4 Years In Madison's "Vagina Monologues"

I have performed in UW-Madison productions of The Vagina Monologues for 4 years. I’ve played an uptight British woman in a Betty Dodson workshop. I’ve played a dominatrix. I’ve played a rape survivor from Bosnia. And I’ve played a woman from Pittsburg, who really, really likes to say “c%&#.”

These were all incredibly rewarding and challenging roles, but that isn’t what keeps me coming back each year.

I grew up in the quiet suburban town of Wauwatosa, WI, where any notion of female sexuality, or any sexuality for that matter, was pounded out of me by a neat little combo of Catholic school suburban pride.

Then I came to UW-Madison, the hippie liberal pocket of Wisconsin. And I got cast in The Vagina Monologues, which landed me in a room full of open-minded, caring, kind, and hilarious women talking about things that would have knocked the socks clean off my 6^th grade religion teacher.

Sara Lyons, the director, thought it was important that we know what we were talking about onstage. Every Saturday we spent 2 hours discussing issues tackled in the play. I went from 8 years of stuffing female sexuality in a box to laughing my butt off when learning that the clitoris has twice as much nerve sensitivity as the penis.

These women cried with me when I first learned about female genital mutilation and cutting. These women empowered me by teaching me the difference between “rape victim” and “rape survivor.” These women were fearless, kind, open, and open-hearted, and there was no question too stupid to ask in that room. I didn’t realize it then, but these women were the models I had been looking for throughout my conservative upbringing. I knew I wanted to be something else, but I didn’t know how. They showed me.

That was four years ago, and this past week we did it again. Led by the fabulous Anne Fischer, fourteen women got up at the Brink Lounge in Madison, WI and told vagina stories. We raised $1,500 that will go to Working Capital for Community Needs, Unidos Against Domestic Violence, and Vday‘s Spotlight Campaign in Haiti. We laughed, cried, and grew together. I’ll be coming back next year, hopefully to play the militant bisexual sex worker.