Diana Birney (sophomore, Biology)

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This weekend I went to my very first Vagina Monologues. I was VERY nervous about attending, as “those” topics are rarely, if ever, alluded to at home, much less actually said out loud. I was greatly surprised. I sat during intermission realizing the power of the Monologues and feeling very empowered as a woman. I felt like a part of a bigger picture. I couldn’t wait for the second act.

During the second part was a part where one of the girls told a vagina fact. The fact was that there are six states where it is illegal to sell vibrators. It was frustrating to hear that the first five states mentioned where Southern. However, I didn’t even hear the last state, because somewhere from the crowd I heard a word that scarred my heart. Dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a pool came the word “Shocking.”

All the sudden I felt like a door had been slammed in my face. I was no longer a part of that picture. I was a woman still . . . but because I am a Southerner, I felt I wasn’t included any longer.

To the women of the Vagina Monologues: I applaud you. You rocked my world and really affected the way I thought about myself. To the Woman in the Audience: I applaud you too. You proved how close minded some people still are.

There are reasons for stereotypes. There always are. But a lot of them are explainable. Please ask me about my culture. It’s different from yours, and that’s ok. What’s not ok is for you to judge my home because of where it is.

Here’s a way to put everything into perspective. I traveled about 3,000 miles to come to school here. lets look at a place where the countries aren’t quite so big as ours . . . that distance is comparable to me growing up in Portugal and going to school in the Ukraine. How many things do people from Portugal and Ukraine have in common? The language is different, the food is different, the clothes are different, the culture is different. Both are people though. Both are proud of where they came from. I am no different. My words and foods I like are sometimes different. The culture is definitely different. Please let me help you learn about my culture: I want to learn about yours.

Lets learn to be more open minded together.

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