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Assignment 10

Amalia Cabezas’ essay, “Between Love and Money: Sex, Tourism, and Citizenship in Cuba and the Dominican Republic”, she explains and defines the term “sexual citizenship”. She also goes into the specifics of the connection between women who do not ‘fit the standards’ set by heteronormativity and this kind of sexuality she explains prior. Sex, travel, and globalization are now intertwined in the political order and are an important part of the tourism industry in the world today. The sexual labor of women, starting from the times of the European colonizations and then going on for over five hundred years, has always been a part of the economic and political world (1). And so the author brings up a very clear question, how is globalization now making such environments for sexual acts and sexualized identities to be created (2)? Amalia Cabezas believes that the tie between sex and tourism derives from the need of labor which changes seasonally, from the formal and informal sections of the economy. She also argues that workers and individuals are constantly changing and forming the labor process due to their own intimacies and sexualities. Not only that, but Amalia Cabezas also states that the not understanding of such practices and stereotypes of sex tourism are highlighted in the juridical framework and how sexual morality fits with sexual citizenship (5). Sexual citizenship goes straight to show the double standards on how society accepts and reacts to the actions of a woman to the actions of a man. A male sex worker can be seen as a hero, a national identity, someone working for the economy of the country, helping it grow. But on the other hand, a female sex worker will be considered the deviant, making them the link between tourism and prostitution, and are shamed for the work they have taken upon. The actions of a male sex worker are seen to be less politically charged and less culturally condemning, but a female sex worker? Well, that becomes a different story in the eyes of society (22).  Towards the end of her essay, Amalia Cabezas attaches a promise to this kind of sexuality, especially for those women outside of the “heteronormativity” spectrum. She states that the sexual rights of a woman (such as the right to her own body), can help challenge the ‘standards’ and ‘traditional’ views used by society to keep not just the sexual outlaws, but all women, in check (25).