Feb. 14 is no longer just Valentine’s Day. It is “V-Day” — standing for victory, valentine and vagina.
The reinvention of Valentine’s Day is thanks to playwright Eve Ensler’s revolutionary play, “The Vagina Monologues.” First performed in 1996, the play had gathered so much attention by 1998 that Ensler decided to establish a day to bring attention to ending violence against women.
Windy Borman, performing arts coordinator for the UO Cultural Forum, is directing “The Vagina Monologues,” in its third year at the University.
“The Vagina Monologues” will be performed at 8 p.m. Feb. 13-15 in the Robinson Theatre. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 general admission and can be purchased at the UO Ticket Office. Borman said the University has been able to produce the show because of a 1999 “V-Day” expansion program that allows “The Vagina Monologues” to be performed on college campuses during February without royalties as long as all profits are donated to local organizations to end violence against women.
According to the Web site, www.vday.org, more than 65 campuses participated in the first year. That number has now grown to more than 540.
“This is such a great gift because Ensler realizes the message is so important,” Borman said.
Proceeds from this year’s production will go to benefit Sexual Assault Support Services, Womenspace, Saferide and Night Ride.
Borman said “The Vagina Monologues” and “V-Day” are important ways to empower women by breaking the stigma surrounding the word “vagina.”
“She (Ensler) has experienced acts of violence in her life and just got tired of the shame, guilt and disconnection women have with their vaginas,” Borman said. “She wanted to break open the mystery.”
Ensler began work on “The Vagina Monologues” by interviewing more than 200 women about their vaginas and issues surrounding them, Borman said.
As the play says, “Women secretly love to talk about their vaginas. They get very excited, mainly because no one’s ever asked them before.”
The monologues and transitions are composed of the stories Ensler gathered, sometimes intact from one source and sometimes combinations of many.

Sociology major Mariah Castle said the show is “about voices coming together to create one big message.” Castle, a sophomore, is one of 24 actors in a cast that comprises women ranging from age 16 to 40, though the play only calls for 7 to 10 performers. Borman said after having 60 women audition, she had to cast as many of them as she could. Her solution was expanding the “vulva choir,” the equivalent of a Greek chorus, which is where Castle was cast.
The vulva choir is also a term applied to all the women who have participated in “The Vagina Monologues,” and it is an all-star list, including actors such as Oprah Winfrey, Winona Ryder, Calista Flockhart and Gillian Anderson.
Winfrey and Flockhart joined the ranks last year when they each performed one of two new monologues written by Ensler. College directors have the option of adding the two new pieces to the performance and Borman chose to do so despite some “mixed feelings.”
“There are some things in the script that I don’t agree with, but I’m willing to respect her (Ensler’s) vision and get her message out,” Borman said.
Borman gained a deeper respect for Ensler after meeting her during a workshop held by the author in December.
“She’s very inspiring, and she really wanted to empower us,” Borman said. “But I’m not so idealistic to think anymore that this play is without an agenda; it’s definitely political drama.”
Castle said the message she wants people to take from the play is one of liberation.
“I would want people to recognize that women’s sexuality is a normal thing and should be accepted in society,” she said.
While Castle and Borman readily acknowledged that “The Vagina Monologues” are about giving back to women, both said the play can offer something for the male audience if approached with an open mind.
After the conclusion of each performance, a “Vagina Dialogue” will be held with the audience, similar to the open conversations Ensler had with the women she interviewed. Adding a twist to the familiar theme, Cultural Forum Contemporary Issues Coordinator Geoff Hoffa will hold a discussion titled “Cock Talks” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Gerlinger Lounge.
“I’m definitely interested in participating in women’s issues, but it’s nice to present the male counterpart,” he said.
Hoffa’s main goal will be opening a sincere dialogue between men about their sexuality, but he also plans on presenting a few penis monologues. However, he said he will mostly rely on members of the audience bringing pieces they have found or written in an “open mic” style.
“Men will be skeptical as to how we can talk about this publicly,” Hoffa said. “For something like this to really take off, I think there needs to be the male equivalent of Eve Ensler.”
Hoffa contacted “V-Day” coordinators through the headquarters in Boston for some helpful direction, but he said the response was friendly, if to the point: “Sorry, we’re all about vaginas.”