5 Assignment 11

In the Article by Amelia Cabezas, she is talking about countries benefit from sex industry all over the world but especially Dominican Republic and Cuba. The two countries are different each other, but they are similar at some points. Both countries used to be under control of the United States. She approaches to “sex tourism” in different points of view which is from the tourists who pays for sex and from the sex workers who get money for having sex with the tourists. It is so easy to be a sex worker in those countries. If you are struggling with living, you will easily consider to be a sex worker because that the only way to get out of poorness.  For the workers, the labor helps people to get out of the counties where women only can get enough money by doing that job to survive.  For example, there is one lady in this article who was a young mother of three children. She was working as a sex worker and the working condition was terrible. However, she had some opportunity to get helped by that job. She found some boyfriends who helped her financially. Some people actually find men taking them to their home countries. For the government, they knows allowing sex industries are immoral, but they have to pretend what is going on in that kind of industry. For the tourists, they are traveling to the countries because there are less restrictions on prostitution or other sexual industries. It is hard for the workers fell in love with them because the tourists are just coming to those countries to have fun, and they are not looking for nothing serious. I think it is very important to think about the country or people’s situation and understand the complicated relationship between citizens, industries, and the government instead of just judge them if it is morally bad or not.

It seems Cabezas approaches sex tourism as less of an explicit and formal exchange than many may think. Contemporary sex tourism is steeped in social dynamics. In exchange for their labor, sex workers will sometimes receive, in addition to money, food, clothing, and other necessities, or luxuries. Some tourist will even establish a means of communication with their foreign companion while over seas at home. This what many sex workers hope to get into. The desire for a long term relationship through the means of sex tourism is highly sought after because it provides a lasting security.

On both sides of the market the consumer and provider of service (sex workers) have a social status assigned to them. These assignments are usually dictated by the government (Cabezas 1008). Male sex workers are considered heroes while female sex workers are considered as being negatively impactful to society   (Cabezas 1008). It seems Cabezas links how this social perception affects the relationship between these sex workers and the government. They are unfairly treated based on the way they dress, their sexuality, and gender. Women, it would seem, are weighed more heavily in their actions and how they affect society. This leads to wrongful punishment through law enforcement and dehumanization of women in general as this does not happen to only sex workers (Cabezas 1007).

Cabezas asserts that, moving forward, government should work towards representing women’s rights and sexual rights more. Women’s body is currently controlled by social groups and the state whereas it’s agency should be depend solely on the individual herself.

In Cabeza’s passage “Between Love and Money: Sex, Tourism, and Citizenship in Cuba and the Dominican Republic”, she discusses how the sexual relationships may be viewed as forced or cultural. Some ways in which sexual relationships were viewed as cultural was that because of the citizens of Cuba having interracial sexual relationships it attracted a huge pool of tourists which in turn has spurred their economy. Because of these vast array of sexual relationships, it was seen as a cultural movement because it was a regular occurrence that everyone seemed to be doing. It was also seen as forced because of the dramatic difference in social and economic inequality. It was a way for those who were considered minorities to make a living since they saw that tourists were paying money to fund sex – trade relationships. Additionally, since this is what most people were doing to rise up the social ladder some of the minorities may have felt forced to do the same. Cabeza makes an implication that women were seen as those who were monstrous and were capitalistic invaders. On the other hand  she compares men as those who stole capital and attempted to get sex for free. It was also seen as an economic movement in that women refused to give away sex for free. Not all minorities were capable of having a sexual relationship. Physical appearance and where one went in Cuba or even the Dominican Republic had a lot to do with who would be able to rise up the social ladder and who would feel forced to stay where they were. Cabeza explains that some women felt a sense of sexual citizenship in  that in order for women to be protected from oppression that they had to have felt threatened first. On the other hand, some women did not see themselves that way, instead, they felt that not  being able to make a family and not being able to procreate was a huge concern/central focus for them.

In the article, “Between love and money”, Cabezas discusses the topic of sex tourism in the countries of Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The levels of poverty in both countries pushes people to want to search for new ways to get a little bit more money than minimum wage. In both countries minimum wage does not support a family financially which makes people go for what some might consider ‘easy’ work. The political structures in both countries differs from each other, but in both they put their own people down and welcome tourist into the country to the point where the country relies mostly on tourism to make a profit. With the governments encouraging tourism to both countries, people see the opportunities to get some benefits from these tourist too. People move to these tourist areas in hopes to get some sort to benefits from these tourist, it could be directly or indirectly with sex. Everyone knows that these tourist go in the search for some companionship which sometimes do not include sex favors in returns. Groups of people in both countries who go for these foreigners in search of some financial benefit are referred to as Jinetero/a or as Sanky panky, wich are the general terms for these workers. But it all comes down to their appearance and job and gender. As long as these people have a ‘stable’ job on the side, as long as they are light-skin, and are females or males around certain areas they are considered to be normal, but when you are somebody of dark complexion and with no job, you are just considered to be a prostitute. People have seem obligated to try to fool the tourist and make them think that they are  not doing it for money only, that they are having sex with them because they feel some sort of love for this person. But sometimes they also hide their interest for money by not discussing money with them directly and accepting other types of gifts, which could eventually lead to opportunities that would get them out of their financial citations in their countries.

In Amelia Cabezas article, the topic regarding ‘sex tourism’ take place all around the world, especially in poor countries such as the Caribbean countries including Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In Cabezas article she talks about the four S’s. She states, “Despite these important differences, my aim is to demonstrate similar economic and social outcomes that stem from the adoption of international tourism— or the four S’s, as they are known in the literature: sun, sea, sand, and sex— to create economic growth” (Cabezas 990) Sex tourism that occurs within these countries are often brushed away and not taking seriously. Since these countries have a lack of work, they depend on things such as sex tourism to earn a living. On page 992, Cabezas states that sex tourism is not only about sex and money, but about opportunities that is provided as well. Sex tourism can provides opportunities for recreation, consumption, travel, migration and marriage. Sex tourism is considered a illicit activity. The role of sexuality and sexual identity play a major role in sex tourism These people in these countries have relied on tour related jobs, such as sex tourism to be able to make a living for themselves. Both men and women had participated in sex tourism, and some of them hoping to gain a relationship with the tourist in hopes of having something more. Even though, these sorts of things are morally incorrect, the government and police officers of these Caribbean countries pretended they did not know what was going on because the money they were making was benefiting the country. The women and men were offered their bodies in exchange of gifts and food. The male sex workers in these countries were viewed as heroes and people were proud of them. On the other hand, the women in the countries were not viewed as heroes. They were viewed as animals and can be brought shame upon their family.

“Sex tourism”, a term used by Amelia Cabezas are approached through the different perspectives from both the citizens and the tourists. For the citizens, sex tourism is a form of labor that helps them to survive in their countries or help them migrate to a different country. However, the tourists are keen on having a companion with them throughout their vacation and are open minded to the idea of falling in love with a citizen of that alien country that they had sexual relations with. She mentions the role that race, class and gender play a part in categorizing who are sex workers or as foreigners. Nationality separates the people into groups that are defined through similar characteristics that would fit properly to where they reside. However, when Cabezas explain how the relationship between tourist and citizens of certain countries begin to form. They appear to show one way or another how these barriers separate people based on the ethnic groups they belong to fade. Borders are viewed as the main source of separation between nations, which could limit and force independence from other people of different backgrounds. Nevertheless, this article shows the opposite as the people are unified either thru sex, labor or any other sort of relationship that removes any stereotypes and individuality between citizens. There is no difference in the privileges of the people due to both the foreigner and the native are eager to exploit the chances they have or are offered to partake in having a better life. Cabezas research on sex tourism displays that people from different parts of the world form bounds through the relations between love, money and migration. She gave a variety of anecdotes and definitions of the various discourses under each category that eliminated any traditional ideas on citizenship and nationality.

Sexual tourism in the Caribbean, a topic that is often skimmed over and misunderstood if not ignored and what Amelia Cabezas attempts to fix with her article of “Between Love and Money” First off the what began the trade of sex tourism was the change in governments and how they run their economy as well as those countries growing dependent on tourism to bolster their economies. Cabezas shows the reader that sex tourism isn’t just about having sex for money and that while there are people who do that, there are many that don’t. She shows that this business that many young men and women take part in can also help them, how the sex business ties into romance, consumption, and marriage. Sex tourism can be a potential boon to those that partake in it, one example Cabezas gives would be a young mother of three who when she had no other options joined in sex tourism and while she faced sexual harassment from male tourists led her to find her latest boyfriend who helps by remittance that pays her rent and supports her children. Sex tourism isn’t just about money; while others do only perform for money others do it for a number of reasons. As stated earlier romance between the people involved may occur this can help the worker support themselves and gain an edge in their lives. Others do it for the sexual freedom, in particular Cabezas brings in gay men and women who do it for whatever reason it express their sexuality. This has caused judgment between citizens in Cuba as black Cubans are more often called Jineteros due to racist assumptions as light skinned Cubans are recognized in that business. This business helps with the struggling people who work in it as it can help them support themselves or even cause a tourist and a worker to marry and escape from that industry.

According to Amelia Cabeza’s article, there is sex tourism in many places around the world especially in developing countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic. These two countries are actually very different from each other, but there are few things that they have in common. One being the fact that they were both occupied from the United States and the other is sex tourism is popular and used for similar purposes. Cabeza discusses that sexuality and sexual identity in the role of sex tourism can be defined with such certainty instead it should be looked upon as a theory that is growing. She along performs an experiment that contributes to the connection of sexuality and citizenship.

One woman from the article named Yolanda who is from the Dominican Republic. She is a young single mother of three that was struggling to make ends meet even when working at her uncle’s resort. She was constantly getting harassed from the male guests and was fed up with the condition she was presented with. However, this was how she met some of her boyfriends. She met one man from Germany that did take care of her but it seemed temporary for her, which was not good enough. Soon after, she met an Austrian who provided everything for her that she did not need to work. She was able to find a relationship that was long-lasting. Some of these sex workers were in it for money but there were some that were in it for pleasure or rather more of the security like citizenship elsewhere or providing for their family. This even occurred with male sex workers and they would engage in activities with gay men even though they were not gay themselves. This was because it was more remunerative.

Sex workers greatly contributed from this and cling on to tourists because they are the ones that are more likely to cooperate versus locals. This is because such countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic are more known their exotic economy e.g. mafia controlled casinos, world famous dance clubs, etc. (Cabeza:994).

In Amelia Cabezas article, “Between Love and Money,” she discusses how sexuality is connected to citizenship and how the common conceptions of sex work is used in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Cabezas analyzes how the term sex work basically means any practice of sex for the exchange of money but she explains how the term has a more complicated meaning than a sex transaction. Globalization creates the condition in which sexual acts and sexualized identities are develop. According to the article both Cuba and the Dominican Republic use tourism as the dominant strategy for economic growth. Sex tourism is considered the most significant social impact and is a growing phenomenon with social, political, and economic implications for countries that depend heavily on tourism. Cabezas discusses how there is a relationship between the increased in tourism and the increased in sex work.  According to Cabezas in many instances sex work goes beyond sexual acts in exchange for money and states some cases where many tourist were looking for romantic relationship, marriage and migration from these sex workers. Cabezas’s research on sex tourism complicate traditional views about citizenship and nationality. In area where tourism is big, people are judge base on their skin color. A dark skin female in this area could be consider to be a sex worker by simply going to the club while a white female isn’t. Race plays a huge role in these tourist areas.  Cabezas explains how several terms used in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba to describe men and women in the sex working industry. Terms like sanky panky, pingueros, and jineteras contributed to the diversification of relationships between tourist and hosts. Many of these men and women develop relationship with tourist in hope of getting marry and obtaining a visa.

In the book Between Love and Money by Amalia L. Cabezas, we learn that in places like Cuba and Dominican Republic, who struggle economically throughout their country, they turn to their most valuable possession in order to increase financially. In this case tourism would be their most prized possession being that their countries are beautiful and attract many people from much richer countries who love to travel. The people of these countries relied on tour related jobs in order to make a better income and it was mostly what they relied on to feed their families. Eventually the people found a way to increase their income and hopefully find a way to move to a better country. The people started rely more on sex tourism since it was more popular and it allowed them to establish relationships with the tourists. Men and women both participated as sex workers in order to establish relationships with people from richer countries in hopes of finding a way to gain citizenship in these countries or in other cases to find romance. Sex tourism is the act of traveling to other countries with less restrictions on prostitution and other sexual activities in order to take advantage of the lack of laws. As income started to increase through this type of tourism police officers and the government turned a blind eye since it was beneficial to the country. Although many knew that this was being done in order to raise their income and obtain other benefits women were still judged. It was unapproved for women to do this since women in these countries were not allowed to express sexuality in any way. On the other hand for men it was okay. Other than women people of darker complexion were also oppressed. They are stereotyped and incarcerated if they happen to appear to be sex workers. Sex tourism had definitely caused complications between citizenship and nationality because it is used as a way to leave their country and shows the true struggle of the people to make a decent income.