The Coochie Chronicles allows 'coochie' to be heard

Jennie Wright is concerned about coochies. After participating in the University of Cincinnati's The Vagina Monologues, Wright decided to put together her own monologues based on experiences of women of color, forming The Coochie Chronicles.

"Just reading through [The Vagina Monologues], there were some awesome monologues," Wright said, who is also the Slammin' on Main director. "[But I] could hear it and see it from a woman of color's perspective. I started writing my [own] vagina monologues."

A friend of Wright's had a book of poetry called The Coochie Chronicles. Inspired, Wright started enlisting other women last spring to write their own stories and poetry based on their own stories or stories they had heard.

"We've all known each other for a few years [and] we've written pieces off of each other. It turned into a play from that point," Wright said. "I love Eve Ensler's work. We did want it to be a poetic answer to The Vagina Monologues for women of color."

This year marks the 10th year anniversary of The Vagina Monologues, a show started by Eve Ensler for women to share and hear stories about many different issues surrounding a woman's vagina, including orgasms, rape, sexual oppression and injustices.

A similar theme runs through The Coochie Chronicles. Wright said she sometimes gets nervous telling the personal stories, but the opportunity to share her story and the story of other women is empowering. "It's an awesome opportunity to make people aware of what's going on in the lives of women of color," she said,

During one monologue, different words that people use instead of "vagina" are splattered on a PowerPoint behind the speaker. Some of the words come from the lyrics of a song or have been infiltrated through pop culture and have been embraced by both sexes, such as "milkshake" and "va-jay-jay." But not all the words are so flattering- "cash card", "black box" and "twat."

The monologues deal with deep issues, such as sexual abuse and assault, slavery, rape and women in the sex industry. Almost all deal with a social injustice against women of color. "You can be involved in a fight for social injustice, but as a black woman you are fighting a fight within a fight," Wright said. "[We're] really trying to personalize those issues."

During the show, all the women wear black. The symbol of the show is the cowrie sea shell, which resembles a woman's vagina. The women in the show wear cowrie earrings, bracelets and even shells braided in their hair.

Wright said The Coochie Chronicles is about all women of color, including Latinas, Saudi Arabian and Asian women. "We try to be all-encompassing," she said.

After the show, there's an opportunity for each artist to explain their monologues, and discussion from the audience is welcome.

"Whenever we have shows [with] a provocative subject matter, we do open the last few minute for dialogue," Wright said. "Definitely participate, ask questions. Getting the discussion going is really important."

For anyone interested in attending the show, Wright said to be prepared to hear some thought-provoking pieces. One monologue, entitled "H-O-E" is about a woman in the sex industry, while "My Goodens" is about a female slave who gets pregnant while still a child herself. It may seem in your face, but that's because women's sexual issues, and even the word "vagina" itself, are still considered taboo in society. Even during rehearsal for the show, the women in the group got into a lively discussion about feeling comfortable with the word "pussy."

"I hope people see the message," Wright said. "I hope people don't get hung up on the word 'coochie' or whatever word they hear. If you say 'vagina,' people cringe. [On campus] you can see booty's walking around, but people just don't want to say the word."

The group also infuses occasional light-hearted moments. "It's fun and also serious at the same time," Wright said. "We want to have humor in there to soften the blow."

While the monologues are about stories of women of color, the message is universal for all women. "[It's] just being able to talk about our bodies, our lives, ourselves. Making it easier to put it out there," Wright said.

The Coochie Chronicles runs March 5 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the MainStreet Cinema in the Tangeman University Center. Admission is free.