Pink taco, bearded clam, Oprah calls it her va-jay-jay. However you phrase it, it’s V-Day at Sacramento State and that’s not just an abbreviation for Valentines Day. The “V” stands for violence and vagina, which is the popular word on the streets as the plays “The Vagina Monologues” and Eve Ensler’s newest play, “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer,” open this week at Sac State.

“I love my vagina” is written across the front of pink women’s boy shorts, just one of the many fundraiser items for the V-Day campaign.

Jessica Heskin, director of Violence and Sexual Assault Support Services at Sac State, is the informal producer for both plays. Her office is full of ‘vagina products’ that will be sold after the plays as an additional fundraiser for the program.

Last year’s buttons that sported the statement “vagina friendly” were a very popular items with guys, Heskin said. Vagina earrings, T-shirts and buttons are just some of the items sold after the show. The proceeds help promote the cause to stop violence against women and girls as well as help to fund the Violence and Sexual Assault Support Services.

Cute underwear and red boas are humorous objects associated with “The Vagina Monologues,” but V-Day is a very serious campaign. This week is the 10th anniversary of V-Day. “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer,” or “MMRP,” is a collection of monologues by famous writers that deal with violence against women. The monologues were edited by Mollie Doyle and Eve Ensler, the creator of “The Vagina Monologues” and the founder of the V-Day campaign.

This year, both plays will be performed in the Hinde Auditorium on campus. Heskin said it’s been a busy task getting the word out in the campus community about the two upcoming plays. This is the eighth year “The Vagina Monologues” has been performed on campus; however, it will be the first time anyone has performed “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer.”

The plays are not only seeking to stop violence against women. Heskin said there are a lot of positive themes in the play that promote confidence in women and getting past the stigma that she said has surrounded the word vagina, a word Heskin believes men are more comfortable with than women.

“There has always been a stigma with the word vagina because it’s related to women,” Heskin said. “The plays are sort of a way of addressing the issue of women owning their own bodies and selves.”

Brittany Sims, a freshman theater arts major, is pretty comfortable with vaginas. She plays “the little couchi scorcher that could” in “The Vagina Monologues.” Sims said that both plays give audiences an “eye-opening experience” into the uncomfortable issues of violence against women.

“It gives women the courage to speak up about the things that have happened to them,” Sims said. “(The plays) sort of lift them up and give them the confidence that every woman needs.”

“The Vagina Monologues” and “MMRP” aren’t just for women audiences. Heskin said the plays have made a strong impact on men as well as women. Heskin recalls passing out programs last year on the opening night of “The Vagina Monologues.” A couple came up to her after buying their tickets. The wife giggled and whispered to Heskin that her unknowing husband thought he was going to see “Hamlet.”

“I handed him a program and said ‘you’re seeing “The Vagina Monologues,'” Heskin said. “The look on his face was pretty hilarious.”

After the play the same couple came up to Heskin with a very different impression about “The Vagina Monologues.” The same man going into the play had changed perspective on women’s rights and the issues that surround women and violence.

“The man told me that if he has a daughter and she goes to college he wants her to be in the play. He was pretty amazed at the empowerment the women had.”

A man’s perspective is something new to V-Day this year. In contrast to the all-female cast of “The Vagina Monologues,” “MMRP” is the first play to involve male actors.

Scott Spitzer is one of those actors. A liberal arts graduate student and an actor in the “MMRP,” Spitzer’s character looks at the heavy issues of rape and abuse of women through a male’s perspective. He said going to “A memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer” is a chance for students to get an “important dose of reality.”

“Women are all too often victimized,” Spitzer said. “It’s easy to overlook. It’s about waking up to the idea that men have another side to them, other than violence.”

“The Vagina Monologues” opens tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Hinde Auditorium. Tickets for general admission are $20 and $15 for students.

“A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer” opens Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Hinde Auditorium. Tickets are $15 general and $8 for students.

Adina Zerwig can be reached at [email protected]