In Netherlands, solidarity is for white women
WHEN people think of the Netherlands, a few stereotypes come to mind: Amsterdam’s canals, tulips, relaxed policies around soft drugs and sex work, euthanasia and, of course, the much-touted Dutch tolerance. Dutch politicians and opinion-makers frequently refer to the Netherlands as a gidsland or “guide country”, a concept loosely translated as “a nation leading by example”. The city of Amsterdam bases its tourism marketing on these values, especially in regard to acceptance of sexual and ethnic diversity. In the weeks leading to the March general elections, much was said about the populism and anti-immigrant rhetoric of far-right politician Geert Wilders. But when he took second place in the election results, international media focused on the fact that, seemingly, liberal values had prevailed in the Netherlands once again.
To the outside world, the Netherlands is a diverse country, embracing values of equality and acceptance, even if some cracks are visible every year during the heated discussions about blackface and Zwarte Piet. However, the inside reality is quite differ- ent. Because Dutch is a relatively obscure language for most of the outside world, much of what is reported in the international media about the Netherlands misses the daily grievances experienced by minorities. The latest scandal to shake up the Dutch media landscape is no exception.
It all started a few weeks ago when Rosanne Hertzberger, a white columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC, pointed out ingrained and violent misogyny against women on the shock blog Geenstijl (No Style), which is owned by the biggest media company in the Netherlands. Geenstijl is described as a mixture of 4chan, rightwing agitation and racist provocations. It is extremely popular among younger white men who share a disdain for “political correctness” and an affinity for bigotry. The blog’s political influence cannot be dismissed: It was behind the initiative that resulted in a referendum for the European Union’s treaty with Ukraine and eventually spun off into a political party that presented candidates in the most recent Dutch elections. Hertzberger’s column was followed by another piece at De Volkskrant, calling for an advertising boycott on the basis that the blog incites violence against women.
Soon after, 100 prominent and most- ly white women co-signed a letter asking corporations not to advertise in Geenstijl due to the constant rape fantasies being doled out on women journalists who expressed opinions contrary to the shock blog’s views. In turn, the employees of the blog’s parent company reacted with an appropriate meltdown: They cried censorship and claimed that they were victims of media silencing, saying that the women in question were trying to bankrupt a powerful media business with their “hysterical” denunciations of sexual violence and misogyny.
On an almost daily basis, these same Dutch media corporations use harmful language to discuss people of colour, migrants, asylum seekers and anyone who actively advocates for these groups under the pretense of “freedom of speech”, yet barely an eyebrow is lifted. But now that Dutch white women have been victimised all of a sudden Geenstijl has “crossed a line” and is deserving of a boycott.
In 2015, the NRC used the N-word in a headline to refer to Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the outside world got a taste of the way that Dutch media refer to black people in the country. Geenstilj, now under fire for its treatment of white women, has for years mounted hate campaigns against nonwhite activists, journalists and pretty much anyone who is at odds with its right-wing ideologies. Last year, when Geenstijl viciously attacked journalist Seada Nourhussen, demanding she lose her job at a competing publication, no calls for an advertising boycott were made. When activist and teacher Arzu Aslan was subjected to racist attacks, there was hardly any outcry from mainstream media. In both cases, misogyny and violent sexual threats were deployed as well.
That almost none of these instances of racial and/or sexist attacks on Dutch people of colour ever make global headlines shows how the Netherlands has managed to hide aspects of its culture from outside scrutiny. Behind this facade of tolerance, Dutch media acts as a disciplining mechanism to quiet dissenters who challenge the hegemony of the dominant culture. When the same sexist media attacks targeting white women are deployed against Dutch black women, women of colour or their allies, barely a peep is heard from the media establishment. Maybe, in the Netherlands, solidarity is only for white women, after all.