As Valentine’s Day approaches, tradition suggests images of gentlemen ordering flowers for a special someone and of ladies planning a romantic night on the town. This year, however, students on many college campuses are rethinking these traditional displays of affection in favor of “V-Day.” But don’t bother looking for the term “V-Day” inside any of your Valentine’s Day cards, because Cupid has been kicked off campus.

V-Day is a feminist movement that claims to be a champion against domestic violence and sexual abuse. On GW’s campus, V-Day is celebrated with performances of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” a play based on interviews with women about, well, their intimate anatomy. Random House calls the play “the bible for a new generation of women,” and numerous self-proclaimed feminist celebrities in Hollywood have lined up to perform it on stage.

This is somewhat confusing, as I had always thought that the feminist movement was meant to encourage women to be resilient and independent by embracing their individual character and intellect. This play, even through its very title, seems to send the opposite message – that women are defined solely by their bodies. With all of the body image and self-esteem issues that saturate our society, this is a disturbing and backward message to send to female college students.

Even if you have not personally witnessed a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” perhaps you have been exposed to the degrading promotional materials being used to draw an audience. As a senior at GW, I have walked past an oversized papier-m?ch? vagina every year and, to this day, continue to wonder about the contradictory nature of this unconventional advertising.

As passing pedestrians purchase vagina-shaped cookies and are photographed with their heads inserted into a strategically-placed aperture, it makes little sense of how embracing vulgarity and misogynistic stereotypes is going to make the world safer for women. These actions, which reduce females down to their reproductive organs, are merely perpetuating the negative sexual treatment of women, which is what V-Day is supposed to be combating in the first place.

This is not to say that groups sponsoring activities like “The Vagina Monologues” do not have a right to free expression. Rather, the question stands as to whether their portrayal of modern women advances female dignity or if it only reinforces the stereotypes that feminism has previously been striving to eradicate.

These activities trivialize the legacy of women who have achieved great things by utilizing their individual creativity, intellect, energy and unwavering spirit. Raising money and awareness for the fight against domestic violence is a worthy cause, but a play that glorifies social deviancy and sexual perversion is not the way to do it.

Take instead the efforts of the GW Republican Women. This club has been selling flowers on campus over the past week to benefit the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence – a worthy cause supported by women who do not limit a female’s potential and empowerment to her private parts.

In contrast to the ideas of “The Vagina Monologues,” I challenge girls this Valentine’s Day to celebrate the strength and integrity of the women who have come before them. We need to promote ways to respect and honor women for all of their potential and promise rather than debase and degrade them. The legacy of the modern American woman must be one of substance, not sex.

-The writer, a senior majoring in political science and history, is an officer in GW Republican Women.