Women’s College Cancels The Vagina Monologues

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(PCM) This is news that certainly had us scratching our heads, as it appears that the all-women’s college Mount Holyoke has cancelled its’ annual production of “The Vagina Monologues” because it just so happens to exclude women without vagina’s.

“The Vagina Monologues” was written by Eve Ensler back in 1996 as a way for women to “celebrate the vagina and their own sexuality”, however the college’s theater board claims that the show does not include enough “varied experience” and is features a “narrow perspective” about what it means to be a woman.

The theater board sent out a school wide email message explaining the reason for the show’s cancellation listing the reasons mentioned above. An excerpt of the email states “at its core, the show offers an extremely narrow perspective on what it means to be a woman … Gender is a wide and varied experience, one that cannot simply be reduced to biological or anatomical distinctions, and many of us who have participated in the show have grown increasingly uncomfortable presenting material that is inherently reductionist and exclusive.”

It is the opinion of several students that the show is actually transphobic as it presents the argument that not all women have a vagina and some men also happen to have a vagina. There is a percentage of transsexual individuals who live and identify as a gender that does not match the anatomy that they were born, but have yet to receive any type of reconstructive surgery. However does this mean that women that were born with a vagina are now no longer allowed to talk openly about them for fear of offending those without?It seemingly appears that way.

The college now plans to create their own play which will be transinclusive and rectify some of the issues that are part of Eve Ensler’s original show. The performance of “The Vagina Monologues” was usually partnered with Mount Holyoke’s VDAY campaign which was used to raise awareness and help put a stop to violence against women and girls.

According to CampusReform.com, the new production will be made-up of student monologues and will be performed in much the same fashion as the original “Vagina Monologues”. CampusReform.com also reports that the program will be performed alongside the College’s Peer Health Educators, an on-campus student-led group that provides education and workshops for students, including a workshop on how to use sex toys properly.

Mount Holyoke College only recently began admitting transgender women last year, however they claim that this has nothing to do with the show cancellation.

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