Dutch Womanhood

[monk222]

I've been in the Netherlands for nearly three months now, and I've come to one overwhelming conclusion: Dutch women are not like me. I worry about my career incessantly. I take daily stock of its trajectory and make vicious mental critiques of my endeavors. And I know—based on weekly phone conversations with friends in the United States—that my masochistic drive for success is widely shared among my female friends. Meanwhile, the Dutch women around me take a lackadaisical approach to their careers. They work half days, meet their friends for coffee at 2 p.m., and pity their male colleagues who are stuck in the office all day.

Though the Netherlands is consistently ranked in the top five countries for women, less than 10 percent of women here are employed full-time. And they like it this way.

-- Jessica Olien

I am keeping this one in memory of my old Dutch friend, a little crushy affair, too, though she never did send those panties. They always did strike me as being a more progressive and more sexy people, even if America is not that hard a standard to beat. A little whipping and a little hard loving, what more does a daddy's girl need?

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Not having to work full-time would be great. Seriously. I have so many other more useful things I could be doing. ;-)

Let me, in return, contribute a perspective on Dutch men. They are almost all extremely tall, and they usually walk very fast, possibly as a consequence of their long legs. However, they are a courteous bunch, and if they cannon straight into you they will apologise. They are also much more ready to help you with luggage &c than most men in other countries. They can immediately recognise from your face that you are an English speaker, and will speak to you in dizzyingly fluent English well before you can manage to stumble out a single word of Dutch. One Dutch gentleman I knew was so fluent in English that he could write a convincing sonnet in the style of Shakespeare... awesome.

Regarding their sex appeal in general, however, I'm unable to assist. You know me. The Queen of Picky. :-)

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you're 'picky' in a funny way, going more by the content of one's character than what most of us regard as raw sexuality. Though, one of the cute things is that you do seem to share with other more mortal women a heated fascination for musicians and singers, albeit a different kind of music than most. ;)

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

"Heated"... h'mm. At this moment I have a mental image of Robin Blaze, whom I have to say I tend to think of like an extremely intelligent and talented teddy bear. :-) And you know Charles is the White Knight...

Career? What Career?

[poovanna.livejournal.com]

I think it's the same with Indian women too! (Or, at least, most of the Indian girls that I've dated seriously), When the topic of their long term plans came up, they were surprisingly content to be housewives & didn't care much about career.

The common factor amongst all of them was that they had a strong network of friends & moved around in a wide social circle. Besides paying the bills, work is also a place where you socialize. But, if you already have these, then it's natural to not give a damn about career.

Heck! I'd do the same - if I didn't need the money! :)

Re: Career? What Career?

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Yes, but he who pays the bills has more of the power, and American women don't care for anything less than full equality and independence, whereas what may be interesting about Dutch and Indian women is that they may not be as insistent on that, so long as Dutch women are allowed some basic rights or protections, which sounds like a good deal to me. :D

Re: Career? What Career?

[poovanna.livejournal.com]

Yes, but he who pays the bills has more of the power, and American women don't care for anything less than full equality and independence, whereas what may be interesting about Dutch and Indian women is that they may not be as insistent on that

I suppose Indian women don't care because it's not really a problem for them anyway - they know they'll still end up having their way over us! And most guys don't really mind being manipulated by them, because it's rather enjoyable! :)