The University’s undergraduate feminist organization, Women Organizing Women, is celebrating female sexuality and spreading awareness of violence against women with their presentation of “The Vagina Monologues.”The performance will take place tonight and Friday at the Baton Rouge Gallery at 7 p.m. Regular admission is $10, and student admission is $5. The proceeds from the performance will be donated to the Baton Rouge Rape Crisis Centers. The group’s goal is to raise $2,000 for the cause. 
“The Vagina Monologues” is an internationally acclaimed series of soliloquies. The series was first written and performed by Eve Ensler in 1998. The show escalated into a national campaign known as V-Day. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the violation and exploitation of women’s bodies and to raise money for local agencies with the same motives.
The University’s WOW group carries on Baton Rouge’s contribution to V-Day. An open casting call was held for women interested in taking part in the performance. A total of 12 women, ranging from students to activists to local obstetrician/gynecologists, will perform.Rachel Hebert, the community organizer of Baton Rouge’s V-Day 2009 production, explained each piece relates to a certain aspect of being a woman. Some of the pieces are celebratory and humorous while others are touching and emotional.The performances will be in conjunction with Venus Envy, a local    all-female multi-media art exhibit.Michelle Linschoten, psychology senior and women’s studies minor, will perform a monologue about the alternative terms for the word vagina. Linschoten explained that most alternate terminology tends to be negative, insulting and derogatory. She also said language used in substitution for the female anatomy should be disclaimed.”I’m excited about my piece. It’s provocative,” said Linschoten, president of WOW and community organizer for the University’s campaign. “And it’s just really great to see how the monologues touch people’s lives.”-
Contact Lindsay Nunez at [email protected]