This week’s readings continued some
of the themes from last week except this set introduces the prominence of sex
tourism, and also migrant labor. Reading about the global sex industry it is often
difficult to draw definite lines between prostitution, sex tourism, and sex
labor; but all have tremendous consequences on global patterns as well as the
local impact these industries make. One of the main articles compared sex tourism
in Havana, Cuba and Amsterdam, Netherlands—and found that each place had pretty
different sex tourism culture. Amsterdam’s reputation precedes itself as an
internationally known red-light district and liberal, relatively unregulated city
of drugs, nightlife and sex. But in Havana, sex tourism has not been an inherent
part of the local scene, it did not really become a component of Havana until
the 1990s. There are two totally different markets in each city as well, driven
by the local social factors. In Havana, many foreign tourists come to Cuba for mellow,
tropical relaxation and escape. Therefore, the male clientele seek not just a
sex, but a woman who will be a companion as well. The women who cater to these
men are not simply having a typical prostitution transaction (sex for money)
but act as temporary girlfriends while the men are on their vacation. They not
only satisfy the client’s sexual desires, but provide emotional companionship, and
act as a date/escort to restaurants and such as well. This is the kind of
relationship Western men who travel to Havana are looking for. The situation is
similar to that of the role Julia Roberts plays in Pretty Woman. Another key distinction between Havana and Amsterdam
is the women and Havana are not controlled by pimps or other third parties, and
largely operate the streets and clubs independently, on their own accord. This
is autonomy is definitely a good thing. However, while this type of sex tourism
may appear more mild, pleasant or “fair” for the female providers, in reality
it is only playing out of another double-standard for women. Many men cite preferring
the Cuban women because they are warm and sweet, unlike other prostitutes who
perform (sexually) and then platonically demand payment and are gone. In other
words, the men feel threatened and perhaps slightly emasculated when prostitutes
treat them so blatantly as a business transaction, whereas, Cuban women allow
their male clientele to have their cake and eat it too so to speak. The Fantasy Island reading for this week
articulates this sentiment perfectly: “Many clients want the prostitute to be a
lover who makes no claims, a “whore” who has sex for pleasure not money, in
short, a person who can be treated as an object”(Davidson, Taylor 445).
In
Amsterdam the sex tourism industry is certainly more robust, international,
dangerous and controversial. There are a variety of different options to choose
from in Amsterdam: street walkers, brothels, peep-windows, etc. The male pimps,
club and brothel owners in Amsterdam have also organized themselves, ready to
combat any attempts to further regulate their profitable industry. New laws and
more or less regulation is the perhaps the most contentious issue in the
Amsterdam sex tourism scene. Legalization of brothels is a challenging issue
because legalization would definitely help improve the conditions for sex
workers and prostitutes and provide a better layer of protection for them. But,
legalizing brothels would ultimately just be condoning and legitimizing a practice
and industry that at the end of the day will always be harmful, sexist, and
subordinate women to say the least. Two add another dimension of difficulty to
the issues, there is already a problem of discrimination against non-Dutch
prostitutes who come into (or are trafficked into) the country to work. However,
one former prostitute established a center for prostitutes where they receive education
about STD and AIDS prevention but also tips and information about where and how
to start their own business. This center is not a shelter for prostitutes by
any means but practically a school for how to become a sex worker (albeit safely).
But is there ever any guaranteed safety in this industry? This center acts as a
facilitator/enabler to Amsterdam’s sex industry, and probably makes women feel
better about the profession they have chosen. I can’t a imagine wanting to
perpetuate and help women become prostitutes, but having an established center
is certainly the better way to handle this industry if it is going to flourish
regardless.
Fantasy Island I would argue was the
most important reading for this week because it illustrates the cultural and
racial inequalities and racism embedded in sex tourism and prostitution.
Because White women uphold White, privileged society as child-bearers and
homemakers, they are endowed with virtues and expectations of purity,
cleanliness, and desexualized. Therefore, in contrast dark-skinned women from
third world cultures are perceived as “naturally” promiscuous and therefore it
is ok to exploit them and have sex with them. This article’s overarching point
is that sex tourism in South America and other regions works to uphold not only
masculinity and male privilege but also to uphold the supremacy of Whiteness in
general. White men who travel to exotic places to have sexual escapades
perceive themselves as generous, kind men towards these prostitutes because they
work from the notion local men are but pimps, wife-beaters and faithless to
their women. This perception of the local culture demonstrates the ignorance of
foreign society and reinforces the White, male hegemony in the world. This
article is very important in demonstrating male conceptions of women, whether
White or “foreign”/ “darker”/ “exotic”, etc.
The
article about migrant Filipina domestic workers was familiar, but it was still
striking to learn that Filipina women account for over half of the migrant
worker population in the world. That fact clearly demonstrates something about
the Filipino socio-economic circumstances, and serves as a reminder that often
times some global patterns are a result of particular nationalistic or regional
issues—sometimes we have to investigate the micro level to understand how it is
driving the macro level. The main theme of this article was quite interesting,
about how female migrant women from the Philippines undergo an ironic
status/profession swap: in the Philippines, women can have more professional
office-type jobs and earn a pay which keeps their class status and living
conditions low; or they can migrant to a industrialized country and take on
lower-level labor work but earn an income which would elevate their class
status greatly back in the Philippines. As the statistic mentioned above
illustrates, most women choose the latter option, but this creates a new social
phenomena back at home. Their children, left behind, are cared for by of even
lower-class Filipina domestic workers—whom their mother’s can afford to hire
because they are in a foreign country taking care of someone else’s house and
kids. The irony is a sad but vastly global reality that exists today. This
phenomenon really reminded me of the Black maids of the 1950s/60s in the book, The Help.
The
last article is about a city in Thailand, Pattaya, which is trying to refurbish
itself in spite of its active sex tourism sector. Being only 2 hours from
Bangkok (a major international post for sex trafficking, prostitution and
brothels), means this city will probably never shake off their bourgeoning sex
tourism nightlife. The most disturbing
moment in the article for me was one city spokesman who said: “Now we just try
and ignore them [sex tourism industry] and try to promote other activities”.
The latter part of that statement could be a good strategy but the former is
concerning. Ignoring prostitution in any city is not an optimal solution. I am
not saying every city with that going on should immediately tighten up
regulation, but city officials need to at least address the social issues
surrounding sex tourism in Pattaya, Havana, Amsterdam, wherever it is
happening. Ignoring it is as good as condoning it, and I hope most government policies
would prefer not to give legitimacy to prostitution even if they permit it in
some form or another. Sex work, prostitution is going to occur in cities
whether it is legal or not, but there is a difference between allowing something
to be legal and giving it cultural license and legitimacy.
Maggie Nelsen
No comments:
Post a Comment