Having returned from our trip to Amsterdam and conducting our research intro tourist morality, all that is left to do now is conduct the final report and blog our experiences. The best way to begin this however, is by detailing my comparisons to Liverpool and our guided tour of strip clubs a week before we arrived in Amsterdam. This will help by assembling context to the study and better understanding any cultural expectations both here and abroad.
Whilst we were away, we were lucky enough to embark on a guided tour of the city’s famous Red Light District with the Prostitute Information Centre. This meant that we were able to benefit from accurate and reliable information through out the tour, and ask questions that would be accurately answered.
It was immediate that the sex industry was far more welcomed in Amsterdam than in Liverpool. Sex shops, museums, sex shows and prostitutes lined the streets, integrated into the standard structure of the houses and casually sitting next to pubs, cafes and other commercial buildings. Sex sells, and this was definitely the case through out the city. It was by far the norm and very much welcomed – the direct opposite of Liverpool which shuns even strip clubs, disguising them through monotone advertising and suggestive club names.
This was not the case in Amsterdam however, as bold, loud and stand-out lights and signs advertised peep and sex shows to passers-by who commonly entered without hesitation or fear of stigmatisation. This was interesting to witness, especially since in Liverpool there seems to be a grounded fear of stigmatisation to enter a casual strip club, which is far removed from the intensity and far more erotic nature of a live sex show. Perhaps this was to do with the assumption that those who engaged with these activities did so out of novelty, as those inside seemed to be curious rather than experienced or having serious expectations.
Throughout the Red Light District, although there were plenty of sex shows there was a lack of standard strip clubs. This point was raised to one of the guides on the tour who stated that “there is no need for them and there exists no market to accommodate them either”, she added, “why would you want a tease when you can have the full experience?” This was definitely in regards to the ease of access to prostitutes in the area through either brothels or the red light lined windows. Costing around the same price as a lap dance in Liverpool, it is clear that there is little demand for them in a city as sexually promiscuous and open as Amsterdam.
The red lights lined the streets at every turn, with girls of every ethnicity and age waiting to be chosen. It truly was a surreal experience, especially coming from a culture as reserved as in the UK. In a sense it was amusing to witness, it was a novelty until we actually witnessed people freely entering and exiting the doors, negotiating prices and making use of the facilities. It was at this point that it sank in that this was a real market. In a strange way it hadn’t hit me that people made use of these services for legitimate reasons, maybe from the expectations I had coming from the more novelty peep shows we had visited earlier. These, much like the previous shops sat next to homes, shops and other buildings – and nobody batted an eyelid. It seems that locals were completely desensitised which was the complete opposite of tourists we encountered, including ourselves. As soon as it is legal, regulated and commercialised, it simply becomes the norm. The girls behind the window, much like the strippers here in Liverpool were prioritised in terms of safety. They had control of their business fully, from choosing their customers, to security on call and even only having a one way window from the inside out to prevent a customer entering unwelcomed. This was relieving to see, and was one of the only similarities to Liverpool and other strip clubs in the UK – that the workers had authority and not the other way around.
Whose Law is it Anyway? 