I still remember reading Eve Ensler’s I Am An Emotional Creature for the first time. I was a freshman in high school trying to tackle my goal of reading my way through my entire neighborhood library. It was a lofty goal. I found the book moving and powerful, as anyone who reads Eve Ensler does. The book is a series of monologues embracing what it means to be a woman in society. It’s about what it means to be the girl that wears ripped jeans and Converse, or the girl that wears cardigans and dresses. 

After that, I immediately read The Vagina Monologues, which is THE Eve Ensler book that everyone talks about. I found The Vagina Monologues more eye-opening than Emotional Creature since it was focused on women’s relationships to their vaginas. At that point, I hadn’t yet had sex ed or regularly talked about vaginas or even really said the word out loud. It was eye-opening, to say the least.

Since then, I have seen The Vagina Monologues performed live twice. Maybe you have, too. It’s a popular event across many college campuses around late January and February. After seeing it performed, I always wanted to audition for the show…even though I am very, very shy. Like, barely even talk to people shy.

My Auditioning Experience 

So this year, I did it. I auditioned for The Vagina Monologues. The group putting on the show at my school didn’t require any preparation for the audition. I was terrified when I walked into the waiting room and saw that there were a lot of other people auditioning, too.

I’ll be honest: My nerves didn’t kick in because I was scared I wouldn’t get a role. It was because I was nervous about talking about vaginas in front of a lot of people. Really and truly, the thought made my heart pound out of my chest.

But my being nervous saying the word “vagina”? It’s actually part of the point of the monologues themselves. The monologues are all about urging women to take back the word vagina and start feeling comfortable having those conversations. So, in a way, my nerves were a normal part of understanding the monologues.