‘Dirty Girl’ and the Pornization of Dutch Society
PJM Groningen: It takes a lot to provoke moral outrage in extremely liberal Dutch society, writes Michael Van Der Galiën, but two rappers have managed it by producing an unabashedly pornographic music video that is running on mainstream television music channels. (Caution, links are not work-friendly or appropriate for children)
Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers
We’ve all heard the debates the last couple of years over the way women are depicted in popular culture, and especially in rap. In the Netherlands, as in the United States, especially rappers have been criticized for depicting women as sex objects, instead of human beings who should be treated with respect.
Two rappers from Amsterdam had enough of the debate and decided to make a statement: they wrote a song about a girl, better: ‘een vieze meid,’ meaning ‘a dirty girl.’ The dirty girl enjoys life and especially sex. After writing the song, the two rappers contacted Amber-Elisa, a Dutch porn star to appear in two music videos, shot for the same song. She agreed, they put the two videos on the Internet and a mild controversy was born.
Why a controversy you ask? Didn’t Lenny Kravitz use an American porn star for the video of ‘American Woman’?
Yes, but there’s a difference: the porn star in Kravitz’ video isn’t exactly having sex in the video. Everybody knows she’s a porn star, but that’s where the controversy ends. In the censored video of ‘vieze meid’ however, we see Amber’s face as she’s getting friendly with a vibrator, and we realize that she’s masturbating, but we don’t actually see it.
In its censored version, the video is already controversial — it’s not often that music networks air videos like that: but it’s really just one step further than the normal, over-sexed music video we see on a daily basis.
BUT….then there’s the uncensored explicit version of the video - which leaves nothing to the imagination. (Warning: video is highly explicit)
When asked about the two videos and what kind of impact it would have on youngsters, the two rappers Kiddo Cee and Ren Vega responded that society was hypocritical: the uncensored video received three times as many hits as the censored one.
Furthermore, the Netherlands’ biggest music network, TMF (the Dutch MTV), decided to air not just the censored version, but also the uncensored video. (Warning: video is highly explicit)
In other words, the two rappers argue, society should look at itself and its hypocrisy first. If society believes that there’s too much sex on display everywhere, perhaps the public should change its own behavior and stop responding to it.
Sex sells. Artists will stop producing sexual video clips at the moment the public stops buying sex, they argue.
Now, I wrote at the start of this article that the video created a mild controversy. The controversy is mild because, although people will talk, the Netherlands has a culture of live and let live.
The Dutch are extremely tolerant, or liberal as Americans would say, about sex. Prostitution is legal.
Having said that, although we’re ‘tolerant’ in this regard, it’s also important to point out that the Netherlands has historically been a Protestant nation. And quite strictly Protestant at that. This means that although the general rule is ‘live and let live,’ the Dutch also always say that ‘just because something can be done, doesn’t mean you should do it.’
For many years, most Dutch lived by those two rules: be tolerant towards everything but don’t do everything.
But in recent years Dutch society has dramatically changed. The second rule seems to have been forgotten by many. Nowadays, everything isn’t just allowed, everything is done. Several years ago, this development caused a debate in the Netherlands which carries on to this day. Back in 2003, the Christian Democratic party (CDA) even won the elections on a theme about moral values. Our Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende continues to talk about it, hoping to influence the way Dutch behave.
Until now, not much has changed. Except for, of course, that there’s actually a debate taking place.
The video and song of “Vieze Meid” is a reaction to this debate. The debate focuses on how our youth behave, but also on what message adults send.
Logically, the focus is on TV networks and programs Dutch youths watch. TMF, The Music Factory, is one of those networks. As I said, TMF is the Dutch MTV. It is a 24-hour music channel featuring videos by both Dutch and American artists.
Kiddo Cee and Wen Regal, the rappers told the Dutch newspaper De Pers that they consider themselves to be the new warriors for the freedom of speech - the defenders of freedom.
But against whom are they protecting freedom, since most people aren’t talking about outlawing videos like the one of “Vieze Meid” (there’s no use in doing so anyway).
They also told De Pers that the current government coalition gives them plenty to rebel against. What? The fact that the current ministers actually dare to wonder out loud whether it’s good for our children that they can watch a porn star masturbating when they switch on their favorite channel?
Kiddo Cee and Wen Regal aren’t defending freedom of speech against the government, they are trying to shut up the people who criticize the lack of moral values in Dutch society today.
They’re not protecting the freedom of speech against an intrusive government, they’re ‘defending’ a lifestyle that completely delegitimizes any form of morality whatsoever.
They don’t defend anything, they oppose. They are not angry because the government forces them to behave in a certain way, they’re angry because individuals want to hold them responsible for their own behavior.
They are, in the end, nothing but a joke, and a bad one at that. They may pretend that they’re ‘heroes’ but they’re not. They’re pimps exploiting Dutch society to line their own pockets.
Michael van der Galiën, based in the Netherlands, is founder and editor of The Van Der Galiën Gazette and Chief Political Reviewer at the Monsters and Critics books section
| Comment |  Digg This |
 del.icio.us |
 |
 |
 PJM Home |
21 Comments
1. BMoon:An old French prophet once said, “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith”- Alexis de Toqueville.
A more modern, British one, who was also a refugee from European humanistic philosophy and atheism, also said, “If not God is dead, then somebody will have to take his place. It will be either megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hefner.” - Malcolm Muggeridge
It seems Europe, or the US for that matter has not listened to its prophets, and, like extremely spoiled and ungrateful heirs, is living on the borrowed time of accumulated wealth-the spiritual wealth accumulated from its despised Christian ancestry.
Nov 12, 2007 - 7:19 am 2. schnargley:Speaking of thumb-sucking, whinging brats with loaded diapers, this quote comes to mind to describe Dutch liberal-socialists….
“Wealth is, for most people, the only honest and likely path to liberty. With money comes power over the world. Men are freed from drudgery, women from exploitation. Businesses can be started, homes built, communities formed, religions practiced, educations pursued. But liberals aren’t very interested in such real and material freedoms. They have a more innocent–not to say toddlerlike–idea of freedom. Liberals want the freedom to put anything into their mouths, to say bad words and to expose their private parts in art museums.” — P. J. O’Rourke
Nov 12, 2007 - 8:09 am 3. RE:Many people celebrated the march out onto this slippery slope. Many others decried it long, long ago and are not at all surprised that it has come to this. Well, here we are. Have fun raising your daughters, folks! You asked for it, you got it!
I’d take ‘Dutch Society’ out of the tile and replace it with ‘Western-Civ’. It’s a sorry state we are in.
Nov 12, 2007 - 9:08 am 4. pch1013:Before you go tut-tutting over the decline and fall of Dutch society, you might find it interesting to compare various indices of moral decay — violent crime, teenage pregnancy, abortion, divorce, HIV infection, etc. — in the permissive, morally bankrupt Netherlands vs. the pious, virtuous USA.
In each case you’ll find that they are lower. Sometimes much lower.
How can that possibly be?
Nov 12, 2007 - 9:33 am 5. aloysiusmiller:It may be prurient to include links to this. I can here it now, “Mommy mommy we found something nasty, come and look!”
Sometimes it may be better to not print the roadmap.
Nov 12, 2007 - 11:35 am 6. hoosiertoo:It’s not even good porn. Utterly banal.
Nov 12, 2007 - 6:24 pm 7. Mark:“pch1013 :
Before you go tut-tutting over the decline and fall of Dutch society, you might find it interesting to compare various indices of moral decay — violent crime, teenage pregnancy, abortion, divorce, HIV infection, etc. — in the permissive, morally bankrupt Netherlands vs. the pious, virtuous USA.
In each case you’ll find that they are lower. Sometimes much lower.
How can that possibly be?”
Never give up the chance to bash the US even when the topic has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Nov 13, 2007 - 1:00 am 8. Jeb:To continue pch1013’s point:
Nov 13, 2007 - 2:42 am 9. Nas:Many on the right suggest or definitively state that the rise of tolerance and atheism are the root cause of increases in violent crime, teen pregnancy, abortion, divorce, HIV etc.
If tolerance of the Dutch (liberal) variety and atheism (also much more prevalent in the Netherlands) are responsible for this moral decay why is it that the more open tolerant and less religious society has such lower rates of violent crime, teen pregnancy, abortion, divorce, HIV, etc?
No Lenny Kravitz used Hearther Graham for American Woman. Last I checked Heather Graham is FAR from a porn star! I think a little fact checking is required here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=J-1LQfiUdgM
Nov 13, 2007 - 5:49 am 10. Jeb:But she did play a porn star in “Boogie Nights” and that’s the same thing, right?
Nov 13, 2007 - 7:07 am 11. BMoon:Jeb,
C’mon now. That is like asking why East Overshoe, Ohio, populated hundreds of years ago by Mennonites whose descendents are now relapsed, has less crime than NYC. The descendents of those hardworking Mennonites are living on the borrowed moral capital of their ancestors, but that is coming to an end. The facts are, crime is increasing dramatically across Europe, as urbanization, immigration, loosening social controls, instability all increase, and, yes, traditional morality and religion decrease.
No comparison, dude.
Nov 13, 2007 - 7:13 am 12. Jeb:BMoon,
It seems you are saying that the Netherlands has greater moral capitol to rest on than the US. Is this really your intent?
The Netherlands has a long history of this type of tolerance and have long been less overtly religious than the US*. It is not a new thing. Why do you think the Pilgrims were allowed in and were then in such a hurry to leave?
* They have also long been urbanized particularly in the west, the social controls have long been loose as mentioned above, and immigration has long been relatively open (though there are now attempts to make it more restrictive).
Nov 13, 2007 - 7:43 am 13. pch1013:“Never give up the chance to bash the US even when the topic has absolutely nothing to do with it.”
This article was published on an American website with a predominantly American readership, and was clearly intended to shape American opinions of a country about which most Americans know very little.
Also, one infers from the tone of the article that van der Gali√´n disapproves of the showing of dirty videos on Dutch TV, because of their putative effect on Dutch society. What’s not clear is just what that effect exactly is.
Nov 13, 2007 - 10:34 am 14. Tom W.:What happens when we’ve pornified our society, legalized drugs, and become a multiculti heaven on earth?
Will we all be much happier? The Dutch don’t strike me as particularly happy people. They seem as grim and negative as all the other western Europeans.
I have a Dutch half-brother who’s one of the biggest complainers I know. Despite the freedoms he enjoys, all he can do is bitch about how horrible everything is.
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll as societal panaceas don’t seem to have worked in the Netherlands.
Nov 13, 2007 - 12:03 pm 15. Jeb:Quite the rational, well thought out response. My Dutch half brother always complains, therefor all western Europeans are grim and negative.
I’ve lived in the Netherlands and several regions of the US and can say from my experience that the Dutch are no more grim or bitchy than people in the US. They do constantly complain about the weather, but their weather is worthy of complaint (sort of like Seattle only colder).
Nov 13, 2007 - 2:12 pm 16. pch1013:However, Tom W.’s point about “rock and roll” is well taken. If I were a citizen of a country whose proudest pop-music achievement was Golden Earring, I’d be pretty depressed too.
Nov 13, 2007 - 4:36 pm 17. Evelyn:Micheal,
really, do you not realize that YOU and people like yourself are the joke?!
The people that critize these rappers and their clips but do nothing but promote them and their clips ( both versions at that!!)on blogs worldwide!
If it wasn’t for people like yourself we, the public, or even TMF, wouldn’t even know that they excist!
These rappers clearly stated that their primary goal was to add some fuel to the debate and force society to take a closer look at itself and it’s morals without all the hypocritical fingerpointing.
Furthermore to make parents aware that this is just a little taste of what our precious kids are exposed to on the web, how easy it is for minors to surf on adult-sites so internet shouldn’t be the new babysitter.
I got the message and immediatly placed a filter on my computer and sold my webcam! Furthermore, I really started to listen to their other songs about various so called controvercial topics. At first because i wanted to ‘know my enemy’but now I know better!
Callin’ them a ‘bad joke’ or ‘pimps’
Nov 14, 2007 - 4:49 am 18. gus3:only proofs your ignorance and tunnelvision.
So make your pointing-fingers usefull & ‘do the knowledge on these modern-day nonheroes’!
Heather Graham can’t make a movie without relying on her cleavage. Even her “Lost in Space” role needed help from her leather leotard.
Nov 14, 2007 - 9:45 am 19. clazy:pch1013, you seem to be implying a positive correlation between increasing “permissiveness” and “moral bankruptcy”, to use your terms, and lower indices of moral decay — violent crime, teenage pregnancy, abortion, divorce, HIV infection, etc. — as observed in the Netherlands. Otherwise, what’s your point? In which case, I presume you have data showing those same indices have been falling the Netherlands, which has become increasingly permissive in the last half century. No? How can that possibly be?
In each case you’ll find that they are lower. Sometimes much lower.
Nov 14, 2007 - 7:24 pm 20. Little Much:It seems that societies have to hit the complete bottom in order for a change to happen. Roman Empire + debauchery comes to mind.
Nov 14, 2007 - 7:52 pm 21. vark:Um, you’ve linked to the uncensored version twice, instead fo once each to the censored and uncensored versions.
Nov 17, 2007 - 3:00 pmEnjoyed article.