« The mayor needs a new sash | Main | A bad episode of the Real World »
September 18, 2004
When bauds and whores do cities build and taxes pay
AMSTERDAM, NEDERLANDS: I write from Amsterdam today. By mid-afternoon, I still wasn't sure how I would spend one of my last free weekends in Europe, so I booked a Thalys here and a room at a one-star hotel. (I figured it was too late to try to impose on the guys from the Dutch office.) By the way, I've never been a fan of the star rating system, because I've stayed in some 3-star dumps, and this one-star place is actually fairly good. For once Frommer's and I agree on something. And the owner had a picture of my apartment building in Chicago hanging on the wall.
Amsterdam's reputation preceeds it. The city is the seediest I've ever been to. (I have to wonder what CS would think of this place, since she says that Hyannis is seedy.) With pot legal, Amsterdam smeels like an art teacher's office. I think I inhaled so much weed that I may be high right now, but I'm not really sure. I just feel very mellow and I want to listen to Michael Bolton. Am I high? I must be. Nonetheless, temptation is everywhere here: legal pot, psychadellic mushrooms, various paraphenalia, cocaine sold openly, sex shows, the red light district, public outdoor urinals, and--evilest of all--$22 souvernir t-shirts.
There isn't much in travel that shocks me anymore. There's the wealth in Monaco, watching MTV in the remote Himalayas, and Auschwitz-Birkeneau death camp. Add Amsterdam's Red Light district.
Amsterdam's Red Light district is a rather compact area along two streets and a canal. Perhaps half the buildings have glass doors in which young women sit or stand in lingerie with red lights, a bit like betas in fishtanks. Johns circumambultate the district, occasionally stopping to ogle or negotiate a deal. It's like Halloween for perverted grown-ups. Some of the girls are dressed up as nurses or schoolgirls. The johns are a motley bunch including well-dressed European businessmen and turbaned Shikhs. As at Halloween, there are also plenty of tricks, maybe some treats, some knocking on doors, and trying to get (eye) candy in the sack.
Feminists might claim that this is the worst sort of objectifying women for the sake of men's deviant gratification. It probably is, but it's not so black-and-white. According to the Prostitute Information Centre, the women are individual entrepreneurs who pay rent, report taxes, set their own rates, and attempt to earn customer loyalty despite a very competetive markeplace. Add to this the fact that a night's work involves a dozen encounters where only a few microns of latex separate one from potentially-fatal disease, and one has to have a bit of respect for a person who can earn her daily bread this way.
It's also good to see that Amsterdam has found a way to make safer an activity that people around the world engage in. Even though sex slavery remains a problem, at least a dangerous activity can be carried out under legal supervision rather than on the corners near my apartment in Brussels (where it is quite annoying).
Posted by adrianjo at September 18, 2004 12:57 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.innogize.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/27
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference When bauds and whores do cities build and taxes pay:
» control-blood-sugar
from Marco Ammara
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 01:44 AM
» control-blood-sugar
from Marco Ammara
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 01:44 AM
» cellulite-solution-for-sale
from Benjamin Lysgoard
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 03:48 AM
» buy-breast-augmentation-online
from Jnga Lill Lander
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 10:40 PM
» buy-breast-augmentation-online
from Jnga Lill Lander
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 10:40 PM
» buy-breast-augmentation-online
from Jnga Lill Lander
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 21, 2006 10:40 PM
» developing-your-penis-naturally
from Piette Snyman
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 24, 2006 09:06 PM
» developing-your-penis-naturally
from Piette Snyman
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 24, 2006 09:06 PM
» developing-your-penis-naturally
from Piette Snyman
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 24, 2006 09:07 PM
» continental airline from continental airline
continental airline [Read More]
Tracked on February 26, 2006 03:33 PM
» incest porn from Jane
family sex family sex family sex family ... [Read More]
Tracked on February 28, 2006 01:13 PM
» lesbian-brazil-scat from Micaela Sanden
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 4, 2006 07:31 AM
» latin-porn from Holzknecht Jsabella
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 4, 2006 08:10 AM
» lesbens from Martin Sokolski
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 5, 2006 03:24 AM
» jeri-lee-sweet-and-sexy from Mia Swartling
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 5, 2006 04:41 AM
» kdz-hardcore from Charlotle Fagerlund
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 5, 2006 05:42 AM
» kdz-hardcore from Charlotle Fagerlund
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 5, 2006 05:42 AM
» lesbian-diaper-stories from Jeanette Signon
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 6, 2006 03:47 AM
» interview-with-a-sex-maniac from Kristina Forsmask
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 6, 2006 07:40 AM
» interview-with-a-sex-maniac from Kristina Forsmask
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 6, 2006 07:41 AM
» lesbian-group-sexs from Gabriele Matyka
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 9, 2006 12:29 AM
» lesbian-group-sexs from Gabriele Matyka
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 9, 2006 12:30 AM
» lesbian-group-sexs from Gabriele Matyka
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 9, 2006 12:30 AM
» kiddy-sex from Michel Chanentra
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 9, 2006 08:31 PM
» lesbian-cartoon-porn from Meranea
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 9, 2006 11:34 PM
» lesbian-fingering-videos from Benjamin List
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 10, 2006 12:39 AM
» lesbian-fingering-videos from Benjamin List
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 10, 2006 12:39 AM
» large-vaginas from Laetia Mentel
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 10, 2006 10:47 PM
» julia-fiore-porn from Margus Theson
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 10, 2006 10:52 PM
» lesbian-diaper-girls from Staub Barbara
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 10, 2006 11:01 PM
» lesbian-amateurs from Sarah Schmidt
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 11, 2006 02:41 PM
» lesbian-amateurs from Sarah Schmidt
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 11, 2006 02:43 PM
» lesbian-footjobs from Christa Zrenner
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 12, 2006 05:25 PM
» young-teens-for-cash from Skibicken Ramfred
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 13, 2006 06:34 PM
» xxx-free-sex-video-movie-mpeg from Ilse Schallert
When bauds and whores ... [Read More]
Tracked on March 20, 2006 09:58 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)