\u201cThe Vagina Monologues\u201d theater play will make its Armenian debut next month, yet the performance\u2019s sensitive subject matter is already generating plenty of discussion in the Transcaucasus nation about sex and women\u2019s rights, reports the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News & Economic Review.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very important to stage such plays in this region where we live. The fact that women have sexual needs is ignored,\u201d freelance Armenian journalist Ani Hovhannesyan recently told the H\u00fcrriyet.<\/p>\n
The play, which was written by U.S. feminist Eve Ensler in 1996, has traveled to many countries around the world, including Muslim countries such as Egypt and Turkey. After stops in Tbilisi and Baku on its current tour, \u201cThe Vagina Monologues\u201d will come to Yerevan, where it has all drawn reaction from some upset by the sexual imagery occasioned by the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen are dying every day in my country because of domestic violence,\u201d Milena Bavagan, who adapted the play to the stage in Armenia, told the Daily News. \u201cI want to ask if those who are against this play are aware of this painful fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatevik Aghabedyan, a program assistant at the Women\u2019s Resource Center in Armenia, said women\u2019s problems in all three countries were typically the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the Women\u2019s Resource Center in Armenia, we have been carrying out joint projects with Georgian and Azerbaijani women; we discuss common problems and try to find solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In the Armenian adaptation of the play, some small changes will be made by the director to suit the Armenian context, said Bavagan, adding that their purpose was to make women more conscious about their rights with the play. \u201cViolence against women should end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Aghabedyan said her women\u2019s center received phone calls every day from victimized women. \u201cMost of the calls are because of physical and psychological violence. Of course the number of rape victims is very high. Our relations with Azerbaijani and Georgian women continue because our problems are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play caused a storm of debate when it was first staged in Turkey in 2003. Its director, Turkish theater actress Almula Merter, was sued by the Kad\u0131k\u00f6y District Governor\u2019s Office for sexual provocation because of the word \u201cvagina\u201d in the show\u2019s poster. Merter also received death threats.<\/p>\n
Having experienced adversity in trying to bring the play to the Turkish stage, Merter said she was ready to support Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian women in the fight for rights. \u201cNever take a step backward and never give up demanding your rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose criticizing this play get stuck on the word \u2018vagina,\u2019\u201d said Merter. \u201cBut Ensler handles many issues, from birth to maidenhood and from rapes in Bosnia to burqas, in this play.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the Kad\u0131k\u00f6y District Governor\u2019s Office had said the group could perform the play on condition that they removed the word \u201cvagina\u201d from the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe word was found provocative and scary by the Kad\u0131k\u00f6y district governor at the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In the end, however, Merter staged the play under its original name despite receiving death threats.<\/p>\n
\u201cNewspapers called me a naughty woman but I don\u2019t care. The main reason why I staged this play was to draw attention to rape and violence against women,\u201d she said, adding that she would stage it again if possible.<\/p>\n
Merter staged the play even in the remote parts of Anatolia and talked to women there about their problems. Hovhannesyan said a similar thing should be done in Armenia as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis play should be performed in small districts and villages in Armenia, too. Women living there think that their vagina is only for giving birth. But in spite of that there are also women who really know their rights in my country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Hovhannesyan said discussing the issues in the play was a must. \u201cAn excessive imposition in a closed society may cause social explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe Vagina Monologues\u201d theater play will make its Armenian debut next month, yet the performance\u2019s sensitive subject matter is already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[20289,14807,12273],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}