American feminist playwright urges
American playwright, performer, feminist, activist Eva Ensler called everybody to observe February 14 as V-day for the protest against violence on women at a press conference held at the Hotel Ruposhi Bangla on Thursday. Tony award winning Enslar is visiting Dhaka as part of the ‘One Billion Rising Global Campaign’ marking February 14 as V-day. She also performed in the Thursday evening at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The project with participation of over 180 nations wants to develop a global sisterhood and to unite women from all cultures and nations.
It was insisted in the conference that people around Bangladesh celebrate the day by taking at least 15 minutes out of their time and stand up to protest violence against woman wherever they are.
Ensler also claimed that she was impressed meeting some progressive thinking men in Bangladesh who are also standing up for women’s rights.
Rights activist Khushi Kabir and Fouzia Khandaker Eva of UNDP were also present at the press conference.
Dancing is the usually the way that V-day is celebrated. To Ensler dancing is an incredible way of expressing joy, anger and other emotions freely without being hindered. ‘We must blow the lid of patriarchy and stop what has become the rape culture. It is not only an attack on women’s bodies but also on the earth. Instead we must make a culture of corporation and reciprocation,’ she said.
Ensler will be dancing with women in the Congo for V-Day, she informed.
Speaking of developed countries, Ensler said, ‘Patriarchy is there in places we consider first world countries thus I question the term “developed.” It works in a more sophisticated manner.’ She illustrates this with the concept of freedom, ‘You grow up with expectations for a certain body image and try to work towards that instead of focusing on more significant things like trying to stop poverty and helping others so you can’t really say that a first world woman is free.’
A lot pf notable people have joined One Billion Rising like Robert Redford, Dalai Lama and even Bangladesh’s Professor Yunus. Ensler stresses that education must reshape itself and that men should learn how to be more understanding and learn ways to diminish violence against women.
Eve Enslar’s play ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is based on interviews with more than 200 women, and celebrates women’s sexualities and strength with humour and grace. Her performance in the play inspired her to celebrate V-day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. She has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be fee to thrive, rather than merely survive.
-With New Age input
