Issue date: 3/1/04 Section: News

Although met with controversy in its first two years, this year's running of "The Vagina Monologues" went smoothly, without taking out any of the shock value, Texas A&M officials said.

On Feb. 26-28, a cast of 24 A&M students performed Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" at Rudder Theater.

Ensler first produced the monologues in 1998 on Broadway as a one-woman show, said Rose Robards-Forbes, a junior journalism major and play director.

"On Broadway, it has a rotating cast of celebrities," Robards-Forbes said.

"I saw this touring campaign in 2001 and wanted to bring it here."

The performance was put on by TAMU V-Day, a student organization that
raises money and awareness to stop violence against women, said Brenda Bethman, director of the Women's Center.

Bethman said that in 2002 and 2003, several people did not want the
show to be performed at A&M's campus because of its racy content.

"This year we have enjoyed more support than we once did," Robards-Forbes said. "The Memorial Student Center and Rudder have helped us out a lot, and we have more student recognition."

Robards-Forbes said the first few years were met with so much argument because of the shocking context of the monologues, like the full range of
the female experience including menstruation, birth, good experiences with men, bad experiences with men, rape, domestic violence, sexuality and the everyday headaches of being a woman.

"It is about a women's sexual adulthood," Robards-Forbes said.

V-Day enjoys the freedom to perform the play free of royalties, Robards-
Forbes said.

"The money we raise goes to the TAMU Women's Center and the programs in violence education," Robards-Forbes said.

Senior psychology major Jennifer Cowart performed in "The Vagina Monologues" for her second year in a row. She said after seeing it and loving it during its first year running, that she went and tried out for the 2003 performance.

"It is important to get the message out that rape happens," Cowart said.

"It happens here."

The show was met with laughs and gasps from the audience, with monologues ranging from "My Angry Vagina" to "The Smell List" to "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy."

Sophomore business major Derek Harris said it was his second year to attend the performance.

"I'm kind of a feminist," Harris said. "This is very empowering to women. It is something I have a lot of respect for."

Harris said he does not think that a group of men could put on a similar set of monologues about their sexuality and be as sophisticated.

Sophomore meteorology major Andy Nelson said he was shocked by the performance.

"It made me feel uncomfortable," Nelson said. "It had a good message;
some of the skits were eye opening to different things."

Nelson said he attended the show because he knew other people coming, and someone in the show and said it was not that bad.

"Overall it was an enlightening experience," Nelson said.

This year the first annual Vagina Warrior Awards were given to those who
have helped promote women at A&M, Robards-Forbes said.

This year's recipients were Corps of Cadets Commandant Lt. Gen. John A. Van Alstyne; Brenda Bethman, director of the Women's Center; Nikki Van Heightower, who runs the program for the reduction of family violence; and Brian Tenclinger, who works with the "Be a Friend" campaign.

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