Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume IV
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 Sexuality and Capitalism
- 2 Colonialism and Modern Sexuality
- 3 Gender, Migration, and Sexuality in the Modern World
- 4 ‘Pornography’, ‘Obscenity’, and the Suppression of Libertine Literature
- 5 Sexuality and the Print Media in the Modern World
- 6 Eugenics, Public Health, and Modern Sexuality
- 7 Sexuality and Consumerism in the Modern World: The Business of Pleasure
- 8 Sex Education in the Modern World
- 9 Birth Control and Reproductive Rights in the Modern World
- 10 The Impact of the World Wars on Modern Sexuality
- 11 Sexualities and Dictatorships of the Twentieth Century
- 12 Sexuality in Post-war Liberal Democracies
- 13 The Sexual Revolution
- 14 Sex Tourism: Fluid Borders of Meanings and Practices
- 15 The History of AIDS since 1981: Medicine, Politics, and Societies in a Pandemic
- 16 Sex Trafficking in the Modern World
- 17 Sex, Law, and Domestic Violence against Women in the Modern World
- 18 Sexuality under Attack Now
- Index
- Contents to Volumes I, II, and III
- References
14 - Sex Tourism: Fluid Borders of Meanings and Practices
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2024
Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume IV
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 Sexuality and Capitalism
- 2 Colonialism and Modern Sexuality
- 3 Gender, Migration, and Sexuality in the Modern World
- 4 ‘Pornography’, ‘Obscenity’, and the Suppression of Libertine Literature
- 5 Sexuality and the Print Media in the Modern World
- 6 Eugenics, Public Health, and Modern Sexuality
- 7 Sexuality and Consumerism in the Modern World: The Business of Pleasure
- 8 Sex Education in the Modern World
- 9 Birth Control and Reproductive Rights in the Modern World
- 10 The Impact of the World Wars on Modern Sexuality
- 11 Sexualities and Dictatorships of the Twentieth Century
- 12 Sexuality in Post-war Liberal Democracies
- 13 The Sexual Revolution
- 14 Sex Tourism: Fluid Borders of Meanings and Practices
- 15 The History of AIDS since 1981: Medicine, Politics, and Societies in a Pandemic
- 16 Sex Trafficking in the Modern World
- 17 Sex, Law, and Domestic Violence against Women in the Modern World
- 18 Sexuality under Attack Now
- Index
- Contents to Volumes I, II, and III
- References
Summary
In this chapter, we examine the evolving definition of sex tourism. Through a comprehensive literature review focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean, we assess the long history of commodified sex and travel and the difficulties in defining the practice as exclusive to heterosexual men purchasing sex or as a phenomenon exclusive to the Global South. A case study of Havana, Cuba, contributes to a deeper understanding of how colonial cities benefitted from commodified sex connected to travellers and racialized bodies. In analyzing the scholarship on sex tourism, we appreciate the heterogeneity of arrangements, identities, ambiguity, and fluidity of relationships. Both hosts and guests are looking for opportunities to enhance their lives and to challenge the gender, sexual, and racial dictates of their society. Tourist-related intimacies, therefore, are used for personal and familial gains and mobility in the global political economy. The findings reveal that while some studies have adopted narrow definitions, a more comprehensive approach argues for understanding sex tourism as part of a spectrum of intimate encounters that combine sex and money, encompassing everything from marriage to sex work.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities , pp. 297 - 317Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
Further Reading
Cabezas, Amalia L. Economies of Desire: Sex and Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Carr, Neil. ‘Sex in Tourism: Reflections and Potential Future Research Directions’. Tourism Recreation Research 41, no. 2 (2016): 188–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clift, Stephen, and Carter, Simon, eds. Tourism and Sex: Culture, Commerce and Coercion. New York: Pinter, 1999.Google Scholar
Ebron, Paula. ‘Traffic in Men’. In Gendered Encounters: Challenging Cultural Boundaries and Social Hierarchies in Africa, ed. Grosz-Ngate, Maria and Kokole, Omari, 223–44. New York: Routledge, 1997.Google Scholar
Fernandez, Nadine. ‘Back to the Future? Women, Race, and Tourism in Cuba’. In Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean, ed. Kempadoo, Kamala, 81–9. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999.Google Scholar
Fosado, Gisela. ‘Gay Sex Tourism, Ambiguity, and Transnational Love in Havana’. In Cuba Transnational, ed. Fernández, Damián J, 61–78. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Frohlick, Susan. Sexuality, Women, and Tourism: Cross-Border Desires through Contemporary Travel. New York: Routledge, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gravari-Barbas, Maria, Staszak, Jean-François, and Graburn, Nelson. ‘The Eroticization of Tourist Destinations: Spaces, Actors and Imaginaries’. Via: Tourism Review 11–12 (2017), https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1830.Google Scholar
Herold, Edward S., Garcia, Rafael, and DeMoya., Tony ‘Female Tourists and Beach Boys: Romance or Sex Tourism?’ Annals of Tourism Research 28, no. 4 (2001): 978–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, Jessica. ‘Have Sex Will Travel: Romantic “Sex Tourism” and Women Negotiating Modernity in the Sinai’. Gender, Place & Culture 16, no. 1 (2009): 43–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, Paul A. ‘The Military-Sexual Complex: Prostitution, Disease and the Boundaries of Empire During the Philippine-American War’. Asia-Pacific Journal 9, no. 30 (2011): 1–17.Google Scholar
Kempandoo, Kamala., ed. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge, 2004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lind, van Wijngaarden, Jan de . ‘Between Money, Morality and Masculinity: Bar-Based Male Sex Work in Chiang Mai’. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services 9, no. 2/3 (1999): 193–218.Google Scholar
McEwen, Haley A. ‘Fauna, Flora and Fucking: Female Sex Safaris in South Africa’. In The Prize and the Price: Shaping Sexualities in South Africa, ed. Steyn, Melissa and van Zyl, Mikki, 112–28. Cape Town: Human Sciences Council, 2009.Google Scholar
Murray, David. ‘Flaming Souls’: Homosexuality, Homophobia, and Social Change in Barbados. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020.Google Scholar
Norma, Caroline. Comfort Women and Post-Occupation Corporate Japan. London: Routledge, 2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oppermann, Martin. ‘Sex Tourism’. Annals of Tourism Research 26, no. 2 (1999): 251–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padilla, Mark. Caribbean Pleasure Industry: Tourism, Sexuality, and AIDS in the Dominican Republic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Piscitelli, Adriana. ‘Looking for New Worlds: Brazilian Women as International Migrants’. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 33, no. 4 (2008): 784–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pruitt, Deborah, and Suzanne, LaFont. ‘For Love and Money: Romance Tourism in Jamaica’. Annals of Tourism Research 22, no. 2 (1995): 422–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, Chris, and Kinder, R.. ‘Sex, Tourism and Sex Tourism: Fulfilling Similar Needs?’ Tourism Management 17, no. 7 (1996): 507–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simoni, Valerio. Tourism and Informal Encounters in Cuba. Oxford: Berghahn, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truong, Thanh-Dam. Sex, Money and Morality: Prostitution and Tourism in Southeast Asia. London: Zed Books, 1990.Google Scholar
Williams, Erica Lorraine. Sex Tourism in Bahia: Ambiguous Entanglements. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar