"The Vagina Monologues" stands against sexism through intersectional narratives

Twenty-five people performed various skits from the episodic play "The Vagina Monologues" Friday night in Hendricks Chapel to talk about women’s often-taboo experiences, from gender violence to positive sexual experiences. 

Students Advocating Sexual Safety and Empowerment produce the play every spring semester to promote self-love and raise public’s attention to misogyny, according to the student organization’s bio.

Amy Quichiz, president of SASSE, said they are committed to ending violence against women and creating comfortable environments for LGBTQ and marginalized community members. Performing The Vagina Monologues is a way to make sure their stories are heard. 

“A collective story is very powerful, especially for the feminist movement and for women to be out there and tell their stories,” she said.

As a Latina and the director of the show, Quichiz said she puts in a lot of effort into making "The Vagina Monologues" different from previous ones. The production has become more diverse and inclusive since it started in 2004; this year’s group of performers had the most women of color Quichiz had seen during her four years at SU.

Lynn Chui, a biochemistry and forensic science senior and a performer in the Vagina Monologues, said the show is a great way to enhance people knowledge about the issues surrounding womanhood, feminism and sexual assaults.

She said the monologues have included a wider variety of topics this year, with more members from different backgrounds.

“This year is a really diverse cast. Majority of us are people of color.” Chui said. “I think it’s a really great way to bring our experiences and our voices out to these stories.”

As someone who is queer, Chui said she has experienced negative comments about her appearance on campus because people look at her in a certain way.

“It gets me a little hot water sometimes,” she said. “I do identify as a woman and I use she and her as pronouns.”

Ann Liu, a English and textual studies junior who attended the performance, said she supports "The Vagina Monologues" because those often-ignored stories of women have become a form of oppression in retrospect from her a point of view as a woman.

“We are always taught not to talk about it and to keep quiet,” she said. “I think it’s important that we start talking about it and hopefully raise awareness to the world.”

Quichiz said she encourages people to listen to other stories of abused women.

“Anything that’s not portrayed by the mainstream media to really get informed of what’s going on, especially with the political climate now.”

Photo: Jason Chen for TheNewsHouse.com