Da Girl Konnection (Free Party) London 2003
Last week I went to the first (as far as I know) female-run squat party, Da Girl Connection. Although I’ve been put off of going to squat parties recently because of their declining quality, I still thought it was excellent.
This event took place at an enormous cinema in distant Greater London. It was only after finding my way through a maze of rooms and stairways that I came to the cavernous ex-theatre where “da girls” were playing. Rows of seats sloped from the foot of the stage (where the rig was) up to a balcony at the back, and sitting down made me feel like I was arriving late for a Sunday afternoon matinee. “It’s kinda like the Fridge, innit?” said one guy, puffing on a joint in the row of seats nearest to me. And if you squinted hard enough, you could see the resemblance: cavernous theatre, UV lights flooding the darkness. Shame that there were no fluoro backdrops about for them to illuminate. (I could have volunteered some, hint, hint!).
The female DJ’s were playing techno that sounded fresher, more selective and more diverse that the usual thump-thump party music. I was impressed, and so was the crowd on the dance floor, which was already full and getting more so by the minute. The general consensus seemed to be – among those who knew it was a Girl Connection party – that they should definitely do this more regularly. Better yet, why not start an all-female sound system! We can call it 'Space Grrrlz'. Yeah.
I noticed straight away that no women were wearing bikinis or going topless, as the flyer suggested they might. Maybe everybody was too shy... or maybe they just didn’t feel safe enough to do it at that squat party, hardly surprising what with all the adolescent rude boys and unlit corners. Ironically enough, it would have been the norm to see a topless chick at a run of the mill boy-run party a few years ago but here, in this supposedly progressive, experimental venue, it was unthinkable. the relative security of the London underground scene that enabled their anything-goes mentality, is gone. That doesn’t mean that it won't come back though, with a little more thought put into them.
The main drawback with squat parties is that they are not the most inviting place for women. Perhaps that is why the number of women going to and organizing them is quite small. There is usually a long journey in the dead of night involved, to get to a venue in distant Greater London. Then one has to venture through the warehouse district to find a building on what is possibly an unlisted street. The buildings themselves hold a lot of dark, empty rooms other than the ones being used by sound-systems. Lighting is poor, if not non-existent, so it’s easy to get lost if you are off your head or separated from your friends. And we won’t even mention the toilets!
All this is not very encouraging for females coming without a man on their arm. Even my hardened female party friends and I sometimes feel wary about carrying on to venues that are in places so desolate.
For women, it can also be a deterrent that there are virtually no security measures at parties. Squats are not normally full of people and one quickly realizes that help may not be there when it’s needed. Women encountering lairy men don’t want to have to fend for themselves entirely. Of course, the presence of such men reveals that some attitudes within the party scene are hardly perfect, either. Don’t they believe that we should be able to go out and relax with everyone else? If they do then they should show it.
And why there are so few actual female DJs playing at parties. Maybe someone else can answer that? There seemed to be plenty of them around me on the dancefloor at Da Girl Konnection. Whatever the reason, their absence doesn’t look good to people on the dancefloor, who come away with the impression of there being a boys’ club behind the decks.
Despite the limitations, Girl Connection showed that women want to be more involved in what’s going on. And, while pushing the limits of women’s influence in the scene, they also managed to underline an obvious fact. All parties are “girls” parties too... well, there are girls there, right? Taking into account some of the details that will make them woman-friendly helps to make them more equal. All that’s needed now is for other organizers to change their perspectives.
This event took place at an enormous cinema in distant Greater London. It was only after finding my way through a maze of rooms and stairways that I came to the cavernous ex-theatre where “da girls” were playing. Rows of seats sloped from the foot of the stage (where the rig was) up to a balcony at the back, and sitting down made me feel like I was arriving late for a Sunday afternoon matinee. “It’s kinda like the Fridge, innit?” said one guy, puffing on a joint in the row of seats nearest to me. And if you squinted hard enough, you could see the resemblance: cavernous theatre, UV lights flooding the darkness. Shame that there were no fluoro backdrops about for them to illuminate. (I could have volunteered some, hint, hint!).
The female DJ’s were playing techno that sounded fresher, more selective and more diverse that the usual thump-thump party music. I was impressed, and so was the crowd on the dance floor, which was already full and getting more so by the minute. The general consensus seemed to be – among those who knew it was a Girl Connection party – that they should definitely do this more regularly. Better yet, why not start an all-female sound system! We can call it 'Space Grrrlz'. Yeah.
I noticed straight away that no women were wearing bikinis or going topless, as the flyer suggested they might. Maybe everybody was too shy... or maybe they just didn’t feel safe enough to do it at that squat party, hardly surprising what with all the adolescent rude boys and unlit corners. Ironically enough, it would have been the norm to see a topless chick at a run of the mill boy-run party a few years ago but here, in this supposedly progressive, experimental venue, it was unthinkable. the relative security of the London underground scene that enabled their anything-goes mentality, is gone. That doesn’t mean that it won't come back though, with a little more thought put into them.
The main drawback with squat parties is that they are not the most inviting place for women. Perhaps that is why the number of women going to and organizing them is quite small. There is usually a long journey in the dead of night involved, to get to a venue in distant Greater London. Then one has to venture through the warehouse district to find a building on what is possibly an unlisted street. The buildings themselves hold a lot of dark, empty rooms other than the ones being used by sound-systems. Lighting is poor, if not non-existent, so it’s easy to get lost if you are off your head or separated from your friends. And we won’t even mention the toilets!
All this is not very encouraging for females coming without a man on their arm. Even my hardened female party friends and I sometimes feel wary about carrying on to venues that are in places so desolate.
For women, it can also be a deterrent that there are virtually no security measures at parties. Squats are not normally full of people and one quickly realizes that help may not be there when it’s needed. Women encountering lairy men don’t want to have to fend for themselves entirely. Of course, the presence of such men reveals that some attitudes within the party scene are hardly perfect, either. Don’t they believe that we should be able to go out and relax with everyone else? If they do then they should show it.
And why there are so few actual female DJs playing at parties. Maybe someone else can answer that? There seemed to be plenty of them around me on the dancefloor at Da Girl Konnection. Whatever the reason, their absence doesn’t look good to people on the dancefloor, who come away with the impression of there being a boys’ club behind the decks.
Despite the limitations, Girl Connection showed that women want to be more involved in what’s going on. And, while pushing the limits of women’s influence in the scene, they also managed to underline an obvious fact. All parties are “girls” parties too... well, there are girls there, right? Taking into account some of the details that will make them woman-friendly helps to make them more equal. All that’s needed now is for other organizers to change their perspectives.
