The Vagina Monologues

Content Warning: The source text and this study guide feature graphic depictions and discussion of rape, sexual assault, and domestic and systemic violence against women.

How does sharing experiences out loud build community in the play and in the world? Are there any other instances where this phenomenon occurred?

The Vagina Monologues received criticism for its attachment to the vagina as a representation of femininity and identification as a woman. What are the strengths of focusing on the vagina in the play? How does this decision detract from its power as a tool of activism?

The history of the comfort women is fraught with conflict and a dearth of information, with most research into the historical event only occurring as late as the 1990s. To add to the collective effort to understand and memorialize these women, research what you can find about the women still living or those who’ve since died. Write either a historical piece on the history you find or your own collective biography of women whose histories have been silenced, ignored, or forgotten.