Vagina, not valentine, was the V word discussed this weekend at the University of Denver’s fifth annual production of “Vagina Monologues.”

The monologues shared a mixture of amusing sex stories and education about domestic violence before appreciative audiences, mostly women.

The performance, put on by the DU Undergraduate Women’s Council, ran from Feb. 9-12.

The play is, simply put, a celebration of women, their bodies and sexuality, as well as a condemnation of abuse against women.

For a first-time audience member, the monologue was a bit shocking, yet powerful. A mixture of humor and sincerity made the monologues enjoyable. In the past, “Monologues” evoked criticism. Today, the production, in which numerous women participate, are regarded not just an empowerment of femininity, but as a voice examining heterosexual relationships.

The play walks a fine line between male-bashing and female power. Only individuals can decide how offensive, or empowering, it really is. One scene in particular, “The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could,” challenges this fine line.

In the monologue, a young girl describes traumatic experiences that her vagina has experienced including being punched by a boy “down there” at age seven, tearing it on a bedpost at age nine and being raped by her father’s best friend at age 10. Then she described a sexual awakening when a 24-year-old woman seduces her at age 16.

Instead of describing it as an intrusion of her body, it was described as a release of freedom and pleasure. It was a good “rape,” as some call it, because it was by a woman, not a man.

Other monologues were simply more entertaining. In “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,” Dianna Miguez provided comic relief describing the different type of moans during a female orgasm. The scene followed some intense scenes including “Under the Burqa,” that was focused on the nonexistent rights of Afghan women under Taliban rule.

Women and men, feminists and non-feminists, soaked in the performance. Only a few were seen squirming in their seats in embarrassment. Others were shouting normally obscene four-letter-words during the height of the poetic monologue, “Reclaiming Cunt.”

The women in the play, most of whom are members of the DU Undergraduate Women’s Council, were terrific – not just because of their performance, but because of their unwavering opinion of a woman as nothing less than magnificent.

Their cause is also great. All proceeds went to the Gateway Battered Women’s Shelter, the Gathering Place, the Lighthouse Project and V-Day, a movement to end violence against women and girls.

The monologues, by Eve Ensler, came from interviews from 200 women about their views on sex, relationships and violence against women.