A year or two ago, I read a book called Redeeming love, recommended and given to me as a present from lovely Carrie Peng 
. I most likely have written an entry about it, although I do not remember exactly what I wrote. But nevertheless, the story really impacted me because I knew that it was a true story, only written in a different narrative to capture the story of Hosea in the bible.
In the book, I remembered how Sarah grew up to hate men. How she grew up to detach herself from emotions of all sorts as she worked as a prostitute first for a pimp who owned her and then for another lady after she tried escaping from the pimp. How she would show pleasure to men and tried to please them with her body while her mind was set on other goals of hers, such as escaping to find her true freedom. And how she never believed in true love. I recall the sympathy that I had for her while reading her childhood, and how I wished that nothing like this had ever happened to her life. "Why?" I would ask. "Why did this have to happen? Why are men so cruel?"
And I asked this question again as I walked down the streets of Amsterdam. Except this time it was reality for me. Reality because I saw the cruelty in men's eyes as they walked down the alleys of the red light district in search of prostitutes who would satisfy their desires. Their ugly, disgusting looks as they looked through the windows, laughed openly about it, and goes in through the doors to ask for their price. And the long line ups for live sex shows, sex museums, erotic museums, extreme porn, and sex shops to buy sex toys of all sorts. They had this glowing look on their face that looked as if they were telling the world that they were beasts hunting down for their prey. And they disregarded the fact that some of them have families back at home, and that by doing what they were doing in Amsterdam, they were hurting their wives and children. Plain old disgusting. You could only imagine the scene.
Of course, the red light district in Amsterdam is well known for their sophisticated system, where each prostitute acts as their own agent and that all the money they earn would go back to themselves. No pimp to steal from them. They were also protected by a private company subsidized by the government who would oversea the operations and safety of their working environment. If a prostitute screams while there is a client in the room, you could expect help from the local police as well as nearby prostitutes.
But what is the meaning of prostitution in Amsterdam? Why was it in place in the first place? Well, according to my tour guide whom I followed for three hours on Friday morning, prostitution started because of...yes, that's correct, men! Back in the 1200s, or sometime in the past when Amsterdam started becoming a trade center, men from all over the world would come to trade and make big bucks. Maybe they were sailing for too long and became lonely, or maybe they were looking for something exciting to do, but nevertheless, someone must've decided that it would be best for them to seek for women on shore to have sex with. So they started going into people's homes and took away their wives and daughters to have sex with. Of course, the women didn't want to.
So in order to prevent the situation from worsening, the government decided to put prostitution in place. Some women volunteered to become prostitutes so that the other ladies at home would be able to remain safe and pure. So there were the pure Amsterdam ladies and the prostitutes who tried to protect them. And Amsterdam remained as a main trading center with no big economic problems. Everyone was happy. Correct?
But what everybody neglected to realize was the fact that prostitution in itself is wrong and that selling your body for monetary and tangible goods is wrong. The government should have protected ALL WOMEN in the first place instead of looking for ways to satisfy the hungry bears and lions. Women should be respected and valued as precious jewels, not thrown out onto the streets to be treated as sex toys. And it breaks my heart that these ladies are standing behind glassed doors now not knowing who their next customers might be. And old man? A young teenager? Or a drug addict?
I guess some would argue that the women involved should have a say into the situation too. Maybe they had a choice. Maybe they could have chosen a different profession like everybody else. But maybe they don't. Or maybe they thought that that was the best they could do. Just like Sarah, who grew up thinking that the only thing she was good at was sex. I mean, if I were her, I would probably think the same thing!
With that being said, I think that going to Amsterdam and being able to see the red light district has really opened up my eyes. It has opened up my eyes to the very "sinful" nature of men and the hard reality that many of us are facing. It hurts me to see the ladies standing there, and I really pray that somewhere out there, a Michael exists for every single lady and that these "Michaels" would treat them rightly and with care. I know that its rare, but if Hosea could love Sarah so much that he would keep on chasing her and asking her to marry him, I don't think I could say impossible to the possibility that there are still Michaels out there and that it just takes time for him to find her.
God I just hope the bad images and perception of men would leave me. Right now I just find it really hard to trust men in general. I think I'm biased by my own experiences too but really...its just hard.
Another reason why I should remain single. At least for now while I'm enjoying being single.
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