Frolicsome Fancies

     This week my class had the opportunity to learn about sex work in the Netherlands. We learned what sex work can be, how it is performed, as well as stigma and laws surrounding it. We got to have an in-person lecture from Brenda and Lucy, who were one sex worker who worked as a sex assistant to disabled people. We also read articles regarding sex work. I was really looking forward to meeting with her and learning more about sex work as I had never had exposure to it other than media and stereotypes.      In the article, Nugent started off by saying that sex workers are allowed boundaries and self-respect, something that unfortunately has to be cleared up (Nugent, 2019). Next, Nugent wrote that the window areas in the Netherlands are tolerated by society and the government to a certain degree mainly due to their historical connection and value to the city of Amsterdam  (Nugent, 2019). Amsterdam has had no new windows built since 1996, as they are no...

      This week in our class we focused on sex education in the Netherlands and how it compares to that in the United States. We got to hear from a speaker named Yuri Ohlrich's, a Dutch sexologist and sex educator who works at Rutgers. He gave us a brief history of Rutgers, explaining that it was named after Dr. J. Rutgers, one of the founders of Dutch sexology who started the network for contraception and in 1892, consulting hours for diaphragms.      In the first reading, Alford and Hauser explain that the Netherlands have an unwritten social construct with the youth saying that they will treat them like responsible adults and give them the tools they need to avoid unintended pregnancy and STI's (Alford, Hauser, 2011). They then gave two main things that help create greater and easier access to sexual health information and services. The first is sexual openness and comfort in dealing with sexuality  (Alford, Hauser, 2011). The second is pragmatic ...

       This week in Amsterdam I got to learn more about how sex and gender were seen and controlled in the early modern Dutch empire. I learned that like most of the world at the time, the Dutch empire also had harsh conservative views on marriage and sex, and harsh punishments for those who did not follow them. The VOC (Dutch East India Company) and WIC (Dutch West India Company) had a lot of power and influence during the modern Dutch empire. To maintain this control the trading companies also wanted population control, therefore they created and enforced laws on marriage and sex. The trading companies wanted to restrict intergroup marriage as much as possible, as it was easier to obtain loyalty by white Christians. To help enforce this control, adultery, sex before marriage, and interracial sex were illegal and heavily punished, especially when it was a married woman cheating or a white woman having sex with a person of color. People who broke these laws could be ...

       In preparation to study abroad in Amsterdam I read the first chapter of Shelley Story's book, "Prepare for Departure". In this chapter, Story gives many tips and tricks to make the most out of the study abroad experience as well as questions to ask yourself before traveling such as, "who am I? What do I value? What do I want out of this experience? What kind of traveler am I? What are my boundaries and limitations? and finally, what are my worries and fears?      Story writes about how the questions, who am I? and what do I value? can be refined and revised over your lifetime, but it is important to start thinking about them for the sake of self-development. She advises people to ask themselves these questions each morning and night and to notice when your answers change over time  (Story, 2016).  As I started thinking about these questions, I realized that I really value relationships that I have, and most of my self-image is related ...

  Hi! Welcome to Frolicsome Fancies, my name is Lucy, and I am traveling to Amsterdam this summer to study gender and sexuality. I am from Dallas, Tx, and I grew up in sheltered Mormon family, so I am very excited to branch out and learn about things I previously did not have access to.  In my blog, I will be sharing what I learn throughout this course, how it compares with American culture, as well as fun experiences I encounter along the way.