By Kristi Cummins / Staff Writer

This year V-Day doesn’t just stand for Valentine’s Day. It also marks the tenth anniversary of a movement to end violence against women, and Pitt-Greensburg is helping the cause by putting on the second annual presentation of “The Vagina Monologues.”

This year all of the performers delivering the monologues are Pitt-Greensburg students, with the exception of Sheila Confer, the academic village coordinator. The monologues are directed by a student each year, and this year, Meghan Kyle, a junior, is in charge.

“Meghan is doing a wonderful job while giving the production a new and different twist. I think the best decision she made was to not let any of us who were in the show last year do the same monologue again,” Confer said. “The result will be an entirely different show and an entirely different experience for the people coming to see it again.”

Eve Ensler wrote “The Vagina Monologues” in 1996 by interviewing 200 women about topics such as violence against women, sex, and relationships. In 1998, she decided to turn the monologues into a movement. According to the V-Day Web site, the V in V-day stands for victory, valentine and vagina. For the past 10 years, volunteers and college students all over the world have been performing the monologues in an effort to raise money for anti-violence organizations, as well as awareness about violence towards women and girls.

“It’s an opportunity for women and men to express themselves and learn something about each other in a non-threatening environment. Contrary to some opinions, the monologues are in no way male bashing or anti-male. Nor are they intended for girls only. The more men who experience the monologues, the better,” Confer said.

The stories performed in the monologues are accounts of things many women go through, yet not many people talk about. Some of the topics covered include rape, menstruation, giving birth, masturbation and orgasm.

“Some of the stories are sad, some are funny. And some are about very serious issues,” Kyle said.

The monologue that Meghan Kyle is performing is called “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could.” It tells a story about a teenage girl who is sexually abused by an older woman, but later in life the abused woman recalls it as a positive incident.

“I still think a lot of people are shocked. Their faces either look like, ‘Ok, I can understand this’, or they look absolutely horrified,’” Kyle said. “It’s not about feminism. This is more about people needing to know. And saying vagina on stage a bunch of times is fun, too.”

The monologues often have been regarded as shocking, and even criticized at times by feminist groups for some of the ideas the stories portray. One monologue called “Reclaiming Cunt” always gets the crowd’s attention if they hadn’t already been captivated.

“The Vagina Monologues” will be performed in Ferguson Theater on Feb. 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. The cost of admission is $3 for Pitt-Greensburg students and $5 for anyone else, and 90 percent of the proceeds go to the Blackburn Center of Greensburg and the remaining 10 percent go to a relief effort in New Orleans.

“Being around confident, smart and empowered young women is inspiring,” Confer said.

For more information on The Vagina Monologues and the V-Day movement, check out www.v-day.org