ASU alumna Liana Alexander proposed to her girlfriend of two years to a standing ovation of more than 150 attendees of the Vagina Monologues Saturday at ASU, something she said wouldn’t have been acceptable 20 years ago.
Vagina Monologues is in celebration of the “vaginal season,” the months of January through March, a celebration with events throughout the season to empower women, such as International Women’s Day today. Alexander said she considers the monologues a symbol of progression in terms of women’s rights.
The monologues are a series of stories that were first performed 14 years ago in New York.
Alexander took her fiancée, psychology senior Chandra Miller, on their first date to the Vagina Monologues three years ago and the couple has attended each year since. It was appropriate to propose at the show because it’s an event that breeds unity, she said, still breathing hard from the rush of proposing.
“For me to be able to do that in front of all these people is just proof of the advancement of women’s rights,” Alexander said.
Miller said she was completely surprised by the proposal, and agreed that 20 years ago, when women’s sexuality was addressed less in society, an announcement like this would have been considered taboo.
“As many people who were here and were supportive of us, that’s definitely something worth celebrating,” Miller said. “The monologues convey changes for women but also highlight what can still be improved.”
ASU alumna and an actress in the monologues Melissa Celardo said the shows allow people to talk about women’s issues with context.
As a high school student in Mesa, Celardo said the environment was really conservative when it came to organizations that promoted events like the monologues.
“It was like people there perceived women’s sexuality as bad or inappropriate,” Celardo said. “It’s really about inviting people to celebrate women and talk about things people don’t always want to talk about, things that make them uncomfortable.”
ASU alumna and director of the monologues Bryanna Patrick said she would love for days like International Women’s Day to be an everyday celebration but she also thinks events like the monologues promote the celebration of women.
Patrick said even the way the Vagina Monologues are performed has changed for a more evolved audience.
“Originally, these monologues were performed when the actors sat on stools and just read,” she said. “But now, we have people up there, spreading their legs wide, gesturing to their vaginas and it’s heightened the performance. This is now acceptable.”
Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu
