Caribbean Female Sex Work

Term Paper # 104656

Gender and Sexuality > Sexual Politics
Latin-American Studies > Race, Class, Gender Issues
Women Studies

Looks at female prostitution as sex work in Caribbean countries.

2,530 words () | 10 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in various Caribbean countries, women have very few ways of supporting their families and thereby capitalizing on their sexuality through sex work is within their conformist respectable cultures. The author points out that most North American and European female prostitutes are motivated by their heroin and crack cocaine addictions; whereas, Caribbean prostitutes or sex workers are prompted by the opportunity to make a livable wage. The paper stresses that these Caribbean sex workers recognize their right to political activism as women to be taken seriously in tourist economies, which require their labor.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Victims versus Survivors
Sex Economics
Gaps between Sex Trade Workers and Observers
Caribbean, not Western Sex Work
Race and Caribbean Sex Work
Concluding Remarks

From the Paper:

"Caribbean prostitution points to more than differing ideas on sexuality's importance in the Caribbean culture zone and can remind of a "racialized relation of power and resistance" at local as much as global levels. Caribbean women are absolutely aware of the obstacles of sexism, racism of different kinds, and bleak economic prospects. Observers tending to pit respectable Caribbean cultures and their expectations of women against women of classes involved in prostitution need to explore again for women who take up sex work see very clearly local social and political orders divided by class."

Sample of Sources Used:

Babb, F.E. (2001). After Revolution - Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Cabezas, A.L. (1999). Women's Work is Never Done - Sex Tourism in Sosua, Dominican Republic, in K. Kempadoo. Ed. Sun, Sex and Gold - Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. New York and Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
Campbell, S., A. Perkins & P. Mohammed. (1999). 'Come to Jamaica and Feel Alright' - Tourism and the Sex Trade, in Kempadoo, Sun, Sex and Gold - Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean.
Davidson, J.O. & J.S. Taylor. (1999). Fantasy Islands: Exploring the Demand for Sex Tourism, in Kempadoo, Sun, Sex and Gold - Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean.
Fernandez, N. (1999). Back to the Future? Women, Race and Tourism in Cuba, in Kempadoo, Sun, Sex and Gold - Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean.