[symple_box] 
International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
The word museum evokes nostalgia. A museum reminds people of the past civilizations, way of life and above all achievements. Every country in the world boasts of national museums that highlight the history and cultural heritage of the country. Those in the oldest profession in the world — prostitutes in common parlance, have a museum of their own in Amsterdam!
Amsterdam is the sex capital of the world, where prostitution is legal and the prostitutes are tax payers. They literally pay taxes from their ‘centre!’ The museum is aptly named as the Red Light Secrets as it reveals many secrets to its visitors in about 40-minute tour. The tickets to the museum are currently discounted by 20 per cent. The discounted price is 8 Euros. The daily life of prostitutes is projected. The ‘prostitutes in their windows’, their family lives — are all the subjects of this museum. Many tourists visit the museum out of curiosity to understand the real life of women selling their bodies for a price.
If you have erotic confessions to make there is a ‘Confession Box’ in the museum, where the sexual escapades, choices, preferences and experiences can be jotted down on a paper, which are displayed for the visitors who come later. There is a ‘confession of the day’. This prominently displayed.
The museum claims that confess the sexual sins and they will be forgiven. Those believe it to be true and some others just for the sake of fun narrate the fleshy gun experiences. It is like as they say in English – Kiss and Tell. It is not just kiss and tell but many more erotic stories about how the canon was fired! The visitors who have been to the prostitutes vividly describe the ‘tulips’ and the ‘roses’ – pretty girls, who are in the sex work for different reasons! By the way, Holland is famous for Tulips and other flowers. The museum is not a place to ‘have a go at it’. No prostitutes are available in the museum.
Through the history of art, prostitution has always inspired famous painters. A great example is of Vincent van Gogh. The museum pays tribute to the world’s most famous artist of all times in a special ‘prostitution and art’ theme. The visitors are more than invited to photographs and record everywhere in the museum! One can even get a photograph of themselves ‘sitting behind the window.’
Tickets are available online. It is the best option to avoid standing for a long time to reach the counter. The Red Lights Secrets museum gives a glimpse of man’s favourite recreation to experience the thunder between the thighs from times immemorial. Women are literally ‘at the receiving end’ in prostitution!
