The Vagina Monologues 2012

Last night I saw The Vagina Monologues at The Nuffield Theatre at Lancaster University. I had heard reviews of the production being 'funny', 'sad' and 'shocking', but I never imagined the monologues would have affected me so much emotionally and stuck with me.

The Vagina Monologues was written in 1996 after Eve Ensler conducted a series of interviews with women from all around the world about their thoughts and feelings of 'down there'. The results were staggering with Eve collecting a moving collection of honest stories, from comical encounters to truly harrowing experiences.

The Vagina Monologues have now been translated into 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Previous women to have been involved with re-creating The Vagina Monologues include Kate Winslet, Whoopi Goldberg and Sophie Daul. The cast last night at Lancaster University put their hearts and souls into the production. The women's stories were told through a thoughtful mix between the comical tales, from a list of sexual 'moanings' to vagina classes, and the truly awful accounts of abuse that some of the women interviewed had encountered, including stories from the Comfort Women of World War II and women who had experienced sexual abuse as a child.

At the end of the monologues a woman stood centre stage with her guitar and sang an extremely moving about a woman who was the victim of abuse as a child. At the end of the first chorus, the cast and audience members stood in solidity for the stories they had just heard and for all the women who continue to be treated badly around the world. As I stood there holding back my tears, I thought about how much so many of us take our privileged lives for granted. Why are so many women around the world still treated like objects and pieces of meat to be passed around and 'sampled' by men? Why do so many women live in fear for their lives? This should not be happening. It really should not be happening.

Out of The Vagina Monologues came V-Day. V-day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. V-day campaigns aim to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups across the world; last night's Vagina Monologues production that I saw was raising money for the Preston Safe Centre. V-Day also works to educate others and change social attitudes towards violence against women and girls.

The V-Day movement is growing at a rapid pace thanks to its thousands and thousands of supporters and people like you reading this blog to gain a better understanding of the experiences of others less fortunate than ourselves. This should not be happening. It really should not be happening

14th February 2013 will mark V-day's 15th anniversary. To find out more about V-Day, visit the V-Day website or their Facebook page. You can also find details of tour days of The Vagina Monologues here.