After looking at the graphic accompanying the Feb. 15 article “Finding a voice for vaginas,” I put in a call to the producers of “The Vagina Monologues.” This 11:30 a.m. call stated that I would not do the show until someone from the Daily came to our 4 p.m. rehearsal to apologize for such a demeaning image. Accusations that I wanted to call off the show are false. This was not about a ‘Vagina Coup.’ Since the show is made up of monologues, the cast could have just skipped my one monologue or had it read by someone else. There were many excuses and lies about who could and could not come to represent the Daily in an apology. You see, this was not about how anyone could tell me how I should feel, what I should see and how I should act. This was about me finding “The Vagina Monologues” to be a serious matter. Playwright Eve Ensler talks about “The Vagina Monologues” and traveling all over the country to present them and how hundreds of women talk about their lives. “It’s hard to imagine that a small, off-Broadway production could generate a worldwide movement to combat violence against women,” she said. About $1,500 from the performance was raised for Ames ACCESS Women’s Shelter.Those who were offended by just the title of the play and thought it should be called something else had a choice. They chose not to come. I, too, had a choice. I was not going to associate myself with a performance that used the graphic of a sperm cell to empower the vagina’s voice.Shirley Basfield Dunlap

Associate professor

Theatre

Actress, “The Vagina Monologues”