South Asian women are speaking out about their vaginas, combating the silence surrounding sexuality that is so pervasive in South Asian culture.
"The Secret Life of My Vagina," a series of monologues written and produced by South Asian women at Brown, examines masturbation, body hair, sexual abuse and other topics at the confluence of sexuality and ethnicity.
Director Rashi Kersawani '05 recalls reading Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" over winter break and feeling the narratives did not represent Kersawani's own experience as a South Asian female.
"Our stories are unique as a result of our ethnicity," she said. "The experience of sexuality by South Asian women is something that is stifled by our culture."
Comprising 17 acts and a cast of six, the production explores the confrontation of South Asian and Western sexual mores.
Shara Hegde '05 performs a monologue confronting the issue of body hair and the difficulties of coming of age as the only South Asian girl in the community. Her character feels the need to remove her body hair in order to be accepted by men, yet when she seeks support from her parents, they dismissively insist she "focus on her studies."
The author of one monologue recalls her mother's admonition before she attended a school dance: "No dancing with boys. You may have been born here, but you aren't some dirty American girl." She then describes her feelings of guilt about past sexual experiences with her boyfriends.
Another monologue examines the issue of sexual abuse in the South Asian community and a young girl's decision to lie to her parents about sexual abuse by her uncle.
The monologues are among the first in the United States to address the sexuality of South Asian women. Last year, two South Asian cultural organizations at Stanford University hosted "Yoni Ki Baat: Talks of the Vagina," addressing similar issues. Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's 1999 film "Fire" chronicled a lesbian relationship, triggering strong condemnations and acts of vandalism at theaters that showed the production.
Kersawani said she hopes that her production will create dialogue about an issue that has for too long been silenced. The show features a talk back after each performance to explore issues the production raises abut the "notion of a South Asian woman as heterosexual, and virginal until marriage," Kersawani said.
She cites Saturday's South Asian Student Association Spring Cultural Show as an example. Vani Kilakkathi '08 was prevented from performing an excerpt from a monologue about masturbation because the organizers of the show believed it would offend people in the audience, which included younger children and parents.
"That incident exemplifies the need for the show," Kersawani said, adding, "The most effective change results from people feeling uncomfortable and thinking about ideas they never considered."
Proceeds from "The Secret Life of My Vagina" will benefit Asha for Education, a group that works to educate underprivileged children in India, for which cast member Parendi Mehta '07 volunteered last summer.
