Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIb_D7_0MNt9PBPdXddQ5L0qUVf71Xl2r_s39BoM9eSQU90Sf53z9Y45_ckgnSqzurYYQJk7Sa5sZ7MToelHr6DnNpJKhErQITSTS3xviNF7-KEeRJJuC8uIEdZ6_pBEqAl8fcqQiiL8sw/s1600/Cabrera+and+Sosua+DR.gif (modified using Paint to circle Cabrera and Sosua)

Due to family emergency last week I was unable to post this blog about sex tourism in the Dominican Republic. It is more of a book review about a book I read for an anthropology course I am taking, but it discusses the issues that are brought up in the book and the importance as well as some additional information about sex tourism and transnationalism that I found while doing research. It seems like an odd way to end my blog, so I will post another one later this week, but as for blogs that count for marks towards my RS 383 course (that I am required to take and receive a 75% in) this will be my last blog.

Recently, I read an ethnography for my anthropology of tourism class called What’s love got to do with it? Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic by Denise Brennan. After reading the book I wrote a lengthy book review covering the strengths, weaknesses and important parts of the ethnography and why it was a successful ethnography. I want to share what I learned about the Dominican Republic and sex tourism since it may or may not affect my stay this summer since Sosua is not that far away from Cabrera or Puerto Plata where I’ll likely be flying into, and which is one of the major cities of the Dominican Republic.

Brennan conducts her research in Sosua, known as the sex capital of the Dominican Republic. She lives there for 14 months to observe active sex workers, interview them and get to know them as people, not just as sex workers. Brennan does an excellent job giving a voice to the women that work in the Dominican Republic’s sex tourism industry and shows them not as victims or “other” but as individuals who choose this life as a mode of economic means and support for themselves and their families. 

Brennan breaks the book into four sections, in each section there are subsections with subheadings. The table of contents lays out the format of the book, which is separated into I. The Town, II. The Transnational Plan: Looking Beyond Dominican Borders, III. The Sex Trade and; IV. Plan accomplished: Getting Beyond Dominican Borders. These chapters look at the life of sex workers in various steps of sex tourism. Some women are just starting out, others are veterans and have been halfway around the world with their foreign boyfriends, and still others are content to work the same bar with the same guys every night, or week just to make enough money.

One great aspect about Brennan’s ethnography was that she was not afraid to tell the truth. In many cases where authors would like to have a happy ending, Brennan showed the reality of the situation, such as in the final chapter when she writes about “Transnational Disappointments” which include: fantasies that the sex workers have about all foreign men (how kind they are, willing to pay for anything, take them back to Europe, how easy integrating into their society will be, etc.). The women do not realize that racism is often a huge barrier that keeps them from being completely accepted in a foreign culture. Brennan mentions that quite a few women were surprised to find the families of their suitors uncomfortable with the women being black. Brennan’s ability to show all the different situations of these women shows her objectification to the situation, but her ability to deal with such a touchy topic too. Throughout the book her tone was accepting and non-judgemental. A lot of authors are unable to shake biases when they are writing even though they try and I think especially in terms of this topic it is important to have an open, as Brennan did.

While doing the research for the essay part of my book report, I found lots of other information that was extremely useful and informative about transnational relations within the Caribbean.Because transnational relationships are becoming more common due to greater accessibility (planes, tourist visas and rich foreign friends), it has become a hot topic among anthropologists, sociologists and ethnographers alike. Transnational relations such as the ones discussed in Susan Frohlick’s article called Fluidity Exchanges: The Negotiations between Tourist Women and Local Men in a Transnational Caribbean Town in Costa Rica look at the issue of a relationship based on sexual intimacy and a need for money and the exchange between these men and women. Frohlick discusses the idea that “female tourists in the Caribbean are just as likely to “service” their local lovers, than the other way around” (2008: 141), which cannot be argued in Brennan’s book, but was argued in the article by Pruitt and LaFont in Tourists and Tourism a reader by Sharon Gmelch that was regularly used in my anthropology class, which discussed sex tourism within Jamaica (Pruitt and LaFont in Gmelch 2010: 166). 

One article that I looked at was called Transnationalism in the Caribbean: Formal and Informal which compares the effects of transnationalism in Central Europe (which mimics our own culture) and the English-speaking Caribbean. The article looks at the changes which are consequences of this transnationalism and how it affects the Caribbean peoples’ culture, economy, language, identity, class and political organization. The author of the article, Don Robotham, argues that globalization has a lot to do with the new transnational relationships that have become more popular (Robotham 1996: 307). We saw this is three articles in our textbooks about sex tourism.

All of the texts that I looked at discussed transnationalism in one way or another as something that potentially has damaging affects upon the culture that practices it. Globalization is a major factor in transnationalism, whether it be intimate relationships, friendship, business, etc. between locals and foreigners, the culture is under major pressure to change and become more transnationally friendly. This is potentially problematic as the culture struggles to meet these expectations with little resources or know-how to proceed comfortably and within range of the culture/country’s ability. This is where sex tourism comes in because it seems like a good solution to the problem of failing economies. Throughout the course I learned a lot about sex tourism and the Caribbean and this ethnography really opened my eyes to the stereotypes that surround women in the DR who are sex workers. I think it was really important for Brennan to write this ethnography and represent the sex workers of Sosua, with names and faces because she shows that they are human too.

I picked this ethnography to research for my anthropology class out of interest in sex tourism and because I wanted to learn more about the Dominican Republic. I thought it would be an interesting way to learn more about the country I'm going to and get an assignment done about a topic that interests me. It interested me enough to find more articles and information about sex tourism in the Caribbean to see how it has flourished since it started and why. 

As this semester draws to a close and my departure date draws nearer, I find myself craving information about the DOminican Republic. Not only to comfort loved ones being left behind but also to comfort myself. Learning about the country, even things like sex tourism, helps me understand the type of culture I am going into and to see the similiarities between my own country and the one I will soon call home for three months!