My upstairs neighbors

[geminigirl]

My upstairs neighbors have a very squeaky bed. He also doesn't last very long. I wonder if his wife is disappointed?

At least I got to listen to a very interesting story about the reduction in gay tourism to the Netherlands.

Comments

[lovingboth]

It is just possible you only hear the squeeks when he's going for his orgasm, and not for the rest... Do you hear them turning over in the bed through the night?

[geminigirl]

I hear them quite a lot; they're sort of noisy in general. They walk heavily, they often play the stero loudly and so on. I often hear them during the night. In this case they were "going for the gold" as it were...

Thank goodness for BBC world service...

[nmc.livejournal.com]

He also doesn't last very long

You're lucky. The boyfriend of the girl who lives above me is a damn robot. Constant pounding pace that will go on for hours. To be honest, it doesn't sound like that much fun, which may explain why it happens relatively rarely, but it is loud and it does seem to cut through every covering noise I try to find.

[geminigirl]

I guess you won't be offering any tips then?

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Why has there been a reduction in gay tourism to the Netherlands?

[geminigirl]

According to the story I heard last night on BBC World Service (and I was half awake, so I may not be totally repeating it correctly), because being gay is so accepted in the Netherlands, there are fewer and fewere "gay things"-like gay bars, and clubs. People who are seeking a gay experience and atmosphere are apparently going other places, like Madrid. (Madrid was specifically mentioned.)

I've never been to the Netherlands, or Madrid so I can't speak for the gay or not gay experience in either place. But it's interesting, I suppose from a sociological perspective to see people seeking out a gay experience as part of their travel rather than the experience of homosexuality as a non-issue.

One of the people interviewed was an editor of a Dutch gay magazine (I can't remember the name of it) and he was talking about it being commonplace to be gay, about civil marriage available to anyone, and about adoption. He drew on those as examples of why it's easier to be gay in the Netherlands and why there are fewer gay establishments.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

I wonder if this is a problem in The Netherlands. I mean does the Department of Tourism get together and go "Where are all the gay people???" and then try to figure out how to attract gay tourists. Well let's see, we could hold another pride parade - no we did that last week. We could get Fabio on the posters - yeah, but would he usually has a woman wrapped around him, not a fat bald guy in a suit coat. How about a Village People Reunion? Nah, too 70s.

[geminigirl]

First off, I've never met a gay man who liked Fabio. Second, way to stereotype gay people.

And on to the explanation...

It's been theorized (I'm not sure about proven; I don't read a whole lot of economics) that gay people in general have more disposable income. Disposable income translates into spending, which brings profits to the community and so on. Losing that sector of tourism to Madrid or something could have quite a serious economic impact.

Why do you think the cost of living in the gayborhood in many cities is so high? It doesn't start out that way; historically what happens is that gay people move into scummy neighborhoods, they fix them up, then they become desirable neighborhoods. What's happening here in DC is the "hetero-fying" of DuPont Circle. Now that it's a nice neighborhood, straight couples, familie are moving in, and the gay people are moving further out. And the cycle begins again.

The economics of homosexuality is actually quite fascinating.

[lovingboth]

Probably, yes they do.

As an aside, one of the reasons London had a lower HIV rate than Amsterdam or Paris in the 80s was that at the time US gay tourists went to the latter two cities rather than London...

[geminigirl]

Interesting. I'd never really thought about it in those terms. Have the HIV trends changed as tourism has changed?

[grendelgongon.livejournal.com]

There's a spectacular book on this. (well, lots of books, but i only read one.) I *think* (from a look on Amazon) that it's Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men (Worlds of Desire) by Mary Virginia Lee Badgett which particularly addresses the issue of "disposable" income and straight vs queer earning patterns. I could be wrong on the book--I read it a while ago while visiting an ex--i can ask her to check the title if you're interested.