Whistles, cheers and two standing ovations filled the Garrett Conference Center ballroom following the annual performance of “The Vagina Monologues” Wednesday night.

The performance was a series of monologues inspired from interviews with over 200 women from a variety of races, ages, sexual orientation and social classes.

Each monologue addressed a different situation or experience women had with their vagina, from exploring sexuality to reclaiming the word cunt.

Opal Sea, a graduate student from Lawrenceburg, has attended four performances of “The Vagina Monologues” and likes how it catches people off guard.

“It’s something different,” Sea said. “It’s something cultural that is going on right now. I can’t even explain it, it’s just a good experience.”

Male audience members also enjoyed the show, such as Ben Gjerstad of Bardstown, who was impressed with the show.

“As a guy there is a lot of perspective you never see,” Gjerstad said.”It’s stuff you never think about and I think I learned a lot.”

Of all the monologues, “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy” seemed to make the biggest impression with the crowd, receiving its own standing ovation.

The monologue tells the story of a lawyer-turned-sex worker who loves the sound of women moaning and included demonstrations of different types of moans by the performer, Lydia Dowell.

Dowell, a senior from Lafayette, Tenn., said she enjoyed both her role and the performance as a whole because of how fun and wild it was.

“I think the audience really responded well, from what I heard, and the girls did a really good job,” she said.

Dowell said she hopes people will come to next year’s show because of how empowering it is.

“It takes words like vagina and cunt that are taboo and makes a safe zone for their use,” Dowell said. “It’s a good place to discuss things and just to learn.”

In addition to the performance, there were baked goods shaped like breasts and vaginas for sale before and after the show.

Proceeds from tickets and baked goods are going toward Hope Harbor, a sexual trauma recovery center in Bowling Green, and a national program to help women in Haiti.