Thus far, all of this year's V-Week events have proven successful, with high attendance rates, according to Center for Women and Gender Director Jessica Jennrich.
While this year's V-Week has featured more events geared toward men than celebrations in previous years, Jennrich said she hopes future iterations of V-Week will include even more programs focused on masculinity at Dartmouth.
"We would love to see how can we engage more men with this movement specifically while still speaking to women who are excited about the more traditional aspects of the week," Jennrich said.
A panel of students discussed controversies and questions arising from "The Vagina Monologues," in Collis Common Ground on Wednesday. "The Vagina Monologues" is a play regarding rape, incest and domestic violence based on hundreds of interviews conducted with women.
Kelsey Henry '15, a panelist and Vagina Monologues cast member, said she chose to be a panelist to discuss lesbian and transgender representation in "The Vagina Monologues," during which she will "address instances of heterosexism and the intersections between sexuality and race and ethnicity."
Members of the Vagina Monologues Controversies panel called on the audience to consider questions such as whether feminism is a global concept and whether Eve Ensler, the international V-Day campaign founder and activist, has a political responsibility to positively depict gay and lesbian relationships in "The Vagina Monologues."
"The Vagina Monologues' do a lot of good worldwide but it is always important to take a look at a work of art critically," Stephanie Chesnut, assistant director of the Center for Women and Gender, said. "The Monologues' purport to share and encompass experiences of different women. The goal of this panel is to give voices to people who aren't represented in Vagina Monologues.'"
In an event sponsored by Kappa Delta sorority on Wednesday, Safety and Security Sergeant Rebel Roberts discussed the importance of being mentally prepared to tackle a risky situation and how self-defense starts with the mind.
"This event is about coming together as women and empowering each other, which fits together well with our mission of being confident and aware," KD president Ann Corrin '12 said.
The sorority has sponsored the event every year since its campus founding three years ago, according to Corrin.
On Wednesday night, nine female Dartmouth students and approximately 20 Upper Valley residents convened at the Obama campaign headquarters in Lebanon to speak with First Lady Michelle Obama on a conference call following a group discussion and a preview of the Vagina Monologues.
"Don't ever underestimate the power of the women's vote," Michelle Obama said during the conference call.
The event was organized by Rob Avruch '11, Obama campaign field organizer for Grafton County.
The festivities began with the Cindy Pierce Comedy Show, hosted by Dartmouth's Feminist Network for the Exchange of Wisdom in Collis Common Ground.
Speak Out an annual event during which students share personal stories of violence was held Tuesday.
"Speak Out is the one time in the entire year that sexual assault, intimate partner violence, harassment or bullying is accessible to the public, for those who choose to support survivors and awaken themselves to a very real aspect of our community," Hikaru Yamagishi '12, director of V-Week, said in a campus-wide email before the event.
"Speak Out was packed to the gills, and after her show Cindy Pierce stayed for an hour and a half to talk with students," Jennrich said. "I think the connections V-Week is making amongst various members of community is very exciting, but the real question is what happens after."
In a Tuesday event, Alpha Delta fraternity hosted Werner Tillinger '86, who shared stories about his experience as a gay, HIV-positive male at Dartmouth. Tillinger discussed his struggle to find masculinity as he battled HIV and an addiction to crystal meth.
Tillinger said such a talk "would not have happened" during his time at the College and that his invitation to speak illustrated the progress that has been made surrounding such discussion.
"When I was here, being gay was under the radar and not something people talked about, a lot because there was a lot of fear of being outted or being harassed," he said. "I'm doing this as a way of giving back to the students of today."
The V-Week celebration will continue next week with programming such as screenings of "Miss Representation" (2011) and "Orgasm Inc." (2009), as well as the seventh Link Up "Proud to a Woman" dinner.
V-Week culminates with the student-run production of "The Vagina Monologues," which will take place on Feb. 29 and March 1 at 7 p.m. in Moore Theater.
Yu Jin Nam '15, who will perform, said she chose to become involved with the Vagina Monologues despite never having acted before because she felt the production "would mean something to me."
"Women's rights has always intrigued me, and I feel like this is a great opportunity for the whole campus to be aware of a lot of issues that are going on in regards to women," she said.
