donors that cited “The Vagina Monologues” or anything of the like as their reason for discontinuing their service.
“People give and don’t give for many reasons,” Pieper-Olson said. “I don’t see that ‘The Vagina Monologues’ were much of a factor for anyone.”
From the audience surveys collected following the reading, Tate and Cederholm feel that everyone who attended was very supportive and that it was a positive experience for most.