Frolicsome Fancies

      Going into this trip, I didn't expect to learn as much as I did. I thought I would learn a bit more about sex ed and then mainly explore the city, however I am very pleased to say that this trip has given me incredibly valuable knowledge that I would not have had the opportunity to learn on my own. I have learned more about Dutch history, LGBTQ+ history, sex education in The Netherlands vs the United States, sex work, past/present LGBTQ+ groups and organizations, and the Dutch view on tolerance. This trip has taught me so much and given me information I was previously sheltered from, giving me a much better and healthier way to view sex and my own sexuality.      The readings and lectures were the thing I was least excited for, however they easily became one of my favorite parts of the day. I loved hearing from all the lecturers and learning more about the readings we had assigned. All the speakers were kind and created a very safe and comfortable spa...

     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 ...