PicturedRon Magers, Eve Ensler at a Heartland Alliance benefit.
In her essay 'Vagina Warriors: An Emerging Paradigm, An Emerging Species,' Eve Ensler writes 'For native peoples, a warrior is one whose basic responsibility is to protect and preserve life.' The essay appears in Ensler's new book Vagina Warriors, a collaboration with renowned photographer Joyce Tenneson inspired by Ensler's seven years of traveling the world performing her hilariously moving play The Vagina Monologues. She wrote a play that sparked a crusade, giving millions of people worldwide the voice and the courage to stop violence against women—to become Vagina Warriors.
The Vagina Monologues began as an underground production in small theaters, but quickly grew into an international phenomenon, garnering mainstream media attention and captivating the masses. The play is based on Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women from different cultures, speaking candidly—many of them for the first time in their lives—about their sexuality and their bodies, about violence and pleasure, about shame and joy, and namely, about their vaginas. The Vagina Monologues disarmed audiences everywhere with its grace and warmth, turning a once taboo subject into a lively topic of conversation. Women around the globe breathed a collective sigh of relief as Ensler's monologues gave them permission to express themselves and share their stories.
Even women who did not identify with feminism and who were not activists have been inspired and empowered by these monologues. An activist herself, as well as an artist, Ensler believes that art has the unique power to challenge people's thoughts and inspire them to action: 'One of the reasons I believe in art and that I'm a playwright is that I think art has the capacity to reach places and people that politics doesn't. Art brings us into the world of mystery, into the world of metaphor, into the world of ambiguity, into the world of language, into the world of dreams. It opens something in us, where sometimes politics regresses into duality—right or wrong, yes or no, left or right.'
Witnessing women all over the world respond to her first play, Ensler explained, 'They go 'Oh, well that's my story.' They don't feel judged. They don't feel like there's a way they're supposed to be, it's OK to be who you are. That allows them to speak their truth and feel included.'
What began as a one-woman show has grown into an international brigade of women and men organizing, fundraising, collaborating, and performing to raise awareness and end violence against women. Empowered women from coast to coast in the U.S., from Argentina to Zimbabwe, now organize benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues as part of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, headed by Ensler and her staff. V-Day, a non-profit corporation, facilitates opportunities for communities to come together against violence, and distributes the funds raised—over $25 million to date—to grassroots organizations working to end violence.
This Feb. 14 officially marks the 7th V-Day, and the idea has clearly caught on. In 2004, 624 college campuses and 359 communities in 76 countries hosted V-Day performances of The Vagina Monologues on or around Valentine's Day. Ensler observed, 'The longer the movement exists and it grows, the more amazing it gets in some ways because it just gets into smaller and smaller and smaller towns. It just gets more and more grassroots.' Thanks in large part to Ensler's play, women are demanding an end to violence in their lives—whether they are speaking out against date rape on a campus in Rochester or working to stop honor killings in Ramallah —Eve's V-Day 'army' is working toward a common goal.
Ensler has spent the past seven years bringing her art, her vision, and her passion to those small towns around the world. In that time, she has gotten to know many organizers and activists working to end violence in their own communities, often against formidable odds. 'I was traveling and meeting all of these incredible men and women all over the world who literally had suffered incredible violence, or witnessed violence or experienced it in some way, and rather than becoming violent people, they had found some mechanism in themselves to greet it or transform it and then devote their lives to making sure this didn't happen to other people.' As time passed, it occurred to Ensler that these brave women working for change were literally everywhere. She described her eventual realization with obvious reverence in her voice, 'This is like a secret group of people on the planet ... keeping the human species alive. Usually they do work without any attention from any media, and nobody knows about them. They just go along and they do it because they have to do it—they're Vagina Warriors.'
Ensler emphasized that these are the people who inspire her and give her the strength to continue her own work. She noted that photographer Joyce Tenneson had been accompanying her to V-Day gatherings and taking pictures of the people they encountered. When they realized that they had all of these amazing photographs, Ensler explained that the two women thought, 'Why don't we do a book of Vagina Warriors because it is so great for people to see what a wide range of people they are and how diverse and how unexpected ... and maybe we'll encourage other people to become Vagina Warriors.' Her first book, Vagina Warriors, scheduled for release Feb. 14, pays homage to these women and their lives. The book is a stunning photographic portrayal of heroines—well known and unsung—who each in her own way works to make the dream of a non-violent world a reality.
Ensler specifically mentioned several of the women featured in the book who have inspired her. Among them she noted Esther Chavez who organized V-Day in Juarez, Mexico last year; Agnes Pareyio who is working to stop female genital mutilation in Kenya and was recently named Deputy Mayor of her town; and Chicago's own Mary Morten, a long-time feminist and activist who has organized V-Day performances here for the last four years. Ensler passionately believes that these Vagina Warriors and the countless others all over the world can end violence by working together. 'I start with first [ the belief ] that we're going to end violence, and I believe that we will. I do think we change the world all the time. The fact that other people are changing it back is the problem.' She further reflected, 'Is the problem massive? Of course it is. Is it something that we could, in fact, stop in our lifetime? I think we could. I think it just means that we get enough people who are that committed, and intensely committed.'
V-Day 2005 is just around the corner, and in all likelihood, it will expand and build on the successes of 2004. Events, gatherings, and benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues will take place over the next several weeks on campuses and in communities around the globe. This year's V-Day is appropriately themed 'Women of Iraq: Under Siege' in an effort to bring awareness to the increase in violence endured by Iraqi women since the U.S. occupation and regime change—a reality clearly down-played or ignored by the mainstream American media.
'I think that in many ways, the women of Iraq are the huge collateral damage of this war. In the name of so-called liberation and democracy, women have had their rights just deteriorated. Freedom and safety, let's just begin there. In the months since the U.S. bombing, the rise of abductions, honor killings, sexual kidnappings and slavery and rapes is just completely out of control. Then we look at women who aren't leaving their homes anymore—women who were doctors and lawyers—because they're too scared to walk the streets,' Ensler observed. V-Day organizers hope that this year's performances and events will expose the continued violence against Iraqi women so that activists can begin mobilizing for change both inside and outside of the war-torn country.
Clearly more work must be done before women everywhere are safe in their homes and on the streets. However, thanks to the inspiring vision and tireless organizing of Eve Ensler, Vagina Warriors everywhere are making the world less violent every day. What began as the artistic expression of one playwright has grown into an international movement. Not surprisingly when you consider the tenacity and optimism of its creator, the 'V' in V-Day stands for Valentine, Vagina, and most importantly, Victory. With the number of people being touched by Ensler's work and the funds raised growing exponentially every year, that victory seems more within reach than ever. Contemplating the movement's astounding success, Ensler enthusiastically but humbly commented, 'It's what you dream will happen with your art.'
Ensler will be in Chicago Tuesday, Feb. 15 for a signing at Women and Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 5-6:30 p.m., followed by a discussion by Pow Wow at Lee's Un/Leaded Blues, 8-10 p.m., 7401 S. South Chicago Ave. See www.powwowchicago.org for more information, or call ( 773 ) 378-3600. Pow Wow and guests perform The Vagina Monologues Sat., March 5, DuSable Museum, with a Salute to Women on the Frontlines.
