“The Vulva Club.” “The Flood.” “The Little Coochie-Snorcher That Could.” These are not this weekend’s movie debuts or The New York Times best-selling novels, but monologues that describe the ins and outs of an often overlooked body part — the vagina.

Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students will hear these and other monologues in this weekend’s “The Vagina Monologues,” and feel a new appreciation for women and their relationships to their bodies.

“The Vagina Revolution, that’s what we call it,” said Laura McLelland, a senior art education and fiber arts major and executive coordinator of this year’s “The Vagina Monologues.”

“It’s really liberating and really inviting,” she added.

SU and ESF are two of 656 colleges across the nation participating in V-Day, an international movement to stop violence against women and girls. The movement began in 1998 in New York after Eve Ensler’s play, “The Vagina Monologues,” garnered powerful responses from hundreds of victims of sexual and physical abuse. Ensler and her co-founders felt that dramatic action was needed to end the ongoing problem of abuse. In addition to preventing further violence, a goal of V-Day and the monologues is to empower women — and men — with their sexuality.

“Sexual violence is a very scary reality and we have to use shock value. At the same time, we don’t want anyone to feel helpless,” McLelland said. “This week is about emphasis on the positive aspects of being a woman that we don’t talk about. There is a lot of room for empowerment of female sexuality.”

Each of the participating colleges performs “The Vagina Monologues” and donates all proceeds to charities dedicated to ending violence against women and girls. For a college to become a part of the movement, interested students need to officially join the organization’s international college campaign and obtain permission from the director. The college is then sent a copy of the script a few strict guidelines they must follow, McLelland said.

SU and ESF had their first Vagina experience last year, with more than 2,000 tickets sold and $10,000 raised.

The show has previously been sponsored by the Committee of Women in Art and was also part of the Matrilineage Symposim held every February. This year the show is sponsored by the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning and will be held at 8 p.m. Friday and at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday in Goldstein Auditorium.

“I would love to see the show sell out this year,” McLelland said. “We hope to double what we earned last year. I think we can do it.”

The cast of about 35 students auditioned in November and has rehearsed every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m, said cast member Cindy Krenek, a sophomore broadcast journalism and political science major.

“My experience has been really, really wonderful,” Krenek said. “I tried out on a whim, and I found out really quickly that’s a lot more than just doing a play. I’m educating myself about ending violence against women.”

One of the main goals of this year’s V-Week on the SU and ESF campus is to encourage men to become involved in the movement. The V-Board worked with the Interfraternity Council and two male education coordinators to raise awareness among men. Some men will be ushering at each performance, McLelland said.

“I’d love to see a more male audience,” McLelland added.

Colin Keating, a junior music and education major, is one of two males reading a monologue in the show, called “V-World Envisioned,” written by his friend Matt Hoch, a junior photo illustration major.

“The monologue starts when violence against women and girls no longer exists,” Keating said. “I’m really glad I’m doing it because I am a big advocate for women’s rights, and for men, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to show that.”

The V-Week program at SU and ESF includes other events in addition to the performances. Organizers held a fund-raiser at Chairz and Co. on Westcott Street on Feb. 6, and also held a Students’ Vagina and Penis Monologues event in the Noble Room of Hendricks’ Chapel on Feb. 7. The Red Tent, an interactive display with “vagina-friendly” activities ran Feb. 11 and 12 in the lobby of Goldstein Auditorium.

“The vagina is totally downplayed in society, and it’s almost a different mentality we’re trying to bring people into,” McLelland said. “But we’re extending the invitation to the SU community.”

Published on February 12, 2003 at 12:00 pm