It took me two days to venture into the Red Light District. This
wasn't on purpose, it just happened to take me two days to run into
it. It was definitely a sight, but what I saw was a lot more "real"
than the vision I had created in my head of Red Light Amsterdam. I strolled through the edge of the Red Light yesterday around 9 when
the girls were just starting to get set up. There are more tourists
than customers strolling around the streets at that time, so it's
pretty mellow. Just seeing the girls was so bizarre - they were doing what everyone
does when getting ready for/waiting for work. Brushing hair, chatting
on phones, fixing stockings, talking to neighbors . . . the only
difference was that they were middle-aged women standing in lingerie
in a box waiting to have sex. A phonebooth shaped box with a stool
inside and a florescent red light on the top and bottom. I went back today around 10:30 when it was starting to pick up a bit.
I also went further into the crazy maze of alleys and pathways, where
things get a little more aggressive. The girls were younger, and
flirtier, and there were some boxes with a curtain drawn with a white
light shining on it (occupied!) It's interesting that when you're walking around the edge of the Red
Light, you see more coffe shops, bars, and sex shops amongst the
girls. As you get further in the alleys start to get narrower and you
see a lot more red light lined boxes. I got herded into this one
really narrow passage way with a bunch of people that had 10 boxes on
each side next to eachother, and we were right in the girl's faces as
we walked through. It felt sort of invasive. The structure of the Red Light made me feel that prostitution, like
pot, is ok in Amsterdam but not really smiled upon. It seems like the
boxes are tucked way away in the heart of the district so that it
isn't as obvious what goes on there, and so people can do their
business in secrecy. I kept thinking about Las Vegas as I was walking through all this,
because that's another city that is known for selling sex. But in
Vegas it's so much more glamorous and sexy. With beautiful young girls
in expensive and colorful costumes, great food, limos, celebrities,
and gorgeous high-end casinos, you forget that underneath it all is a
lot of dirt, and a lot of paid sex. In Amsterdam, the sex is just so
real and out there and in your face - it doesn't put on the show of
Vegas - just regular girls in cheap lingerie who have bipassed all the
glamor and gone straight to the sex. I don't know, in both cities I tend to get depressed when I think
about all of that, but it was definitely more sad and in my face
without the artifice.
wasn't on purpose, it just happened to take me two days to run into
it. It was definitely a sight, but what I saw was a lot more "real"
than the vision I had created in my head of Red Light Amsterdam. I strolled through the edge of the Red Light yesterday around 9 when
the girls were just starting to get set up. There are more tourists
than customers strolling around the streets at that time, so it's
pretty mellow. Just seeing the girls was so bizarre - they were doing what everyone
does when getting ready for/waiting for work. Brushing hair, chatting
on phones, fixing stockings, talking to neighbors . . . the only
difference was that they were middle-aged women standing in lingerie
in a box waiting to have sex. A phonebooth shaped box with a stool
inside and a florescent red light on the top and bottom. I went back today around 10:30 when it was starting to pick up a bit.
I also went further into the crazy maze of alleys and pathways, where
things get a little more aggressive. The girls were younger, and
flirtier, and there were some boxes with a curtain drawn with a white
light shining on it (occupied!) It's interesting that when you're walking around the edge of the Red
Light, you see more coffe shops, bars, and sex shops amongst the
girls. As you get further in the alleys start to get narrower and you
see a lot more red light lined boxes. I got herded into this one
really narrow passage way with a bunch of people that had 10 boxes on
each side next to eachother, and we were right in the girl's faces as
we walked through. It felt sort of invasive. The structure of the Red Light made me feel that prostitution, like
pot, is ok in Amsterdam but not really smiled upon. It seems like the
boxes are tucked way away in the heart of the district so that it
isn't as obvious what goes on there, and so people can do their
business in secrecy. I kept thinking about Las Vegas as I was walking through all this,
because that's another city that is known for selling sex. But in
Vegas it's so much more glamorous and sexy. With beautiful young girls
in expensive and colorful costumes, great food, limos, celebrities,
and gorgeous high-end casinos, you forget that underneath it all is a
lot of dirt, and a lot of paid sex. In Amsterdam, the sex is just so
real and out there and in your face - it doesn't put on the show of
Vegas - just regular girls in cheap lingerie who have bipassed all the
glamor and gone straight to the sex. I don't know, in both cities I tend to get depressed when I think
about all of that, but it was definitely more sad and in my face
without the artifice.
