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Assignment 10

I think Amalia Cabezas defines sexual citizenship as women being able to choose what they want to do with their own bodies and how they express their sexuality. She talks about how the women in Cuba and Dominican Republic often choose to have sexual relationships with the tourists that visit there so that they can provide for themselves an their family. The tourists have money and can also provide food, clothes, etc. for them. Even more important though is that many of them are also seeking to be able to have a longer lasting relationship that will eventually let them be able to move to a different country and get married. These women however, are seen as bad or “sexual deviants”. The problem with this is that sex workers are classified because of their race, class, and culture. For example, according to Amalia Cabezas, a white women who spent time with a mexican tourist, and also had sex and received items from the man wouldn’t be seen as a sex worker. Instead, it would be seen as a romantic relationship that could bloom into something more. This wasn’t met with any negative reactions. However, women that were seen as a lower race or class would seen as sex workers and prostitutes. They would get arrested by the police if they were seen bothering tourists and be abused physically. Of course, this includes women who are seen as outside heteronormativity also as they are seen as dangerous because they don’t fit into a gender that is seen as normal by the state. The women that are involved in sex tourism are blamed for having a no morals or greedy instead of it being blamed on the tourist and tourism. Despite all of this, men involved in sex tourist are seen as heroes that help improve tourism and help the state get more money from them.