W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | F E B R U A R Y 18 - 2 1, 2 0 16 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
OU DAILY
NOT A TABOO
SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY
“The Vagina Monologues” director Shawntal Brown holds up a “V” with her hands. The play will be shown next week as part of nationwide V-Day movements, which aims to end violence against women and girls.
Upcoming play aims to destigmatize vaginas CHLOE MOORES • @CHLOEMOORES13
THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES
when you can see it and what to bring Performances are Feb. 22 and 23 from 7-9 p.m. at Meacham Auditorium Admission is free, but donations, new sports bras and underwear will be collected to benefit The Women’s Resource Center in Norman
CAST
this year’s cast of “The Vagina Monologues” Adrian Demopulos Adrian Palmer Ariana Hall Arielle Rodriguez Breanna Bober Claire Winfrey Kait Wilkinson Kate Bergum Keaton Bell Maddie Wichryk Maggie Savage Megan Lambert Morgan Primeaux Rachel Hurtado Shawntal Brown Sierra Richey Sofi Padilla Sydne Gray
“The Vagina Monologues” is back and ready to break the negative stigma surrounding women’s sexuality, encouraging women to love their bodies and bond over the similarity of having a vagina. Eve En s l e r ’s “ Th e Vag i na Monologues” returns to OU Monday and Tuesday. Ensler’s play is a series of monologues that aim to break down the taboo associated with the word “vagina,” director Shawntal Brown said. “It’s a journey for a woman to know and love her body and experience her vagina for herself and enjoy those experiences,” Brown said. “It’s always really fun to explain that to people and say that it’s a good thing.” This is Brown’s third year of being involved in “The Vagina Monologues” on campus but her first year directing. Though the play generally conveys the same message each year, every woman interprets it in a different way, she said. “I love how each piece is very unique to the woman’s experience they are based off of,” she said. “Someone in the audience can relate to this.” Sydne Gray, an actress in the play, said because the monologues are based on real experiences, the girls aim to portray them authentically rather than act. “We definitely take time to get into groups and talk about the pieces, and we critique each other,” Gray said. “So we are not really forcing characters or specific
tropes on people.” Ensler has made revisions and additions to the play since its original premiere in 1996. Gray will perform Ensler’s recently added piece, “Rise, Dance, Disrupt,” which talks about activism for women, she said. “It’s just about using your voice and your existence to disrupt normal order,” Gray said. “I like it particularly because it is very easily applied to missing and murdered indigenous women, which is something I stand really high for.”
“It’s a journey for a woman to know and love her body and experience her vagina for herself and enjoy those experiences.” SHAWNTAL BROWN, DIRECTOR
Gray finds the controversy surrounding “The Vagina Monologues” funny because it speaks largely of the society we live in, she said. “It’s much easier for us to talk about penises because that is patriarchy,” she said. “It’s unheard of that women would have frank conversations about their own sexualities and sexual abuse.” Maggie Savage, another actress in the play, said one of the three monologues she is performing is entitled “My Angry Vagina,” in
which she discusses some of the terrible things that go along with having a vagina. “Things like going to the gynecologist and having to wear a tampon, which (are) struggles for women,” she said. “It’s like, ‘yeah, you can be mad about this. It can suck a lot of the time to have a vagina.’” T h e t i t l e “ T h e Va g i n a Monologues” is immediately associated with a move to be confrontational, but in actuality the pieces are a way to reach out to women and encourage them to express themselves, Savage said. “Those funny pieces are a way for us to talk about the daily life of being a woman, abuse and the hard times of being a woman,” she said. Savage hopes individuals are able to understand that the humor and uncomfortable moments in the show are there to prove a point, she said. “I hope they see it as a message rather than a group of 20-something girls getting up on a stage and being controversial,” she said. The play is good for anyone to come see, not just women, Gray said. “It really covers the full experience of what it’s like to be a woman every day and the implications of that,” Gray said. Chloe Moores
V-DAY HISTORY
what the celebration is and how it started In 1996, Eve Ensler wrote “The Vagina Monologues,” based on a series of interviews with women about sexuality and abuse. V-Day was established on Feb. 14, 1998, by a group of women in New York City. Every year, over 5,800 annual V-Day events include performances of “The Vagina Monologues” for a cause, demanding that violence against women and girls ends. The performances are coordinated by college students and local volunteers. The V in V-Day stands for “Victory,” “Valentine” and “Vagina.” Since its start in 1998, V-Day projects have raised more than $100 million. It has funded over 13,000 community anti-violence programs in five countries. Source: vday.org
margaret.c.moores-1@ou.edu
Company claims OU fixed stadium bidding STADIUM RENOVATIONS
OU’s history of lawsuits surrounding football stadium construction NOW: Terrazzo U.S.A. and Associates Inc. filed a lawsuit claiming that OU fixed the bidding process on the stadium THEN: In November 2015, Haas Metal Engineering Inc. sued OU for violating the Oklahoma Public Competitive Bidding Act of 1974. WHAT’S THE LAW? The Public Competitive Bidding Act of 1974 requires that any public construction project over $50,000 must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.
Business motions for permanent injunction, progress may be halted ANDREW CLARK @Clarky_Tweets
Football stadium renovations could be stalled once again. A contracting and architectural company is suing OU on claims that the university created a monopolistic bidding process for the renovations. Terrazzo U.S.A. and Associates Inc. claimed in a petition filed Feb. 12 that the university fixed the bidding process so that only one bidder in the state of Oklahoma could successfully bid on the stadium renovation project. The company alleges in its petition that OU made membership with the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association Inc. a requirement to bid on the project. According to the association’s
website, only one company in Oklahoma, Southwest Terrazzo Inc., is a member. The company also alleges that membership to the association is a “superfluous requirement,” saying that it has previously been awarded a contract with OU despite not being a member of the association. The company has motioned for a permanent injunction to halt football stadium renovations and “prays” the court awards the renovations contract to it. OU faced a similar lawsuit in November 2015 when Haas Metal Engineering Inc. sued the university for violating the Oklahoma Public Competitive Bidding Act of 1974 in the bidding process for the stadium renovations. That company eventually dropped its lawsuit, and no details of a settlement between the two were released. Andrew Clark
andrewclark@ou.edu
BRADY VARDEMAN/THE DAILY
Renovations to Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium are in jeopardy again as a contracting and architectural company has sued OU for monopolizing the bidding process for the project.