Statement from Eve Ensler on John Jay High School Students Suspension Lifted

The news that Hannah Levinson, Megan Reback and Elan Stahl’s suspension has been lifted is a vagina victory and an indication of the students’ intelligence, grace and integrity and bravery. It is a victory for free speech and for girls knowing that they have vaginas and that it’s a healthy thing, not something to hide or call by a different name.

I hope that this will further the discussion and will secure what the students have begun - they have highlighted how important it is to honor literature and for girls and boys to use the word vagina comfortably.

I believe that we should encourage girls and boys of all ages to speak comfortably and without reductive or infantilizing nicknames about their bodies, that they should be part of a dialogue about their bodies and their rights so they have agency over their bodies.

Through V-Day, “The Vagina Monologues” is performed annually as a benefit to raise awareness and funds towards ending violence against women in thousands of colleges and communities, including about 20 high schools each year. I hope that this victory opens the door for high schools around the country to present the play.

- Eve Ensler, playwright and V-Day Founder