The Amsterdam whores were polite enough to remain behind glass so that they wouldn’t too unnecessarily intrude upon the passing gentlemen; of course, they were mostly naked and gyrated freely in their window shops in hopes of catching the interest of passersby. Still, there remained some proprietary rules even in that notoriously licentious world neighborhood, one of which was, apparently, intruding physically upon the sovereign sphere of another’s body.
No loud music throbbed through the air to move the crowds to a wild and orgiastic beat. Rather, the air was filled with the derogatory jibes and catcalls of the packs of men moving between the alleyways, while pimps vied with one another to attract attention with a ribald and explicit vocal cataloguing of their wares. No pretense, no attempt to set a mood, nothing but a simple and unabashed proclamation of sex for sale characterized the entire district. The Dutch were the world leaders in trade and commerce in the 16th and 17th century and their entrepreneurial and mercenary heritage lives on in their sons today.
The striking absence of the usual aids to sensuality—the mood music or facade of beauty—framed the sins of sexual immorality and sensual indulgence in a different light. Perhaps the striking difference was lost on the men who were deluged with Pinocchio’s pleasure lust: the overwhelming opportunity for sensual pleasure seemed adequate to negate all rational thought removing completely sin’s need to take on the appearance of light and beauty—an appearance usually so important when seeking to persuade men in a more rational frame of mind.
The benefit of seeing sin without its rouge and lipstick is that, to the virtuous soul, it can be nothing but repulsive. Such an exposure and opportunity see sin as it really is removes much of its power to overwhelm and persuade.
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