November 13, 2019

Stereotypes about women and migrants persist in Dutch schoolbooks

Filed under: General,History,Literature by Orangemaster @ 4:06 pm

After analysing 16 mathematics books and 17 Dutch-language textbooks used by secondary school students in their first year, Judi Mesman, a researcher from Leiden and her team concluded that they were full of stereotypes about women and people with an ethnic background. As you might expect, men were in greater numbers, depicted in real jobs like scientist and women were not as present and if so, often doing motherly things.

Let’s get into that one first. Is anybody surprised? Probably not, and it’s an easy fix for the future. It’s also easy to understand and prove that kids are sensitive to subtle messages about sex and stereotypes, shaping their world view. However, the truth is, Dutch society has tons of women working part-time – the highest level of part-time workers in Europe and beyond – and being the main carers of children and the elderly, earning less, and not making a serious enough appearance in the boardroom, let alone in other male-dominated jobs. Is it a stereotype or actual social commentary? And will depicting more equality change a system based on men working full-time and women working part-time, even without having children? I’m not optimistic, but feel free to try. Show men doing housework and being fathers instead of babysitting their own children, and show women doing real full-time jobs, not simply standing in as diversity hires.

As for what the Dutch call ‘non-Western migrants’, implying Turkish, Moroccan and the likes (funny enough including Mexicans, but not the Japanese IIRC – that’s a whole other discussion), they are underrepresented and shown in what we used to call ‘blue collar jobs’ as opposed to ‘white collar jobs’, to use classic stereotypes. Ask someone from Suriname in a good job how many times they’ve been mistaken for the cleaner. Sad but true, this is the reality in the Netherlands, which makes these images closer to reality, and I can imagine more painful than hopeful.

Good on the Dutch for wanting to create books with less stereotypes in them, but then there’s always wonderful authors like Sanne de Bakker who wrote a children’s book on Suriname conflating discrimination with facts or even a colouring book for children featuring Hitler that was casually sold at a Dutch drugstore chain.

Please teach children how to count, so that women can make an effort to be financially independent (still 60% are not) rather than rely on a partner, often a man, who might decide to show their maths skills by paring up with someone who is able and willing to be their equal.

(Links: dutchnews.nl, nos.nl)

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April 4, 2019

Sex robot to give live interview in Utrecht

Filed under: Technology by Orangemaster @ 6:54 pm

For the first time, Dutch sex robot Robin is going to give an interview at the Hashtech talk show in Utrecht at TivoliVredenburg on 8 April.

Part of the discussion is how technology influences love and sex, virtual reality pornography, Tinder, and robot sexuality. Robin will be joined her maker, Niels van der Voort, researcher Elisabeth Timmermans and author Jeanneke Scholtens. The evening will also feature presenters Marcel Bamberg, Thom Egberts and Ruud Schapenk.

According to the group, it will be the first time that Dutch-speaking sex robot Robin will be interviewed in front of a live audience. What started off as a joke eventually became a serious event. The presenters called around and found out that sex robots were being made in the Netherlands, and that one actually spoke Dutch.

Manufacturer Motsudolls hopes to start shipping Robin in the Summer of 2019.

Robin was also the name of a robot in 1980s’ children’s TV-show Bassie & Adriaan, featuring the adventures of clown Bassie and acrobat Adriaan. That Robin had a built-in alarm clock and a radio that could intercept any broadcast between the various villains that populated the series but was probably never invited to talk-shows.

(Link: rtvutrecht.nl; photo by Motsudolls)

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December 8, 2017

Dutch liqueur with rude name causing waves

Filed under: Food & Drink,Weird by Orangemaster @ 6:10 pm

Screen Shot 2017-12-08 at 18.01.51

A German alcohol company is causing a stir with a liqueur they sell in the Netherlands called ‘Neuken’, which means ‘to fuck’. Neuken liqueur is made from red vodka and raspberries, and has been fuelling a legion of adverts with bad puns.

Different parties in the Dutch alcohol business have submitted complaints, claiming that alcohol advertising has to be done ‘responsibly’ and Neuken’s sex-related puns are not fitting the bill. The funny part is that the German company, whose Dutch website is full of mistakes, is laughing all the way to the bank and enjoying all the ‘negative’ publicity on Facebook.

UPDATE: On 5 January 2018, Parool reports that Neuken has to stop.

(Link: gelderlander.nl, Screenshot: Facebook)

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August 20, 2015

Consumers can report embarrassing complaints anonymously

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 1:32 pm

Cracked-egg

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which protects consumer interests, is encouraging people to complain about unsatisfactory products and has decided to let people lodge complaints anonymously from August 20 to September 10.

The idea behind the anonymity is to get people who have been duped buying ’embarrassing’ products such as sex toys and dating site subscriptions to come forward, something many people don’t do because they have to mention their personal details.

The ACM site mentions a person who paid 50 euro for a ‘pamper yourself’ package that only contained a thong and a candle. A woman bought a ‘remote egg’ sex toy that didn’t work remotely. And then there’s the elderly who get pushed by salespeople at the door to sign something, which they later find shameful, and people having won something but have to pay postage or taxes to get their ‘prize’.

(Link: www.consuwijzer.nl, Photo of cracked egg by John Liu, some rights reserved)

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February 10, 2015

Erotic story site accessible to the blind

Filed under: Dutch first,Online by Orangemaster @ 2:36 pm

Dutch sexy story site sexverhalen.com (‘sex stories’) has made some changes in order to appeal to the blind and visually impaired, apparently a unique concept in the Netherlands.

First major tweak is having the story read by a sultry female voice instead of the computerised voice of the user’s software. I’m guessing this specific tweak is mainly aimed at men after a quick look at the titles of the stories. If you prefer to listen to a story instead of reading it, then anyone can enjoy the audio version of the stories provided a sultry female voice works for you.

For the ladies and maybe even gents feeling left out, I highly recommend Benedict Cumberbatch reading Casanova by Ian Kelly.

(Link: www.deondernemer.nl)

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March 15, 2013

Sexual violence at school is part of student life

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 11:27 am

Four out of five teachers at schools witnessed sexual violence in 2012, which according to researchers, is not translating into preventive measures, so students have no idea what is OK and what is not. Some 12% of students have been a victim of sexual violence, which includes unwanted gestures or comments (harassment), being touched, groped, assaulted and raped. If I were a bad student, my boundaries would be what I can get away with without being caught. How can schools make a big deal out of teaching children about sexuality and even homosexuality, but not deal with preventing sexual violence? Or we’ve missed something.

Sexuality research institute Rutgers WPF has said that all secondary schools should draw up rules to make it clear that some forms of sexual behaviour are unacceptable. I am surprised this doesn’t already exist, and if it does, it should make the papers as well.

Forcibly putting one’s tongue into someone else’s mouth is now no longer be classified as rape, according to Dutch courts this week. Imagine, French kissing (in Dutch, ‘tongzoenen’, or ‘tongue kissing’) was considered rape, but all of the above is still taking place in school.

I remember a boy who was taller and more developed than the rest of us in my first year of secondary school had poked me very hard in the ‘breast’. I was wearing overalls and he basically pushed really hard on the button part several times. I waited until he walked off and kicked him in the balls from behind, forcing him to the ground. I was dead scared he would beat me up, but because his friends saw it, I was OK. Not defending myself would have made it worse, à  la Freaks and Geeks.

(Links: Dutch News, www.nrc.nl)

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November 29, 2012

The ultimate condom is a Dutch Wingman

Filed under: Dutch first,Science by Orangemaster @ 10:13 am

Two engineers from Delft, Paul Breur and Adnan Tunović, have finally solved decades of issues that men have had with using condoms. The Wingman condom is easy to use with one hand that doesn’t even touch the condom, it’s extra thin and it’s safe. The 30 second film doesn’t need any voice over or music to get its message across and even in the dark you cannot put it on the wrong way.

The condom was invented almost 100 years ago and very little has been done to make its use easier or more pleasant. All the colours, textures and scents have done absolutely nothing to improve condoms. Now, the use of the ‘wing’ to roll down the condom means no more condom odour on your hands. You still need to open the package with two hands, but they claim to be working on that bit. They have one size available, but will be launching the Wingman in more sizes once it takes off.

(Links: ans-online.nl, www.wingmancondoms.com, Photo of Condom dispenser by Quaziefoto, some rights reserved)

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June 14, 2012

Dutch women enjoy sex less than men do

Filed under: General,Health by Branko Collin @ 8:56 pm

According to a study by Rutgers WTF, only 60% of all Dutch women enjoy sex, as opposed to 78% of the men.

The study was held among 8,000 people. Rutgers claims it is the largest study on sexuality ever done in the Netherlands.

The number of women using birth control has dropped from 70% in 2009 to 69% in 2012. Of the fertile women that have sex but do not want to get pregnant, 9% don’t use birth control.

Acceptance of transgender people is low. One in five Dutch people prefer not to be around people who are gender ambivalent, and a similar number thinks there is something wrong with those who do not consider themselves clearly male or female.

(Photo by Flickr user Spec-ta-cles, some rights reserved)

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March 4, 2011

Dirty word on prime time television quiz show

Filed under: Gaming,General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 9:50 pm

Man voice-off (JP): I know what it is, but I don’t think I can tell you what this means at 7:03 pm on television…
Lucille: Because?
Man voice-off (JP): It’s a…
Lucille: Hey wait, we have to be careful, there’s always very nice children watching Lingo, eh!
Man voice-off (JP): Exactly. Put it this way, it’s a certain important moment in the scene of a film that you only see very late.

Look at that, it is possible to deal with nasty words and still not have to censure everything like other countries do. And so ‘cumshot’ is apparently a Dutch word now as well. You don’t need a dictionary for that either.

(Link: flabber. Video: YouTube/TROS)

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September 20, 2010

Half of the Dutch higher ed students are good in bed, they think

Filed under: General,Health by Branko Collin @ 8:41 am

A ‘sex sells’ issue (aren’t they all?) of weekly Nieuwe Revu questioned almost 3,000 university students about sex, Blik op Nieuws reports.

Here are some of the numbers:

  • Some 51% think they are good lovers
  • Some 12% think they are great lovers
  • More than 50% lost their virginity before the age of 18
  • Another half has had a one-night-stand
  • Some 79% think that love is necessary for sex
  • Some 2.3% calls themselves gay, 4.6% bi-sexual
  • Some 10% says to have had same-sex sex
  • Some 16% want to try same-sex sex
  • A staggering 22% never uses a condom
  • But only 7.6% have ever had an STD

For the sake of transparency I will list my answers to the magazine’s questions below, but for the sake of privacy I will do it in random order: 314, twice, yes, no, maybe, in Spain, in a hot air balloon, leather, a puppy’s tongue, 19, every other minute, 13, pickled gherkins, beards and moustaches, hanging upside-down, always, velvet, always, always.

(Photo by David Morris, some rights reserved)

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