Author: Dean DeChiaro
I’m a man, and I believe in the importance of The Vagina Monologues. At Occidental, I have met incredible, involved women and men who understand the importance of the message spread by this show. When those people left the Vagina Monologues, the show’s message left with them. However, I’ve also met people here who don’t consider violence against women an issue and who think the show’s female performers are a bunch of preachy, psycho, uber-feminists. Unfortunately, these people may be the majority, and therein lies our greatest challenge.
The awareness raised by the performances of the Vagina Monologues provides us with a good starting point. What will stop violence against women, though, is not simply more performances of the show, but the constant manifestation and implementation of new ideas from both sides of the gender line. The Vagina Monologues cannot just be an annual performance; its message needs to be internalized and practiced daily.
At the conclusion of last Friday’s performance, when Rachel Deitch and Mei’lani Bowman-Kamaho (seniors) asked everyone in the audience who was a survivor or knew a survivor of sexual assault to stand up, I stood. I stood because I know women who have been victimized by men in violent and terrible ways, and it is not a claim I’m proud to make.
Here’s a fact: Some of these offenses toward women have taken place here on campus. Both Project S.A.F.E. and the women organizing The Vagina Monologues have said it. Rape and sexual assault occur at Occidental College. There is no conclusive statistic available to us about specific rapes and assaults at Oxy, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics and the UCSC Rape Prevention Education, a gender studies think tank, one in four women will be raped during her time on a college campus. It’s as simple as that. One in four. No other statistic should be necessary for us to realize the gravity of the situation.
Living in our self-proclaimed “Oxy bubble,” we are often quick to cast aside the issues of the outside world while becoming obsessed with undergraduate concerns like weekend social events or a paper due the next day. But I would redefine the “Oxy bubble” as our excuse to ignore matters on our own campus. I believe there is a shameful ignorance of the things that happens right here, sexual assault being one of them. This issue is not something we can simply brush to the side. Sexual assault happens right here, and more importantly, it occurs at a higher percentage here than at any other place because it’s a college campus.
The Vagina Monologues is hardly just for women. Obviously the focus is on women, but it’s a show for everyone. The performance and its message, as well as the cause, are vital. Its words are incredibly important to hear and understand. But it’s a waste if its message is left at the door along with our crumpled programs. Before we start changing the world, we need to change ourselves and our school.
There should be no more rape, assault, harassment or victimization on our campus. Ideally, it shouldn’t take a performance to achieve that, it should just be a reality. However, we’re lucky enough to have things like The Vagina Monologues to point us in the right direction. Creating a safe world is a daunting task, but perhaps we can create a safer school.
Dean DeChiaro is a sophomore history major. He can be reached at dechiaro@oxy.edu.
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