Red Light Fashion

(This is a model, opening the door at a fashion studio that was formerly a brothel).

One of the more interesting days I've had at work lately. I don't have much more to add to the AP story, but I wanted to paint the scene a little more.

There were dozens of camera teams out and wandering around in the Red Light, which is pretty much unheard of _ normally filming there is a good way to get yourself a black eye. I sneaked some photos, but it's unethical for me to publish them _ the "working women" are too easy to recognize. I'll just be keeping them in my *cough* private collection for the time being.

There was something very surreal about having fashion models, tour guides (with big white balloons) and the usual "who knows who they are" people that get attached to these kind of events running around amid the junkies and tourists; the streets in this part of town are extremely narrow and if just one person stops walking you get a mini traffic jam.

Plus it was raining the whole time so everybody had umbrellas. Anyhow here are some interesting tidbits from me:



This was formerly the inside of a prostitutes' sex chamber. The women I'm talking to are assistants of the designer who's taken it over. He was standing outside talking to reporters. You can see all his fabric stacked above the table; I believe the silky bench thing is original. It's hard for me to say, but I just bet it's not really the designer's taste.

Then again, I am "the rock against which the waves of fashion break."

Somebody said that about my father once, and I've been wanting to assume the mantle for some time now. Bij deze.

And here's the politician who's driving (or at least in charge of) the crackdown, Lodewijk Asscher:


Some insider junk about the Red Light after the "more"...


I love this photo. The Casa Rosso is one of the sex clubs now slated to be shut down, but the police and doorman still certainly have cordial relations: the cop stops to get a light for his cigarette.

Finally, a sex-room, still with authentic lighting (?). The mannequins are a nice touch.



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Dutch government to ban pimps?

(photo: wilwheaton)

It's a dark day for feathered caps, canes and high-heeled shoes: Dutch parliament has approved a motion that would ban pimping.

Say what?

Of course, prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, and tolerated since donkey's years, but forced prostitution has always been illegal.

So you'd think there'd be no need to add a law specifying that pimping in *that* sense is illegal.

But take the next logical step: prostitutes often work in brothels for various reasons, including increased safety and vetting of customers _ and it's a slippery slope from paying for "protection" to ending up under the control of the brothel owner.

(professorpious)

And a recent government study found that neither the street pimp problem nor forced prostitution has been reduced by legalization.

(technokitten)

So, the justice minister Ernst Hirch Ballin is going to research whether there's anything to be done to crack down on pimps.



(christine (bpc))

Hirsch Ballin's predecessor, Piet Hein Donner (now the Social Affairs Minister), was a very unquotable guy, but he had one great moment.

Dutch media started using the English-inspired word "loverboys" to describe a group of young men in Rotterdam who would woo teenage girls with fast cars, jewelry, etc., and later force them into prostitution.

So there was a parliamentary debate where all the MPs were going on and on about the problems posed by "loverboys." This was back in about 2004 I believe. Donner was listening patiently and finally he asked "am I missing something here, or are we just talking about pimps?"

One final word on pimps.

A city council member for Labor (think: the Democrats) in Nijmegen, Paul Depla, is in hot water right now after website GeenStijl published a story titled

"PvdA-wethouder oraal bevredigd in fietsenhok"
or
"Labor Councilman Orally Satisfied In Bike Cage"

I wish there was some way to do justice to the Dutch word 'fietsenhok' _ it summons up the image of a rainy parking lot for bikes, with a corrugated tin roof, with puddles and wind and graffiti and a few French fries wrappers scattered around with mayonnaise still on them.

"Now, there's a clear headline for once," GeenStijl wrote. It's a little bit inside baseball from then on, but here's just a taste.

"In Havanna on-the-Waal they would rather have kept this quiet, but we like transparency, even in politics...The incident occured recently after a council meeting. After a no-doubt heated debate Depla retired with the only female member of the VVD (Republican) faction to re-evaluate the evening in their own special way."

Depla, married with children, had been tapped as a future top leader for Labor. The woman who is said to have blown him has resigned (no reason given). Depla takes the line Bill Clinton didn't: that there is simply no need to address allegations about his sex life.

Unfortunately, in the real world, when a rumor is this widespread, a politician either has to deny it or everybody assumes it's true.

Clinton, Depla: I feel your pain _ even politicians should have some privacy. However, considering the duty you bear to the people you represent, you should also weigh the merits of keeping your dick in your pants while you hold public office.

(the actual fietsenhok, photograph by Trouw)
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