CHENNAI: It was in 1996 that a small part of the world got to bear witness to playwright and performer Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. What started as a celebration of the vagina quickly grew into a movement against violence and discrimination.
That it still finds resonance among men and women of the world, two decades later, is perhaps indicative of its need in today’s climes. Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal certainly thinks so. The woman who introduced the play to the Indian audience as early as in 2003 says that asking if the work has reached enough people is like asking if feminism is required in this day and age.
"We see the number of crimes being committed against women. So, we are taking this to schools, colleges and learning academies for this is the need of the hour. Women in India have been subjected to be second-class citizens and I don’t think we are at all ready for that," she says.
With people still trying to distance themselves from feminism, she puts forth the reminder that it is just the radical notion that women are human beings, just like men are. Monologues tells the stories of abuse — physical, emotional and mental — of hundreds of women from around the world.
That many men in the lives of these women are oblivious to these tales is because they have been raised differently, offers Mahabanoo. "The thing now is to include the men. We want them to come into our fold so they understand what our difficulties are, how they have treated us and what they need to do to make the world a better place for all of us," she suggests.
In all her years with The Vagina Monologues, Mahabanoo has found people being extremely receptive of the play and everything it represents. "People come backstage and tell us their own stories. This acted as a catalyst for me to start the Empathy Group where a few women — who have problems and have no one to rely on — meet and we listen to each other’s stories. Our tagline is ‘share, support and survive’. It is amazing how women gain confidence when they speak to others who have also got problems. And that is the USP of the play — that everybody finds a part of their life in it," she says. Since its debut, they have received only one negative comment, she notes.
‘The Vagina Monologues’ comes to Chennai at Phoenix Marketcity on Saturday at 6 pm