The Marymount Monologues: The debate on creating space for women’s voices on a Catholic campus

Left to right: Maria Aragon, Bria Wearren, Anne Raffaelli, Kaitlin Atterbury, Melissa Schoppet, Genesis Portillo

English Professor Dr. Leigh Johnson wanted to bring the play, “The Vagina Monologues,” to the Marymount community as part of her Gender and Society course.

By Leena Raza. 

It was approved by the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Christina Clark, and posters were put up on campus. When Director of Campus Ministry, Father Thomas Yehl, saw the posters, he raised concerns that eventually led to a change of venue for the performance of the Monologues.

The monologues are about both physical and emotional issues women face. They discuss the good (sex, love, and orgasms), as well as the bad (rape, humiliation, mutilation). Abuse is also a major part of the monologues, which is why attendees could donate money to the Doorways for Women and Families Foundation.

Shortly before the performance of the Monologues was to take place on February 27th and 28th, Johnson received information that the priests were very concerned about the content of the play. Additionally, President Shank received a call from the Bishop of Arlington, who also voiced his displeasure. The students who took part in the performance later found out that the play would be moved from the larger performance venue in Reinsch Auditorium, to the smaller Rowley lecture hall. Flyers advertising the performance were also banned.

The performers were especially frustrated due to the short notice of performance restrictions. The priests, on the other hand, say they did their best to voice their concerns quickly.

“We were not aware of the issue until Monday,” Yehl said. “ That’s when I saw the flyers. We did our best to make our decisions aware in a short amount of time.”

Clark, who attended the second performance, did not mind the removal of the posters and the relocation of the Monologues recitals.

“The performance was part of a class so I did not see anything wrong with the posters personally but I respected the priests’ point of view,” Clark said. “Moving the play didn’t detract from the meaning of the play. I thought it worked beautifully in that more intimate setting.”

As for contacting the Bishop, Yehl said it was his responsibility to do so.

“We report to the Bishop so we felt he needed to be aware,” he said. “We didn’t want the Bishop to be caught off guard.”

Clark respected the priests’ and Bishop’s’ opinions, but also brought up the idea of academic freedom.

“[The priests] were concerned we were condoning the experiences that were being narrated, and we weren’t,” Clark said. “We feel there’s a profound value in reading such works to allow the examination of what’s portrayed to develop empathy. It’s important to respect the Bishop while still maintaining academic freedom.”

One Marymount senior, Kailtin Atterbury, was disappointed with the whole issue that was presented to her class.

“The entire class feels really hurt about [the issue] because we invested a lot of time and energy into this,” Atterbury said. “We were confused and a little hurt.”

The main issue the priests had was that Marymount is a Catholic university and promoting this performance was going against that reputation. They also felt that it was not very respectful of women. The performers, an all-women cast, disagreed.

“The issue when we looked at the play was that there are a number of [monologues] that showcase women in sexuality that doesn’t respect the dignity of women,” Yehl said. “We believe that sex is holy and beautiful and protected. [The monologues] show a misuse and abuse of sexuality. There was one episode that depicted what we considered rape between a girl and woman, and it glorified that.”

The monologue depicts a method of healing with an older woman after being raped at a young age. Father Jack Peterson also disapproved of the scene.

Another monologue, “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,” is about a sex worker who discusses her job in great detail.

“She acts out the moans that people might consider pornographic,” Peterson said. “There’s humor that’s funny, and then there’s humor that tries to make something out to be good. These are values that we really can’t support.”

Along with being a Catholic school, Marymount’s mission statement says the University “emphasizes intellectual curiosity, service to others, and a global perspective.” Clark believes the monologues support that.

“I feel that the play embodied course objectives and participated in the mission we have at Marymount,” Clark said.

Clark also said, “The play has been performed at other religious universities.” “The Vagina Monologues” has been performed at Notre Dame, and Jesuit universities such as Georgetown.

The Gender and Society class had no idea that this conflict would occur. The performance centered around women’s’ experiences and talked about everything that comes with it, not just sex.

“I didn’t think putting this together would be that emotional,” said freshman class member Bria Wearren. “We were not just gonna focus on sex. You’ve got to talk about everything really.”

Yehl and Peterson believe there are other ways to talk about issues women face besides monologues containing what they believe to be vulgar content. They did say, however, they support a lot of what the monologues stated.

“I think there are a lot of things about the play we would agree with,” Yehl said. “Like [condemning] all forms of violence against women. We are very in favor of having dialogue and discussion about this.”

“I think unfortunately that hasn’t gotten out enough,” Peterson said. “We’re here to support women. As Christians we believe Jesus strongly upheld the dignity of women.”

Wearren believes that it’s better to consider “The Vagina Monologues” as an educational experience.

Both priests hope that there is a better way to support women who have dealt with abuse, rather than publicly showcasing their experiences.

“Going forward, we could work with Dr. Johnson and focus on how to bring about awareness of keeping women’s dignity,” Yehl said.

“Giving women a healthy safe space to have conversations about women’s issues, we are in favor of,” Peterson added. “There’s a difference between a university play and a classroom setting.”

“I think when you’re having a course which involves discussion of ethics and issues that are controversial, you’re going to have different opinions,” Clark said. “There’s always going to be differences of opinion that involve religion. These are things we can’t avoid. We must discuss them; we must engage with them. There’s no reason we can’t do so in a respectful way.”

According to Johnson – who was interviewed but preferred not to share her thoughts on the controversy – more than sixty people attended the performance and it raised over $150.

“We come to college to learn and this was an educating moment to teach people there are many different sides to women,” Wearren said. “We should be comfortable; we should feel open.”