Community members and students at Southeast Missouri State University will once again shed their inhibitions and take on the roles of women talking about mental, physical and sexual abuse, insecurity, oppression, love and other issues told unapologetically in the voice of their vaginas.

"The Vagina Monologues" will be performed at 7 p.m. tonight and 4 p.m. Saturday in Academic Hall Auditorium. Eve Ensler wrote "The Vagina Monologues" after sitting through countless confessions and interviews with women about their body image, their feelings and fears, hopes and struggles.

Being on stage takes courage anyway, but these girls have an extra challenge on their hands. They're on stage all alone, and they want to talk. They want to talk to you.

The performance has become a yearly event on campus since 2002 to commemorate V-Day, a day in March to bring awareness to violence against women and girls.

Women in art

The relationship between women and art has been an evolution from nonexistent to subjects of, to artists to successful role models.

A panel discussion titled "Women in Art" at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Crisp Museum will discuss the female role in art using five women from the art department at Southeast Missouri State University. Each woman has had a different experience and will address a different aspect of the journey to where they, and women, are today.

Emily Booth, one panelist, said she has had several strong female role models and will talk about her experiences growing up with the idea that women can run the show. She called them "Powerhouses" and relished the fact that she was always encouraged to follow her dreams.

Other women on the panel, however, have a different story to tell, ones of adversity and overcoming obstacles. They will also address how women in general were treated in art through the years.

The panelists, in no particular order: Louise Bodenheimer, Emily Booth, Kristin Nowlin Powers, Pat Reagan and Kathy E. Smith.

The women will talk from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. tomorrow with a reception and mingling afterward, which will carry over to the First Friday Art Walks.