Mechelle Hankerson and Nick Bonadies
Assistant Spectrum Editor and Spectrum Editor
The final night of this month’s production of Eve Ensler’s feminist classic “The Vagina Monologues” in the Student Commons prompted a rally by a group of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) supportive students on Tuesday. This resulted in one protester’s arrest, according to VCU Police.
Traditionally VCU productions of “Monologues,” sponsored by the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, have included a segment featuring a transgendered woman’s struggle with transphobic violence. This month’s production – sponsored by Zeta Phi Beta, Inc. – opted for a different segment, which focuses on the struggles of women in post-Katrina New Orleans.
“They’re kind of contradicting the whole point of the show because it’s supposed to embody all forms of womanhood, and they aren’t doing that by excluding the transgender and the queer,” said protester Isabel Durate, an undeclared freshman.
The 1996 play explores an array of vagina-related issues, including rape, abuse, love and birth through each actor’s monologue. Each year Ensler adds a new monologue to highlight a current issue that women in the world are currently – for example, 2003’s “Under the Burqa,” which dealt with the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
There are 13 central monologues whose inclusion is required by the play’s licensees, as well as six “optional” monologues of which the production’s director may choose only one to present, in order to keep the performance time under 90 minutes.
The protesters, who are not affiliated with any particular VCU student organization, took issue with this production’s selection of a different “optional” monologue to replace a segment by writer and activist Julia Serano, in which a transgendered woman is exposed to animosity and violence upon coming out as transgendered.
Fatima Smith, a first-year graduate student pursuing a master’s in social work and president of Zeta Phi Beta, directed the production. She said the controversy was “a misunderstanding – I felt that it was all hearsay that spun out of control.”
Smith said that her selection of monologues acted in accordance with the directions provided to her.
“It’s my discretion to choose what I think should be included and what fits with the other monologues,” she said. “For me, my message was ‘violence against women around the world.’ One of the monologues talks about Bosnian women … (another) talked about Haiti. So for me it felt fitting to add New Orleans.”
A “Monologues” cast member who wishes to remain anonymous commented that it was “totally within (Smith’s) rights” to make such a selection.
“I don’t think that she’s necessarily being transphobic in that exclusion, in and of itself … She didn’t necessarily ‘censor’ anything. It was how she went about it that rubbed a lot of the members of the cast the wrong way.”
According to the protesters, Smith’s actions and decisions while directing the play were directly at odds with Smith’s interest in becoming certified in the SafeZone program, and said they felt Smith would be an inappropriate candidate. The SafeZone program aims to provide LGBTQ students across campus safe, accepting places to discuss any problems or struggles they may be facing.
Protesters cited several issues, including a conversation Smith had with another cast member. The cast member asked Smith’s personal thoughts on homosexuality.
“I said that as a Christian … that’s deemed as a sin. Personally, I feel a sin is a sin, and – I’m not in a place to judge anybody of their lifestyle – and I’m just like, lying’s a sin, murder’s a sin, all of these things are considered sins in the Bible. So it’s no better or no worse to me, and I don’t judge anybody,” she said in a phone interview.
“I know that some people have said that as a Christian, I was trying to use my religious beliefs to censor the play,” Smith said. “If that was the case – if I were as conservative as they’re saying – I wouldn’t even have done the production.”
Smith mentioned that two of the 13 central monologues, which her production read in their entirety, dealt with themes of lesbian love.
“I don’t feel like I should have to suppress my identity because you may think that it’s oppressive to you,” Smith said. “What they are accusing me of doing is the same thing they’re doing to me – you’re judging me; you’re condemning me for something because you don’t like it.”
“This isn’t really like a personal attack against her (Smith); this is just as members of the LGBT community, you should be at least neutral, if not supportive of that community if you’re going to be in a position where you’re going to be helping those kids in their time of need,” Durate said.
“A lot of people don’t understand these issues fully,” said the cast member. “But a production of the ‘Vagina Monologues’ is the last place this should happen.”
The proceeds of the production, which had its first run on Feb. 4 and sold out, benefited Hanover Safe Place (“Promoting freedom from domestic violence & sexual assault”), RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) and V-Day; the organization which handles widespread productions of “Monologues.”
“Tolerance is not acceptance,” said Cath Cowan, a junior at VCU. “Thats what we’re here about. This is a rally – this is positive – this is not a protest.”
According to VCU Police public relations specialist Mike Porter, the students “did not follow proper procedure for reserving space inside the Commons,” which is when the police asked for students and protesters to leave the Commons.
When one group member, Eric Smith, asked the police why they were being asked to leave, the police asked to see his I.D. Eric refused, instead offering his name and address to the police, at which point the police began to arrest him. Porter said that Eric not providing his I.D. was probable cause for arrest for trespassing.
Eric was released the same night after being taken to VCU Police headquarters and questioned.
Liz Canfield, VCU professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, said she viewed the proceedings surrounding “Monologues” as a healthy expression of student voices.
“VCU is a great place for that,” she said. “We’re a really diverse campus, and we really care about having student voices heard. It’s key to our university’s culture.”