Frolicsome Fancies

       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 ...