D’LAF: The launch night and those strippers
Tags: a Lesbian Arts Festival, aLAF, arts, arts festival, dLAF, DoppelGang, Down and Dirty, Dublin Lesbian Arts Festival, Emma Weafer, Festival, lesbian, Maria Tecce, Shani Williams, Sharyn Hayden, Tamale Sepp, Zrazy The D’LAF launch night took place on Wednesday night in the swit-swoo surrounds of the Sycamore Club, located in the same building as The Purty Kitchen in Temple Bar, Dublin. There were free cosmopolitans at the door to welcome everyone from the babiest baby dyke to the seasoned scene kings; a lavender pool table (good call); lounge seating area displaying works by artists including Ewa Fornal, Lou Walker and Dervella McNee; and, for some reason, a confused gecko in a glass box.
Gaelick caught up with D’LAF’s, Emma Weafer and Shani Williams to ask them about this year’s festival and that ladies’ night.
(If you haven’t voted on the poll, go do so now, and give us your first impressions in the comments if you like. Then, nip back here, and let us know if your opinion has changed in any way. Ah go on, go on..)
First, we asked about the name change: The previous incarnation of D’LAF was aLAF, “A Lesbian Arts Festival”. Weafer explained that there has been a significant change of staffing on the festival, with something along the lines of 80% of those now invovled in D’LAF being new faces. Also, the new festival hopes to eventually host events beyond the Pale – yes indeed, outside Dublin, ladies! So, between new blood and plans to expand the festival, a re-branding was felt to have been in order. Plus, it sounds snappy!
Apart from this week’s events, there are tentative plans to hold a Grrl Rock night this year. Confirmation is being awaited for venues, so the anticipated 7th November date may need to be pushed back, but Grrl Rock will take place. Watch this space!
Now. On to the “Down and Dirty” night. Weafer, some may be aware, has previously been involved in organising and participating in drag king performances and fetish nights. A recent event, not connected with D’LAF “Naughty and Nice”, took place at Ocean Bar in Charlotte Quay Dock, helped to cement the idea of including a lapdancing/stripper night as part of D’LAF. “Naughty and Nice” included a lapdancing area, and according to Emma the woman performing there explained how the event was one of the most enjoyable she had been involved in, and one that felt the most safe. She was clear that she’d be happy to participate in something similar again.
Unlike some cities in Europe or the US, Ireland has no female saunas, dungeons or fetish nights which are organised in safe environments. This D’LAF event hopes to remedy that. There will be a dungeon master in the “Down and Dirty” in the strip club area and dark room to ensure the consensual and safe nature of the night.
Apart from these practicalities, both Weafer and Williams are clear that this is not a case of aping heterosexual men, nor fitting into any kind of heteronormative or heterocentric paradigm. The event is being hosted to allow Irish women to embrace and express their sexuality, rather than remain in any way invisible or even ashamed, as can be so often the case even in 21st century Ireland.
So, what do yas reckon?
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Great to hear from the girls themselves, click, thanks for that…I still say no on the strippers and lap dancers front…I don’t see the fun in it.
it’s not aping the heterosexual paradigm? No, it’s just reducing women to nothing but objects to gaze upon. Nice.
And they want to host events outside Dublin so they change the name to Dublin Lesbian Arts Festival…? Right.
I can understand that people are into all sorts of things and more power to them. Personally I think strippers are degrading but we live in an open society (we do don’t we?) so I respect people’s freedom to strip if that’s what they want to do.
It rankles with me.
I know woman are as sexual as men abut I don’t think that lap-dancing and stripping are things we want to take from stright culture.
It’s not about being PC or a hairy-arsed feminist – stripping and lap-dancing exploit. I know the woman here is all on for it and I’m not in anyway saying that d’Laf or the organisers are willfully exploiting her. But this type of performance is demeaning to woman – not just the woman performing but all women.
The fact that it’s women watching makes it all the more wrong. We should know better.
How can we expect men to understand our aversion to the over-sexualising of women if we have events like this?
How can men understand that we’re more than sex objects if we objectify ourselves?
Sorry but it’s wrong.
I went to a club night in San Francisco a few years ago which had a few female erotic dancers doing their thing on the pool tables – the local crowd loved it, judging by the many dollar bills being thrust upon them, but I and my Irish mates were put off by it to be honest -there was nothing like that at home at the time and it just seemed such a bizarre and unexpected spectacle in a gay bar – maybe we were/are too prudish, but I don’t thing there is anything positive to be taken from putting women up on a platform purely to enable other people, be it straight men or gay women, to ogle them.
I think yous are all nuts, here’s a club night that’s offering, by the the sounds of it, a different night for lesbians. I was at the ‘Naughty and Nice’ night at the Ocean Bar – it was fantastic – I didn’t see or feel like anyone was being short changed. I’ll be going to Melody Bar tonight with bells on, I suggest that ye take my lead and follow me down too. And then tomorrow, maybe ye can pass ye’re judgements. There are still people out there that would suggest that a lesbian club full stop, is wrong, so we’ve come a long way and I’d hate to think that my fellow lesbians in Ireland would judge me in a similar manner. I should be allowed to have a lap dance tonight, and I have no doubt that I will have several if my night in the Ocean Bar was anything to go by!
I am in FULLY supporting naughty and nice and its about bloody time this city WOKE UP and got with it!!! The rest of the world has moved on and embraced this idea, it puts Ireland to shame that a regular night loke this isn’t on the agenda. I am disgusted i missed it-thought alaf was in november, the advertising and date changes wewre poorly managed, but thumbs up for the best themed nite Dublin has ever seen!
Hey mad4it & Helen – I’ve left a comment over on the poll about this – http://www.gaelick.com/2009/10/strippers-and-lapdancers-at-dlaf/. Feel free to let me know what you think. (I’m doing a lot of pondering about this!)
mad4it69 & Helen – totally agreed, its time that there was something for the many women who do want this, rather than denying all women a choice because of the political ideology of a few.