The Question of Consequence-- Reflections on 4 months independent research into the world of The Red Light District

**I actually took these pictures just the other weekend during the "Open Dag" of the Red Light, organized by the Prostitution Information Center (CNN did a little diddy on it while I was checking out one of the ordinarily exculsive venues...). Brothels were opened (this is a picture of the inside of one I visited), along with sex clubs, museums, churches, peep show venues, tea houses, coffee shops...and on and on. It was actually really interesting going inside some of these places, I did see part of a free dry sex show and a strip tease- don't be too horrified- it was fascinating in every strange and reverse fashion to pick apart the hegemonic ideal of "SEX" in its perverse glory; to see first hand what our society deems as the seemingly idyllic the standards, power relations, idolized notion of performed sex- and to see for myself the perpetuation of this addiction our culture breeds on blind sex.
For my Field Experience course, this gender studies major, an often idealistic social justice tauting international student (me) chose her focus to be the broad, ever encompassing, question generating realm of--- what else than prostitution-- I'm fairly certain I will never quite be done with it. Here's an excerpt from my final paper.

In the evolution of my exploration of prostitution, the question of consequence sat brooding in the shadows of my mind. Desiring answers clear and articulate, I wanted to be told forthright that yes, legalized prostitution is good, or no, it is definitely not. But I learned that prostitution cannot be that simple and demands tip-toeing through the layers in order to gain even just a smidge of understanding, something that takes patience and time. I interviewed many organizations and devoted individuals who are rooted in these realities everyday in their work. There was Sina at Bonded Labour in The Netherlands, Celine at the Salvation Army, Mariska at the PIC, Gerda and Edna at the Cleft, Joep the former community police officer of the Wallen for 32 years and other ordinary people. Through each one I set myself and my questions before them, tried to pick through their minds, their experiences, their passions, their frustrations, piecing, piecing together an answer to this question of consequence. And I did get some answers, and I have learned about the situation as it stands today in its faults and promises. But I wanted to glean a decisive stance- and I was disappointed each time. The truth of the matter settles into ambiguity. Post legalization in The Netherlands and prostitution is unchanged at its core. Sifting through bureaucratic odds, regulations, legal papers, hygiene standards, security codes and Human Trafficking Rapporteurs, government promises, dodging heroine addicts sly offers in the streets, loverboy rumors and sex trafficking rings- these may have shifted on the surface or evaporated from the visible eye, but in all remain mostly unchanged. At times I find myself feeling a bit at odds, daunted and frustrated with the question of where and how does one address the problems that circulate around and through prostitution. As Joep, the retired police officer, and I talked and walked through the center, weaving in and out of little allies aglow in red that somehow even I had missed in my three months here, I found myself caught between revelations. He delivered a gift to an old friend, a charming, plump grandma with precisely placed sculpted hair, chatty about her neighbors, her new hip, her children. This woman, so ordinary and alive with energy, in this seemingly universal grandmother comfortable, was indeed the oldest prostitute in the Wallen. As I sat next to her on her couch in her apartment, watching her go on in Dutch and Joep’s patience, it was comforting and strange to remember that this woman was indeed just like any other woman, though her history be a bit unique, though her profession seemingly scandalous. She was someone’s grandma. She loved her life and she was doing what she wanted. Like Joep said, even here in The Netherlands the stigma attached to prostitution is strong and binding, keeping women and men a like from discussing and sharing, reaching out and expressing what they need and want. Whether prostitution finds itself written in the books has no positive consequence if those laws and the social atmosphere don’t afford ears to listen and hear.