St. Thomas’ Feminist Community performed the Vagina Monologues in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 in the O’Shaughnessy Education Center auditorium.

The Vagina Monologues were written by Eve Ensler in 1996 when she interviewed 200 women about their views on relationships, sex, violence against women, etc. This production, showcasing women’s stories from many different cultural backgrounds, has been a part of the movement to stop violence against women and create discussions on female sexuality.

“Feminist Community on campus is always working to share intersectional feminism with the rest of campus. This year Elizabeth Stephenson had the brilliant idea of bringing the Vagina Monologues to UST,” Senior Tessa Schmitz said.

The Feminist Community’s words filled the OEC auditorium with theatrical moans, tears and laughs.

St. Thomas junior Sydney Arends enjoyed the show and was glad she attended.

“It was empowering to see so many amazing women talk about topics that we as women are conditioned to be quiet about,” said Arends. “It was something that made me think in a way I never had before.”

Schmitz, who is currently pregnant, added an original piece that she wrote with senior Anna Tillotson.

“It was especially meaningful for me to not only perform with a woman that I love and cherish so much, but to tell my future daughter about the hardships and the beauty of being a woman,” Schmitz said. “Every word we spoke was true, raw and personal. There’s nothing more powerful than sharing vulnerabilities with the world, turning pain into growth.”

Tillotson thinks these topics should be discussed more often.

“Even though these topics get pushed to the wayside, it is incredibly important to talk about them. The Vagina Monologues do more than just empower women and break barriers. They also allow their stories to be heard, validated and understood,” Tillotson said.

Lexie Nustvold can be reached at lexie.nustvold@stthomas.edu.