A largely discussed and controversial topic, Denise Brennan offers another take on the perspective of the sex trade from the point of view of some sex workers in the Dominican Republic. The piece begins with a woeful conversation with a Dominican woman on her last night with her Dominican boyfriend before her upcoming escape with her German client-turned-boyfriend, followed with a sorrowful explanation of the women living in Sosua, Dominican Republic, who use sex work as a means of escaping a poverty-stricken nation. Unlike other sex-trade destinations, Sosua is not tied-in with drugs, pimps or underage trafficking, but a network of women. The potential negative physical and legal ramifications are still there, but these women have their autonomy in terms of who they sleep with and often view the men as "walking visas." Contrary to the usual story of women being traded off for sex, these women view the men as awe-stricken fools who will, in a moment's notice, marry the women and by doing so, open up foreign doors for them. However common it may be that things may not go according to plan for these women, they generally make more money than the average Dominican woman working in domestic or production zones- figures can reach five-times more per-client, than an average domincan female worker's monthly wages.
Many of the dreams of Sosuan workers for finding love or 'making it,' generally come from a small portion of the sex-worker population who have found men to regularly wire money or actually house the women. Often, the women return from Europe in much worse-off conditions, financially, but the dreams remain.
Unfortunately, many of the women are single mothers who have had children under the frequent practice of living together, without marriage, leaving the fathers of the children without legally-binding financial assistance, forcing mothers to work in accordance with immense financial pressure. While working, many of the women will open small businesses, fund other female relatives, rebuild or buy new homes and even open up bank accounts exclusively for their children. As a result of the flux of clientele during parts of the year and the exorbant housing prices, these women often find themselves barely covering a day in the city. Bribery is often a must in cases where women lose time in jails during the cut-throat off-season and many times these women return to their respective homes, just as poor as when they left.
Sosua became a sex-trade destination as a result of word-of-mouth interactions, one in particular explained Dominican women were more intense lovers than German women and especially grew in popularity with the internet and creation of the website, World Sex Guide, which details and rates experiences in different sex-working destinations. Brennan expresses that Dominican women are viewed as prostitutes around the world but calls to mind at the end of the piece that these women, however hopeful for success they may be and how bleak things generally turn out, they are the ones with the power.
I found this piece to be most enlightening on a thoroughly obscured niche line of work, and even more obscure group of people within the field. Often we are given the stories of women in very horrible living conditions but this offers a different perspective, where the women are in charge and create their own subculture to survive. However unsafe Sosua may be, a nod of respect must be given to these women for surviving this and enforcing their own law. I found the World Sex Guide to be disturbing, despite unfortunately not being shocked. Selling Sex for Visas brought to mind the debate on legalizing prostitution and eliminating the middle men, and how living conditions could change for individuals involved in this line of work. I'm sure it goes without saying that perhaps, even a bigger focus should be placed on international immigration laws. It is certainly a touchy subject, but I would love to hear other perspectives on the aforementioned matters. Do you think regulated prostitution would be beneficial?
One cannot help but applaud these women for the fire they have for a better life and persistence they show with every dream they have. It's an embodiment of the human spirit and a testament of the strength of women.
Wow Great Vanny, To answer your question I do not think that legalizing prostitution would be beneficial. Many of these women like you stated are single moms and want to live the dream of traveling out DR. However, some do live their families behind and regret it later on because they wanted to chase this dream. Many of these women are young and beautiful and feel like using their beauty as a form of work benefits them alot but they do not get to keep all the money there is someone who often controls the women and guides them sort of like the "bunny ranches" which operate in Las Vegas. The whole scenario of them selling their bodies for visas is very unfair and oftens lives a psychological toll on the women for dreaming to leave away with a white man. Though there are some success stories about this matter many of the man that go to Sosua are already married and maintain the women in DR as they go there to visit. Some put this dream in their heads stating they will move them over but never do because they dont leave their marriages as they state they would. There has even been stories out about these women having children with the European man and even than stay behind.. its sad and crazy. But hey what person who lives in a Third world country does not dream of a visa and a better living standard?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post because it was so interesting to read about something that I know well too much. Now, I only hear stories of course and never personal stories of the real women living these lives, only of the men recounting how stupid they feel when they realized they have fell for one of these womens' lies. The last one I heard was of this man that went to the airport to pick up his new wife, right here in New York, and she asked him "Is this New York?" he said yes and she was like alright "I think we are done here," meaning she left him right there on the spot. It is very easy to judge and say what these women are doing is degrading on so many levels but I liked that you took a completely optimistic view on the whole situation. I am one to say that they should legalize prostitution, immediately, but that's a different story. I am also forward to the idea that women should be allowed to enjoy the same sexual privileges that men do, however I am kind of torn when it comes to these women selling sex for visas. When you think about it, they are not really selling sex, they are selling marriages! I know exactly what kind of men these women in the Dominican Republic go after and it destroys their lives. My own uncle was one to fall for this and he suffered a stroke and is still in a wheel chair. My family blames the young "bimbo" he met in DR. Why? She played with his emotions, he fell for her and when he find out she was sleeping with some other guy, he literally had a stroke right on the spot. These women go for older, more gullible men that work their asses off in the United States to then spend their entire savings on a two month vacation in DR only to find these types of women who are automatically willing to give it all for marriage. They know exactly what kind of guys to prey on and at the end of it all they ultimately ruin their lives. I know it is powerful and strong to utilize the beauty God gave us, as women, to gain the things we need the most, like a better standard of living but not while destroying other people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be very interesting because I did not read the article with the same perspective. As a woman I believe that using sex for money or other benefits is not acceptable. I know that most women who prostitute themselves do it out of desperation and as an "advancement strategy," but I just think there has to be a better way. I don't know if I'd call it enlightening, but it was definitely informative to me since I never realized how extensive the sex tourism industry is. The fact that these Dominican women find the need to move to Sousa in the hopes of meeting a client that will free them from their financial burdens and take them away to a better place is sad. The fact that there are websites that tell these men where to find the "best sex" is disgusting. What is even worse is that we live in a society that not only allows this to happen, but that forces these women to use these so-called "savvy and resourceful" ways to attain a better life. When I think of those two adjectives, I usually think of opening a business or using a talent to benefit financially, and not of using sex to attain these goals. I do agree that this points to another topic that warrants further discussion, immigration laws. Perhaps if these were less stringent, these women could find the solution to their problems without using their bodies.
ReplyDeleteVanny325, I definitely agree with you. I can't judge these women's choices, but I just worry that prostitution will only damage them emotionally and psychologically, and those scars will be with them forever. I understand that they want a better living, doesn't everyone? But the unending negativity that results from that path of employment just isn't worth it, in my opinion. Maybe this is an idealist way of thinking, but if they could form a network for this goal, I think they can form a network to start a different sort of business to get them out of their situations. Of course it won't be easy, but at least they'll still have power without selling themselves.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very controversial because some may view it as selling sex for visas while others may view it as selling marriages. I think that they they are selling marriages for visas and of course the marriage includes activities you would participate in a relationship which is sex. The sad part is that not only women in the Dominican Republic does this. Many other people come to America illegally in hope of finding someone to marry them. I don't think that it is right what these women are doing. However, I can not judge them if they think that it is going to provide them with a better life and stability. Most likely it will because they wont be living in poverty and struggling as they would have back home. But at the same time are these women happy with these marriages when it comes down to it?
ReplyDeleteWow great post. It sad to see that women in Sosua have to resort to prostitution in order provide for their families. The dream of a better life makes it easier for these women to leave with these German tourists for the sake of a better life, not worrying too much about the consequences. I think this article is a great example of the measures that women living in impoverished societies are willing to take in order to escape the life that they live. To women like Andrea a Visas is a ticket to a better life and an escape from poverty which is why they are willing to marry without love and sell themselves. I think this is an interesting issue and it is a result of living in an impoverished society. It’s also interesting to see that these men are willing to travel so far to see these women which probably has a lot to do with the way they view Dominican women.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! to answer your question, i do believe the legalization of prostitution is beneficial. In regards to a women's safety. Women shouldn't have anyone telling them what they can and can not do with their body's. Before abortion was legalized it was done in unsafe places and ways. Women where being put in more harm by going to these unsafe places to get an abortion done. The same can be said for prostitution. giving women the right to make their own choices will not eliminate the dangers of prostitution completely but it will allow these women operate amongst their own terms.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting to read. It's sad that these women could find only this way to get out of poverty and from Dominican Republic.It is a risky and dangerous situation because they are exposed to diseases, even though it is their bodies and no one has the right thing to tell them what to do or not.Also, the male tourists see these women that are in need of money, so they take advantage of the situation for their own pleasure. Sosua is a dreamland for many of these women that come to this town and work hard to give their families or themselves a better life. One of the parts in the reading that got me mad was when a Dominican man tells some tourist that "Dominican women like to f..." It is unfortunate to hear that a person of their own country make such comments about women. He generalizes that all Dominican women are like that. Therefore, tourists would get that perspective of Dominican women.
ReplyDeleteNice post and comments, all of you. This is indeed a complex topic to discuss. We don't want turn all sex workers into mere victims who have no say in what they do (although we probably DO want to differentiate between those who choose take up sex work and those who are trafficked into sex work). We also may not want to move to legislate what a person can and cannot do with her body...That being said, how can we address sex work with some level of social justice? Doesn't this article remind you of something that Audre Lourde wrote? And what are the intersections of race and social class here?
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