Vaginas are natural in nature but not conversation. Many girls are raised not knowing much about their own anatomy. They don’t think about themselves and their bodies in an empowering way.

Vanelis Rivera believes that women shouldn’t have to grow into empowerment, but be born with it and not have to learn the hard way.

That’s why Rivera, an English instructor, started The Vagina Monologues as a grad student at ULM.

She wanted to do something special for Women’s History Month and found out one of her friends did The Vagina Monologues at her university, except they didn’t let her do it on campus. Rivera was shocked and didn’t understand why.

So Rivera went to ULM’s English Department to see if they would let her do it.

“They were incredibly supportive,” Rivera said.

Rivera said it means a lot to her to be able to bring women’s issues to life.

“Because growing up nobody really tells you these things or if they tell you they kind of sugar coat it,” said Rivera. “It really came from bringing that awareness, particularly things that women or men don’t like to talk about that is completely organic.”

The Vagina Monologues took place last Tuesday in Stubbs 100, Friday at the Upstairs Gallery and Saturday in Stubbs 100. On Tuesday, Rivera performed various skits such as “My Vagina Was My Village” and “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.”

The monologues evoked laughs and emotion from the crowd with a wide range of topics from sex, pubic hair and tampons to rape and female genital mutilation.

The Vagina Monologues is part of V-Day, which represents awareness of women’s issues.

At the end of the monologues, they played a video for One Billion Rising – a global campaign to end violence and rape against girls and young women around the world.

“It really is all about women empowerment and men getting involved in that process as well, it’s just one community and that’s what I love about it so much,” Rivera said.

And just as Rivera would hope, sophomore psychology majors Mikal Jeffcoat and Crystal Curry feeling more empowered as women.

“All of the performers did very well and were extremely captivating,” Jeffcoat said.

Curry said it was very humorous in parts and moving in others. Even though “all the ladies did really well in the performance,” Curry believes Meredith Mckinnie was exceptional.

“I am the angry vagina,” said Mckinnie, an English instructor.

She loves playing the part of the angry vagina every year because “it’s angry and animated and loud.”

“It brings awareness to women’s issues that I think a lot of times goes ignored. It uses humor and shock value to bring attention to cause,” Mckinnie said.

Rivera said, “There is always that one point where you’ve just had enough and I think that the angry vagina just encompasses that.”