å April 2017

In Amelia Cabezas’ article, “Between Love and Money: Sex, Tourism, and Citizenship in Cuba and the Dominica Republic”, the relationship between changing economic and labor practices and the rise in sex tourism is examined. The move towards free market practices after the fall of the Soviet Union has lead Cuba as well as the other nations in the Caribbean to experience a larger and more open amount of sex work in relation to tourism. Men come to these countries and take advantage of the more relaxed laws to engage in paid for sex that is severely illegal as well as restricted in the countries they come from, such as the U.S and European nations. Due to the dependence on tourism to generate revenue for the country, many young men and women are forced to move to tourist areas and enter prostitution as a means of living. Cabezas examines the color dynamic of sex tourism in Cuba, with dark skinned Cubans being more involved with sex tourism and making money through different relationships, while the light skinned Cubans are less involved with the practice in that they often just have sex for money and do not maintain long relationships. Sex workers in these tourist areas often marry their clients and begin to build families and lives, demonstrating the ways that sex workers can find more opportunities than just cash. Despite these opportunities, the practice degrades men and women alike, and contributes to the objectification of women and disregard to their safety and health. The increase in sex tourism is a reflection of changing economic values and practices, as well as a representation of the neo-colonialism that is still ever present in the Caribbean. While both men and women are involved in sex tourism, it is often the women who are persecuted by the government and authorities, which demonstrates the heteronormativity in that the government doesn’t want to grant women the same liberties over their bodies and sexual life that it does men.

In Amelia L. Cabezas book Between Love and Money, she deeply discusses the lives of women in Cuba and the Dominican Republic who are participants in Sex Tourism. In her chapter, Sex, Tourism, and Citizenship in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the idea of sexual citizenship is introduced. Sexual Citizenship is a movement that Cabezas believes will help to eliminate the sexual discrimination of women. Sexual Citizenship will aim to embrace the varying sexual practices and sexualities present amongst individuals. I like and agree with the idea of sexual citizenship. People should be free to explore any sexuality they desire and they should also possess the right to do what they want with their bodies. The sooner people adopt this ideology, the sooner the world would head in the right direction of being less discriminatory and oppressive.

Women living in both Cuba and the Dominican Republic who fall outside of the practice of heteronormativity are viewed as outcasts. The women who participate in the sex tourism lifestyles are seen as outcasts because many believe their way of life is immoral and that it misrepresents both Cuban and Dominican women. Their lifestyle makes them targets for harassment not only by other citizens but by law enforcement who view their way of life as corruption. However, many women who participate in this type of work choose and continue to do it because it provides them with extra money needed to help sustain their households and take care of family members that are dependent on them. Not only does this work help them financially but it also provides the women with chances to see the world and migrate to different places with their tourist companions. Sexual Citizenship would essentially grant these women a right to carry out their work without being discriminated and allow them to be viewed as women doing what they please with their bodies.

In her essay Amalia Cabezas explains several problems related to with the usual conception of sex work in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. She considers that the term “sex work” is more than the simple practice of sex in exchange for money. Cabezas also point out that the increased tourism has caused an increase of sex work, which in turn has contributed in the creation of different types of relationship between tourist and hosts. In countries as Cuba and Dominican Republic, solitary women, lesbian and other sexual minorities are target for moral panic and harassment by police. Also in these countries, women who have sex with more than a person is cataloged as bad sexual subjects, while male who have several sexual partners are considered “supermen” because this is considered as a natural behavior of men sexuality.

Also, in her essay Cabezas explains the highlighted difference on how is considered the sex work among male and female, because while male sex workers are considered as national idols, female sex workers are considered deviants and a social evil. I think that Cabezas uses the term “sexual citizenship” to refer to the acceptance in the public life of the different sexualities, outside the masculine heterosexual domain, particularly those women outside heteronormativity. Many concepts of female sexual agency keeps absent from the conceptualizations and laws of human rights, but when we implement the idea of sexual rights we can cover minorities instead of categorize or to frame people by their sexuality and at the same time we open the way in situations where labor rights can not be applied. Finally, according to the author, tourism has opened a door where labor practices and romantic relationships are mixed. In countries where the economic index is very low is difficult to separate love, money, and business. They see tourism as a way to scape of their reality.

I think Amelia Cabezas defines sexual citizenship as someone who represents their sexuality and understanding the process of why they do what they do. Cabezas mentions about sex tourism and how specific people work in the tourism industry to fulfill a specific requirement whether that may be to make money, create relationship, etc… However there is a gender equality where females are treated worser compared to their counterpart, males. Females can be thrown in jail anytime and this is all because of how the government wants to make sure that the females that do sexual tourism don’t take the wrong path or to stop bothering the tourist when in general they aren’t.  Also some females are more accepted compared to other females and this is probably how the police portray (decides which ones can stay without being arrested) those females that are more accepted (probably because their more beautiful and younger). Males on the other hand is respected and supported to continue to do what they are doing. This gender inequality lets Cabezas bring up the point of heteronormativity, where females should be able to have the rights to their bodies and make decisions on what they should and should not do. This idea is a threat to the government because they want to make sure that the women are following sexual morals that is set by them (the laws). However most government in the world don’t really cares what happens after the child is born. All they care about is that the child is safely born so that they can contribute to the economy and make sure the same process repeat. The government doesn’t want the women who are outside the heteronormativity to be deciding whether or not they want to do sexual service for money, marriage, pleasure, etc… Otherwise this will improve the organization (social groups) that support the fundamental rights of female.

According to Cabezas, Cuba and the Dominican Republic have experienced an influx of sex tourism; foreigners visiting to take advantage of looser laws on prostitution and sexual activities. The women of these countries are heavily influenced by sex tourism, as these tourists come in and take advantage of them because they are sex workers. Being a sex worker implies negative connotations, especially to Americans, where most of it is completely outlawed. Sex workers in Cuba and the Dominican Republic change the economy, especially with the increase of sex tourism. These tourists are contributing to the lives of these women, allowing them to make a profit but also while exploiting them. Sex workers not only gain a profit, but gain opportunities; many build relationships with their clients, allowing them to have other opportunities to work and migrate. There are cases in which sex workers marry their tourist clients, allowing them to migrate, get married, and build families; this is an opportunity they would not have without sex tourism being so popular. Cabezas explains the difference between light-skin Cubans and Black Cubans in the sex tourism industry; Black cubans are considered to be more frequently involved in hustling in the tourist industry, while light-skinned Cubans are more often employed in just sex for cash, having less opportunities. This made me think of the hyper-sexualization of people of color, and how for White tourists it is easy to use a dark-skinned women for sex and nothing else, but in their daily lives they continue to treat these women as objects. Sex tourism has the ability to be an industry that greatly changes and improves the economy, but can also lead to the objectification and abuse of women, especially women of color. Sex workers can be liberated, and gain opportunities, but they also can be treated as unequal. Sex tourism is an ever popular industry that changes the economy of various countries.

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.

Due Monday, April 24th, by midnight. Word count: 300 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. Absolutely no quotes should be used. If you paraphrase from the text (from Cabezas’s work or anywhere else), you must be sure to include the proper citation (either MLA or APA).

Using details from her essay to explain your reading, explain how Amelia Cabezas defines “sexual citizenship.” What promise does she attach to this configuration of sexuality in particular for women who occupy positions outside “heteronormativity”?

Race relations issues, suggesting poverty, race, and economic discrimination would be resolved by the political economy that created it, only this time would they be assimilated with politics.  This is an example of how people of color have already been ostracized politically and are still in the process of becoming assimilated. This just gives us an idea about how difficult it was for straight people of color to be included politically, which can only give us an idea about how difficult it would be for queer people of color.

The people who fall under the minority categories (ie…people of color, women) face more difficulties in their lives. They feel a type of estrangement towards people of their groups, for example, a black gay women might feel alienated in a group of other black straight women. Even though they are all black women, her sexuality is something the other straight women feel comfortable with, causing her to be ostracized. Identifying the domain determined by racial difference and gender and sexual conformity causes the rank of superiority. Because of this ranking if you don’t identify as one of these dominant traits, then it will be more difficult for you socially, politically, economically.

In this documentary “Transgenders in Pakistan”  I learned for the most part about transmen. They are kicked out of their families onto the streets, causing them to form a transgender group of their own. Within this group, most of the transmen are ostracized by their “gurus” (head of the group).  Ferguson’s text reminded me of that because it shows an example of how within groups (that are already oppressed groups) there is even more oppression, which causes them to estrange themselves from their bigger community.   In this case, they were left no choice to be alienated, however, some people chose to do it themselves for own personal reasons, in order to achieve their own comfort levels.

In the book Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique, Roderick Ferguson described the characteristics of connection between property, capital, and prostitution within the idea of society of capitalism. Roderick Ferguson described this with the term called “queer of color” analysis. He described this as nascent and emergent formation that pass over gender and sexual idea of racialized boundary.  When he talked about the history of America, it showed how hierarchy of the society started to build based upon the background of industrialization, and social status and labor division. In addition, there was exclusion of African American in United States so that it led to lack of human rights and they treated as slaves. This discrimination and racism showed the lack of right in economic and racial status. In the beginning, Roderick Ferguson explained the pictures that describe the discrimination and racism during this period. And then he connected to the sexual status, which shows patriarchy of man over women and children. In the introduction, he focused his analysis on Marlon Rigg’s “Tongues United, which described drag queen prostitute who is black. This way of earning income made them lesser than the normal way of earning money so that it made prostitute against the social norm of property, capital and prostitution. Prostitution considered as illegal in most of the countries. However, the fact that both black and prostitute made more connection to the Roderick Ferguson’s queer of color anaylsis, because both black and prostitute was considered as lower status compared to norm. therefore, if there was a prostitute who is black, this would make them face more problematic situation than the other prostitute. since it showed the combination of black and prostitute, which are both inferior things, they were in position where people won’t accept them in society as same as other, and this represent the queer of color.