A few weeks ago, I went to see the Tulsa production of The Vagina Monologues. I have a very close relationship with TVM, as I affectionately call it. I put a four-person production in Belfast, with three actors and a guy to do the lighting, in the upstairs concert room of a local pub. I love the monologues! I love the electric energy in the room, the power of the words, the feeling of secrets finally being spilled. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it never loses its power or its authenticity.

But I think what I love most about TVM, is introducing new people to The Vagina Monologues. Otherwise known as Vagina Virgins. I remember rounding up my sorority sisters to go to the midnight production. “You have to go,” I said, “Jenny is producing this year’s performance. And all these women, who in theory are very well acquainted with their vaginas, would grimace. To these Vagina Virgins, sitting through TVM was almost as nerve-wracking as surviving initiation night.

Then there was the time when I took my mom to see Eve Ensler herself perform TVM in Tulsa. This might have been the hardest one for me to sit through. I kept turning to see if she was going to purse her lips or turn white. But she didn’t. She laughed with the rest of us, and chanted with the rest of the crowd the Happy Fact about the clitoris. And the next year, she took the ladies in her bridge group to the production. You see, you just never know what will happen when you bring along a Vagina Virgin.

When I performed TVM, I remember standing in front of a crowded room of women and men, nursing their pints. As I stood there and talked about hair, abuse, and sexuality, I knew that many people were hearing these words for the first time. I believed the words I was saying really could change the world.

So now, I’m on a mission…to bring The Vagina Monologues to every citizen of the world! I’d love to hear about your own experience with TVM…and whether it made you nervous or you left feeling empowered.