Saint Louis University’s women’s rights group Una planned to hold a show today called “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer.” The show was to be presented tonight at 7 p.m. in Tegeler Hall. The Department of Student Life and Dean of Students Scott Smith informed Una that it was not allowed to show the piece on SLU’s campus. However, Una will present the play on March 7 at The Bluebird on Olive.
The play is about violence against women, presented in monologues about rape and sexual abuse. It focuses particularly on the stories of black women. “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” differs from “The Vagina Monologues” in that it includes the reflections and experiences of several men whose mothers and sisters were sexually abused. The male perspective adds a lot of depth to the discussion and makes the play more accessible to a male audience. It also lacks the presentation of female sexuality found in “The Vagina Monologues” that some people find offensive.
The decision to ban “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” was a disheartening sequel to last year’s censure of “The Vagina Monologues.” Last year, Joe Weixlmann, Ph.D., decided not to sponsor “The Vagina Monologues,” because he said that doing the show every year was redundant.
This year, Smith banned “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” because it was too similar to “The Vagina Monologues” and seemed contradictory to the Jesuit mission. He also claimed University administrators are not prepared to deal with the negative feedback from those who are offended by the show.
Smith complained specifically about the use of the word “vagina” in the monologue “Respect.” On this point a bit of literary criticism might be helpful. The monologue is about the struggle of black women throughout American history. It refers to black women as “black vaginas,” ironically, in order to call attention to the sexual objectification and abuse that black women have suffered. It also celebrates the dignity of black women as the rightful owners of their own sexuality. I wonder if Student Life and Smith understood the irony of the language in this piece. Maybe they just want to protect us from rhetorical devices.
The alleged offensiveness of “The Vagina Monologues” and “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” is no reason to ban the shows from our campus. A free exchange of ideas is vital to the personal and intellectual development of SLU students. How can we learn and grow without exposure to challenging ideas? Unwillingness to openly confront different ideas is not a trait that becomes an institution of higher learning. I would like SLU to present a clearly argued statement explaining exactly why “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” is inappropriate, instead of simply labeling and censuring it.
“A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer” tells stories of violence against women. I am sorry that our administrators find them redundant; the stories of oppression in our world often repeat themselves and seem redundant. That is why V-Day, Una and many others pour so much energy into telling these stories. “Until the violence stops” we won’t stop. We will present “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” at the Bluebird bar on March 7, and we hope that you support our cause.
No one in the University’s administration should expect students to believe any of the reasons that we have been given for the silencing of Una. Universities across the nation get plenty of flak for supporting students who want to speak about uncomfortable issues. It is not redundancy, lack of resources or the Jesuit mission that is keeping Una off campus; it is rich, reactionary alumni who are offended by feminism and the frank, casual, comical, out-loud or in-your-face mention of “vagina.” Our administrators don’t want to lose big donations from high rollers, and they won’t lose them over some pesky feminists who cry out about rape, scream at discrimination and assert pride and ownership over their own sexuality.
That is their decision, but I wish that they would drop the weak excuses and the paternalism. If they aren’t going to take the risk of losing some donations for the sake of rape victims, they should also drop the whole Jesuit mission bit and never mention Christian values or the gospels again. Una and everyone who has ever been silenced by the University are growing weary with sermons about Jesuit tradition, while SLU simply follows the money.
John Nolan is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
