å Saturday, April 22nd, 2017

Sexual citizenship is implicitly described throughout Cabezas’ essay, focusing primarily on women’s sexual and individual agency. When including human rights Cabezas includes police harassment and the assumptions placed on women for existing in their own country, if they are found close to high traffic tourist areas their promiscuity is either innocent or deviant depending on skin tone. Interestingly, the women referenced in her essay all seem to independently find their way into liaisons with tourists fluidly and earnestly. The reality is that any woman in tourist specific hospitality is propositioned regularly, due to the nature of the industry you must be approachable, engaging and knowledgeable. Cuba and the Dominican Republic are both small enough islands that anyone who has lived there for a short amount of time could become well acquainted with the area, making them an asset to an international tourist who desires a local experience.

Many impoverished women have fine-tuned their ears to finding additional avenues of income, whether that is an extra shift at your place of employment or a part-time side job. For women comfortable with their sexualities and a sense of adventure, an international liaison likely begins innocently and likely without any hopes for more than an all-expenses paid week or long weekend. Unpredictable to the women are the tourists, some arriving with the intention of picking up a local companion for their vacation and others open to permanent relationships. The reality is that an economically viable partner is enough motivation for any woman in extreme poverty to risk jail or state ordered rehabilitation, especially when the economy is providing few alternatives for social mobility. This is not a promise, but a potential outcome like winning a lottery that, at the very least, provides a short relief from financial struggle.

Although there are mentions of men in the business of sexual tourism the stigmatization and economic peril are not the same for men which is why the core of the essay does not focus on their story. The ambiguous categorization of sexual tourism alludes to an evolving perspective of female sexuality, however the racial and class specific repercussions re-emphasize the old capitalist order. The privileged class are happy to share their wealth if they don’t have to share their status.

According to Cabezas, sexual citizenship is a type of relationship within sex tourism in which the person, offering the sexual acts, are in complete control of their sexual rights. To explain further, Cabezas differentiates the “sex worker” and individuals that fall outside of this category, saying how the sex worker is viewed by society as being compelled to offer sex to others as they are sexual “deviants”, often stigmatized by their socioeconomic class or color of their skin or gender, imposing a derogatory and sexist label when identifying these individuals. However, for those that do not identify as a sex worker, society view their acts as being influenced by friendship or romance and are in complete control of their sexuality in a sense. Motivated by earning more than their wages to support themselves or for better opportunities, these men and women engage in sexually open relations with tourists.
Those expressing their sexual citizenship, in particular for the women who occupy positions outside “heteronormativity,” the promises that comes from being in these types of relationships, as previously mentioned, are either economic support or a means to an end for better opportunities. Cabezas brings in many examples in her work, various interviews in which some women were being supported by their significant other. One example of Cabezas’ interview is the case of Yolanda. She was a single mother who had three children and no financial support. After working in the tourist areas as an activities instructor, she began dating tourists and fostered meaningful relations with them, and in return, they helped support her and her family. These relationships being as a means for locals who do not have jobs or if their jobs were not enough to support them and their families. From there, these relationship can lead to marriage and migration for locals to a better life.