vagina monologues vs. penis monologues [cultural event]

Why are people so uncomfortable with the word vagina? How much do you know about penises? The Vagina Monologues and the Penis Monologues were both productions put on by Penn State students set out to answer these questions. Coincidently they were both being performed on the same weekend and only a few rooms apart in the Forum building. They both used humor and stories to educate the students of Penn State about their bodies without making anyone feel awkward or uncomfortable. In my opinion the Vagina Monologues was more educationally enriching, while Penis Monologues focused more on humor and irony.

            The Vagina Monologues is a nationally known production that is reenacted by different women all based on the original Vagina Monologues created in 1996.  In Penn State’s rendition they had women of different races and backgrounds perform skits about sex, love, rape, masturbation, birth, menstruation, orgasms and about how they all relate to vaginas. They made jokes about how uncomfortable tampons can be and what vaginas would say if they could talk. They also touched on international struggles of Japanese women who were repeatedly raped physically, mentally, and emotionally by soldiers. This part of the show really touched me because the actress who spoke about this delivered it with so much passion and pain I felt like I was really listening to one of the abused women. Day after day the Japanese women were forced to have sexual intercourse with hundreds of soldiers. They wouldn’t allow these women to get properly cleaned, use protection, eat proper meals, or keep the babies they had as a result of this traumatic experience. It was really disheveling to know that innocent, and young women had to go through that kind of pain and helplessness. This skit really had an impact on me because these young women were about the same age as I am and I couldn’t imagine going through that type of abuse and disrespect. The worse part of the whole scene was that the Japanese government tried to ignore the situation like it never happened. They swept it under the rug like the blood, and tears these women shed were insignificant. Hearing that really upset me. All these women wanted in return was a public apology from the government saying that they acknowledge the pain they suffered and they are sorry that they had to experience that. That is honestly the least they could have done for them.

            I had never heard of the Penis Monologues so I was very interested to see what they are all about. It was a show inspired by the vagina monologues but the twist was that it was for guys. The purpose of the monologues is to give a funny parody about penises. The actors in this production made jokes about blue balls, oral sex, masturbation, penises in cold water and other stereotypes people male about penises. The Penis Monologues gave men the opportunity to jokingly talk about embarrassing sexual experiences, and insecurities. My favorite moment was at the ending when all of the actors ran out into the audience and jumped up on the arm rests of the chairs and yelled out their favorite nicknames for their penises. They also yelled out orgasmic sounds and it was very amusing. I learned there are lots of names people call penises because they are uncomfortable with the word. They kept the crowd very engages in the entire performance.

            Overall I enjoyed both performances and enjoyed seeing how each director interpreted two very different yet similar body parts. If anyone is interested in a light and comedic show I would recommend the penis monologues but if they wanted an amusing and educational show I would recommend the vagina monologues.