AmsterDames: An English Feminist Podcast in the Netherlands

Not getting a house because of the way you look. Being stopped by the police because of the way you look. Being physically attacked because of the way you look.

If you never had any of these experiences, then there is a good chance that you are white.

The city of Amsterdam prides itself of being a home to more than 170 nationalities, but they clearly do not all have the same every day life realities.

Because institutional racism is still a huge problem in the Netherlands.

Only centuries after slavery, slave trading and colonialism, the recognition of these events in the Netherlands has finally started – but things are still moving rather slow. Too slow. Too many topics are still not discussed, too many Dutch people are not informed about their countries past, too many Black people in the Dutch history remain unseen and too many issues of today’s Black community are not adressed.

The Black Archives want to change that.

The Black Archives website: https://www.theblackarchives.nl/home.html

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

There are so many ways to tell a story. In a book, in music, face to face, in podcasts, like this one. Or in movies. Sometimes, these movies manage to change our perspective on the world we live in and sometimes they manage to open our eyes.

Those are the movies that matter.

Movies that matter is a film festival in the Netherlands and Julie Nederkoorn, my guest for today, is going to tell us more about it.

Instructions for the giveaway:

Follow @moviesthatmatterfestival and @amsterdamespodcast. 

When I post this episode, you can comment and tag a person that you would like to take to the festival. And please don’t forget the hashtag #MtMF23.

Instagram Movies That Matter: https://www.instagram.com/moviesthatmatterfestival/

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

When was the last time you ordered something online? Maybe on bol.com or by H&M? When was the last time you went to the supermarket, to Albert Heijn for example, or that you bought flowers? Or the last time that you received a parcel by Post NL? All of these examples are usual things to do, for us who live in the Netherlands. We do not even conciously think about it. And we definitely do not think about the people who work in the background of these companies, in the factories or distribution centers. Well, maybe we should.

Hassnae Bouazza is a journalist and author oft he new book „arbeidsmigranten in Nederland“ migrant workers in the Netherlands and she is going to explain where most labour migrants come from, what the work conditions look like and why this kind of exploitation seems to be accepted by large parts of the society.

Website Hassnae Bouazza: https://www.hassnaebouazza.nl/

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Dear listeners,

first of all, let me wish you a happy, healthy and successful new year 2023. I hope that this year is going to be everything that you need it and want it to be.

Second of all, thank you very much for being such a strong supporter of my work and of all the amazing women that have spoken on this podcast. I greatly appreciate every single person that has listened to one or more episodes, has subscribed to this podcast and has shared it with the world.

AmsterDames will take a bit of a break – two months to be precise – as I will be working on a project outside of the Netherlands. But don’t worry, AmsterDames will come back, probably in March.

Until then, take good care of yourself and if you come across more inspiring women in the Netherlands that need to be interviewed for AmsterDames, please let me know.

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

For months and years even, the right to have an abortion has caused heated discussions all over the world. In Poland, women took to the streets to demand their right to have an abortion. In the US, this right was recently taken away from them.

But even though in the Netherlands, abortions are theoretically legal and there are abortion clinics available at least in the cities, not everything goes smoothly. Conservatives pro-life voices have become louder in the past years and the access to an abortion is not the easy path it seems to be.

Ava wants to change that. This organisation stands up for people‘s interests regarding abortion and contraception.

Website Ava: www.avahelpt.nl

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

For those among us who do not have a law degree, legal issues can be quite overwhelming. But it is still very likely that we will have to face them at some point in our life. Maybe after being fired, getting divorced and when we wish to take someone to court who caused us harm.

Then it is important to know our rights. But if we don’t know them, there is a place that can help. It is called the vrouwenrechtswinkel. Raja Azaroual is a lawyer, working at the vrouwenrechtswinkel and today she is going to explain the legal situation of women in the Netherlands and what still needs to improve.

Additional info: Vrouwenrechtswinkel is an initiative of Bureau Clara Wichmann together with the Law Hub of the University of Amsterdam and is subsidized by the city of Amsterdam

www.clara-wichmann.nl

In case you want to deep-dive into the topic of the Dutch afstandsmoeders check out my podcast project Separated By Force for which I interview mothers, children, lawyers, staff of the mother and baby homes etc.

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Food always brings people together. During a family dinner, a religious holiday or birthdays. Also, living in a foreign country, most of us have probably experienced the feeling of loneliness in one way or another.

So why not bringing these two things together: food and making new friends?

This is exactly what Samantha Wolfson is trying to do with her project And the Table.

& the Table

www.and-the-table.com

Instagram: @and.the.table

Tiktok: @and.the.table

WATO

www.smartpeopledoingdumbshit.com

Instagram: @smartpeopledoingdumbshit

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Babies and children grow out of their clothes insanely fast. So, what are parents supposed to do? Buy new outfits every other week? And what happens to the old clothes that were barely worn. Puck Middelkoop came up with an idea to make the lives of parents a lot easier. 

Hulaaloop Website: https://www.hulaaloop.com/

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Sadly, IT is still a field where women are underrepresented – for multiple reasons. But there is a woman who wants to change that. After graduating from a Coding Bootcamp herself in 2017, Valerie Fuchs founded Cafe Robot that aims to be a little different to your usual tech community.

Book Recommendations

“Broad Band - the untold story of the women who made the Internet” by Claire L Evans

Links

https://www.instagram.com/madame_robot/

Female Freelance Developers Salary Report -> via Instagram Grid

Frederike Geerdink is a Dutch journalist who specializes in reporting on Kurdish people and political issues in Turkey. Her work has been nominated for the Brusseprijs, an annual prize for the best journalistic book in the Netherlands. The nomination stated, Fréderike Geerdink is one of those courageous Dutch journalists who do their work in dangerous conflict zones. Her book became a both political and beautiful personal account of the struggle for self determination in Turkish Kurdistan.

Fréderike Geerdink Twitter: https://twitter.com/fgeerdink

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/