(Hemera Technologies)
Eastern Michigan University will no longer host productions of “The Vagina Monologues” after students protested because transgendered people were excluded from the play.
The university’s Women’s Resource Center announced its decision in an email, noting that modifying the script to the play written by Eve Ensler is not an option, due to copyright laws.
The WRC said that the show was canceled because of the group’s commitment to empowering minorities on campus.
“We feel that making this decision is in line with the WRC mission of recognizing and celebrating the diverse representations of women on campus along with the overall mission of the Department of Diversity and Community Involvement, in which the WRC is housed, of supporting and empowering minoritized students and challenging systems and structures that perpetuate inequities,” the email from the WRC said. “We truly believe that it is important to center our minoritized students and this decision is in line with this mission driven value.”
The statement went on to question the need for the play.
“This created a need to ask the question: Do we still need ‘The Vagina Monologues?’ And, are ‘The Vagina Monologues’ still relevant to next generation feminists?” the Women’s Resource Center statement argues.
One Twitter user responded to the statement with: “It’s funny that some women think that men pretending to be women should be considered to be women. It’s like feminists don’t actually care about women or something.”
The email stated that “many of the same people” in support of the production believe “The Vagina Monologues” should be modified or accompanied by workshops that address the diversity that it’s lacking.
“It is important to note that due to copyright laws, we are unable to change the script,” the WRC’s email said.
EMU is not the first university to throw the entire play away… In fact, several universities have canceled productions of “The Vagina Monologues” because transgender individuals are not represented.
