On Thursday, February 26th, I flew from Spain to Amsterdam. I met up with three of my friends that also go to Texas with me but are studying abroad in other countries. Sarah is studying abroad Sweden and Allyson and Suzanne are in Prague.Thursday night, I was the last one out of the four to arrive to Amsterdam by about 30 minutes but once we all met up it was wonderful. We went to the bar downstairs and within 5 minutes of us all being together again we were laughing so hard that we started crying.

Then Friday rolled around….we started the day at the Van Gogh museum, and afterwards we went to The Pancake Bakery we were told we must go to! Honestly both the museum and the pancakes were amazing and so underrated. I ordered the “Mexican Pancake”, Ally had the “American Pancake”, and then the four of us shared the dessert pancake, and wow was it all unreal!

Of course, my friends and I had to check out the Red-Light District. Which could only lead to trouble for us four. As my friend Ally explained “Just four young college girls, walking through the red-light district checking out the other girls who actually work there”. Its Friday night and the party-goers are getting ready for a night of craziness. After walking around for a couple of hours, I began to wonder about the controversies pertaining to the women under the red fluorescent lights.

I am unclear if the debate about these working women is the similar in Amsterdam as it is in America. In the United States, many people believe that the requirements and uniforms at Hooters are inappropriate, degrading, and that the restaurant is sexist towards the women that work there. Obviously, the women’s jobs in Amsterdam are more intense than the jobs the women carry out at Hooters. But it is best example I have personally come across in the United States with similar arguments following. I know that in America there have been hundreds of protests regarding the attire that the women wear at Hooters are required to wear. Noticeably, the women’s outfits in the red-light district are wayyyyy more revealing compared to the Hooters uniform.

It has been rumored that Hooters has certain requirements for the women working there. Starting from a woman’s outer appearance down to how much she weighs.

On one side of the debate, people believe that the outfits are embarrassing, shameful, and demeaning. They think that women should never be told what to wear to work, especially not this outfit. Where the tops are tighter than tight and the short shorts are very short. Together with, the g-string underwear and the barely there bra. Although the intentions of both are different the debate is the same. On the other hand, these women know what they are getting themselves into and the requirements for the job when they apply. 

Is it acceptable to objectify women if they are okay with being objectified?