Economies of Desire: Sex and Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic

232 Pages·2009·1.5 MB·english

by  Amalia L. Cabezas

E D
CONOMIES OF ESIRE

E D
CONOMIES OF ESIRE
Sex and Tourism in Cuba and
the Dominican Republic
Amalia L. Cabezas
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia
Temple University Press
1601 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
www .temple .edu/ tempress
Copyright © 2009 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 2009
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48- 1992
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Cabezas, Amalia L.
Economies of desire : sex and tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic /
Amalia L. Cabezas.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 1- 59213- 749- 7 (cloth : alk. paper)— ISBN 978- 1- 59213- 750- 3
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sex tourism— Cuba. 2. Sex tourism— Dominican
Republic. 3. Prostitution— Cuba. 4. Prostitution— Dominican Republic.
5. Women— Violence against. 6. Tourists— Sexual behavior. 7. Sex- oriented
businesses— Social aspects. I. Title.
HQ161.A5C33 2009
306.74097291—dc22 2008043758
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Dedicated to Antonia I. Castañeda and Arturo Madrid
and
Alfredo Cruz

Contents
Ac know ledg ments ix
Introduction: Affective Economies of Sexualized Tourism 1
1 Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic 25
2 Neoliberal Times in Cuba and the Dominican Republic 54
3 Eroticizing Labor in All- Inclusive Resorts 85
4 Daughters of Yemayá and Other Luchadoras 112
5 Tourism, Sex Work, and the Discourse of Human Rights 139
Epilogue 166
Notes 169
References 187
Index 211

Ac know ledg ments
When I was growing up in southeast Los Angeles, my mother
Fefa, my sister Mila, and my aunt, Luz Divina, worked at a
clothing manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles. When
my mother worked on Saturdays, she took me with her to work. To the
hum of sewing machines, I played, cut threads, and talked with the
other garment workers. Wearing matching pink smocks, lipstick, and
high heels, these women sewed at backbreaking speeds as they raced
their sewing machines through the Frederick’s of Hollywood lingerie
line. Between piecework, musings, and jokes, they gave me advice:
“Learn to speak En glish, so you will not end up in a factory like us.”
Teresita, Nenita, Romelia, Obdulia, Ofelia, Guillermina, Elena, Orquid-
ia—memorias de ellas are woven into my life. I am grateful to the
women of Susan of California who taught me valuable lessons about re-
silience, tenacity, diligence, and the dignity of labor. Without their ex-
ample, I could not have completed this book.
Years later, when the garment factories became sweatshops, my
mother would say to me, “Aquí estoy mi hija, trabajando como negra
para poder vivir como blanca” (Here I am, my child, working like a
black woman so that I may live like a white one). I am intellectually
indebted to my parents, whose lives taught me about the racialized