Presentation - The Pleasure Business Taboos

I was asked to give a talk at the yearly symposium of History Students in the Netherlands (Studenten Geschiedenis in Nederland). It was held in Amsterdam in June of this year. The overall theme was taboos. Below you will find my introduction text and the slides. 

The Pleasure Business Taboos
- Resources on Entrepreneurship and Dutch Prostitution, 1850-1911.
Prostitution is a much-debated topic, surrounded by taboos. Should it be legalized or criminalized? If legalized, where to locate it in a municipality? If criminalized, should the focus be on the people that sell sex or those who buy it?  
During the Nineteenth-Century, similar discussions appeared. With changes in government policy, economy and socio-cultural developments the Dutch legal status on prostitution was replaced with a brothel ban in 1911. How did entrepreneurs within the pleasure business of prostitution respond to these changes? My presentation will focus on historical resources that give insight into this transformation and the taboos surrounding it.

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