Cyberdykes Women’s Party 1995 – 2006

(there are several articles about the Cyberdykes parties in the articles category)

The Cyberdykes Events started as women-only fun nights and of course they catered mainly to lesbian women. In the early years men were not allowed to enter because back then it only took 5 men to ruin the beautiful female atmosphere. Then gradually, with the empowerment of the events and the comfort of women now claiming their spaces, the doors were opened to our male friends.

Cyberdykes Women’s Parties were held in a mostly straight club and flooded it with female joy, expression and energy.

Cyberdykes tried hard, in a period of decline or even absence of both the lesbian and women’s movement, to promote and consolidate the Women’s/Lesbian culture.

Through the media (print, magazines, newspapers, radio) and by offering something light as a party (rather than a lecture), Cyberdykes wished to highlight the dynamic presence of the Women’s/Lesbian scene in Athens. By consistently issuing press releases and invitations, working nonstop for weeks with unwavering dedication, utilizing posters and distributing flyers, Cyberdykes Events successfully opened up the limited confines of the lesbian scene of that time, brought it out of its closet, offered it visibility and enriched it with new lesbian women who could not express themselves within the closed lesbian ghettos of that era, which exclusively featured Greek music.

Cyberdykes Events provided a venue for the expression of a more inclusive queer culture and contributed to gaining acceptance for the lesbian community within our city.

The press releases/emails from 1995 until today stand out for encouraging and strengthening the lesbian culture. More than 220 press releases/emails were sent out every time to producers, editors and journalists of all newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Out, Proud & In Your Face

All press releases promoted global lesbian culture using words adopted from the global lesbian scene, and explaining them. They systematically trained this city to get used to accepting diversity.

All the press releases/emails expressed the lesbian attitude and had a party theme each time, for example the DON’T FUCK WITH LIFE – FUCK WITH A GLOVE party, a party dedicated to Lesbian Safe Sex at a time when lesbian sex was taboo even for lesbian women themselves.

The Flyers from 1995 until today are a pioneer for the original lesbian aesthetics they offer to the Greek scene. Over 10,000 flyers are printed and distributed literally all over Athens. That amount of flyers is enough to “shock” those who are homophobic. “It was such a delightful sight waking up in the morning to go shopping with my mom and seeing tasteful posters with a lesbian aesthetic around the city.”

All the photos on the flyers are mainly from lesbian photographers or taken from foreign feminist/lesbian magazines.

The entire aesthetic of the flyers promotes and accentuates the lesbian icon (which serves a dual purpose – it brings joy to us who see ourselves represented and it helps familiarize those who might have a problem with such imagery).

The Parties themselves from 1995 until today have shown the unity and strength of the Women’s/Lesbian space.

Cyberdykes Parties have hosted female DJs from Athens and Thessaloniki and Europe.

They have exhibited work by female creatives, from slideshows to exhibitions of clothing, jewellery, Dildos, etc.

Exactly the same logic and philosophy was also applied to the other parties organized by the Cyberdykes (Cultural Intervention Group) after 1995.

Dykefully Yours
Maria Cyber

This text was probably written in 2006