 |
By Annan Boodram |
August 1-15, 2001: "Amidst the hand-gliders, speedboats and sunbathers on the beaches of the Caribbean, there are the buffed (and not so buffed) bodies of young men hoping to catch the eye of a single tourist woman looking for a good time. And if that is the case, they have come to the right place.
Indeed "BEACH BUMS" are on the increase. And some teenaged boys are leaving school to get involved. This is according to Barbadian-born Dr Joan Phillips, a post doctorate research fellow at the University of London.
"Fourteen to 15-year-old boys are leaving school to go on the beach to get to the big money. The big money is having sex with tourists. They tell you that school was not doing anything for them. They usually start during summer and then don't go back to school," she said.
"From my study carried out in Barbados, I argue sex tourism is about all the above, including romance, remuneration and entrepreneurship. It is based on racialised sexual fantasies of the black man; it's about the black man trying to be white. It's the new commodity on sale for the tourist dollar and the newly liberated in search of the post-colonial Mandingo."
Phillips did not give figures, but said, "A guestimate could be one in five couples on the beaches and perhaps one in three couples at certain nightclubs. What is significant is that it has become more visible over the last ten years."
She stressed also that "beach bums" were not the only ones involved in sex tourism, which also took place in the privacy of hotels and massage parlours.
As to the financial rewards, Phillips added: "There are cases where he gets to travel to a European country with all expenses paid for a couple of months, up to a cash sum of US$15 000, the gift of an 18-carat gold
ring,
the underwriting of shopping sprees, apartment rentals, jetski
and general subsistence." "It begins with the woman paying for drink and entry to clubs, then after about two weeks, when she is about to leave, she accompanies him to Bridgetown, where he is treated to a shopping bonanza of brand name articles."
Dr. Phillips emphasized that sex tourism, a product of slavery, was not new to the Caribbean. White women always wanted to sample black men, while the latter saw them as their hope of financial and social boost, she added.
American sociologist Klaus de Albuquerque agrees with the erotic element to sex tourism. He believes that for the white woman who flock to the Caribbean for sea, sun and mostly sex, it's a 'phallic sojourn' in search of the 'big bamboo'.
If an 'escort' plays his cards right, being with a tourist sexually can raise him a pretty penny. Most of the women are into oral sex, largely taboo among Jamaican males; for this act, some of the women are reportedly willing to pay as much as US$100. According to a Jamaican beach bum 'Jim', this is normally played out in their hotel room.
The success of the Terry McMillan's book and film 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' added a fillip to sex tourism as many successful American women flocked to the Caribbean beaches to find sex and romance.
Indeed the majority of these adventurous tourists travel to Jamaica in the winter season. They are single women in their mid-forties and are from major cities in the United States. They are not necessarily into long-term relationships, but Jim says they return regularly to their island boy, bringing gifts like jewellery, designer sneakers and clothing.
But while they like the gifts the 'escorts' ultimate hope is to be like Winston, Terry MacMillan's lover - marrying and migrating, preferably to the United States. It gives them an opportunity for a new life and better days for their children
But to Dr Anthony Bryan, a prominent Caribbean scholar and professor of international relations at the North-South Centre of the University of Miami, the desire of white women and men to pay for sex can be traced, in part, to "The racist stereotype of the exotic and erotic black or mixed-race woman or man".
Writing in Caribbean Tourism: Igniting The Engines Of Sustainable Growth, a paper published by the North-South Centre, Dr. Bryan examines several facets of the tourism industry, including its growth, the social and cultural impact, the problem of HIV-AIDS, sustainable development and the future of the industry in countries that run the gamut of tourist destinations.
Dr. Byran defines sex tourism as activities by foreign visitors that include 'typical prostitution'; the trafficking of women, men and young girls. In addition, he pointed out, it caters to a diverse group, heterosexuals, homosexuals and pedophiles.
"One of the most serious yet inconspicuous activities causing far-reaching and sometimes irreversible damage to the social and cultural fabric of local societies is that of sex tourism," he warned.
The Trinidad born researcher, believes white men and women go to the Caribbean and other parts of the world for sex because of a quest for 'gender equality' and what they do is spurred on by 'racialised power'.
He pointed out that many sociologists think some male tourists who resent 'women's perceived power' at home turn to women in third world tourist destinations, because it gives them a chance to escape the pressures from their wives, girlfriends, or colleagues for equal rights and status in the home and on the job.
"Female prostitutes in the Caribbean, in contrast, typically neither challenge nor demand anything much from male sex tourists," he said.
White women are also turning to Caribbean men to challenge some of their own men's traditional roles or to live out their sexual fantasies.
"Such female sex tourists affirm their sense of womanliness by being sexually desired by other men," wrote Bryan who is also director of Caribbean Studies at the University of Miami. He added, "in their home countries, these women may be stigmatized for having either illegitimate or casual relations with black men or younger men, or for having many sexual partners" .
"In holiday resorts such as Negril, Jamaica, white women are allowed anonymity to enjoy liaisons with black males, younger boys, or as many men as they desire, out of view of neighbors and friends in their home countries."
"Some argue that sex tourism provides an economic opportunity for marginalised subgroups of the population," wrote Dr. Bryan. But it is also "one of the contributing factors to the HIV-AIDS epidemics, Hepatitis B and C, and other diseases."
And this is a critical reality in a region where AIDS is a sustainable development issue that could affect the very economic survival of the Caribbean.