The Question
Dear Erica,
This morning I read TSL described as a sex tourism site on someone’s tumblr blog. In your opinion what is the definition of sex tourism and is TSL encouraging it / a sex tourism site?
The Answer
Dear reader,
Gosh. We’ve had some pretty bad things said about our site, but this takes the cake. This takes the whole bakery. If this person had actually read our site, or the definition of sex tourism, s/he might be informed enough to make a decent contribution to the oozing masses of tumblr blogs.
I see the confusion – travel + sex = sex tourism. Just like when they sent a dog into space, that was space dogging.
We are not a sex tourism site. We are a travel site that talks about travel sex.Travel sex and sex tourism are not the same thing. They have about as much in common as brushing your teeth and using your toothbrush to gouge out the eyes of a kitten.
Let me explain the difference.
Sex tourism is when men from developed countries travel to developing countries with the express intention of paying for sex. This often involves illegal activities such as having sex with children.
Travel sex is when people travel to other countries, meet someone they are attracted to and have sex with them, because that’s what people do.
TravelSexLife is a site about the latter. We do not run down the paedo hotspots of the world, give top 5 lists in where the prostitutes are cheapest or take votes on underage boys vs underage girls.
While we’re at it, let me take a moment to say something that will divide opinion, but also happens to be true. Sex tourism is vile. Even if it’s travelling to a particular country because you find men or women from that country particularly alluring (an ironic shout out to the guy who emailed us asking where in Japan he could find women to fulfil his rape fantasy). Sex tourism objectifies entire nations of people. Men, women and children of a country become tourist attractions, things, a means of entertainment.
A man, woman or small child, a person with a name and arms and stories and favourite songs, becomes nothing more than a rental car for acts deemed wrong in the tourist’s own culture. And why do these people allow themselves to become a pervert’s receptacle? Because they are desperate. And the tourist knows it. He exploits that desperation. Would people really pimp out their children if they could survive any other way?
It’s probably clear by now – that is not what we’re about.
Our aim is to start a conversation about a little-discussed topic. We want travel and sex bloggers to talk about their experiences – sometimes we give platforms to people who aren’t writers, but have a story. We have even, on occasion, given platforms to people whose views we don’t necessarily agree with (in the hope you’ll form your own opinion).
But sex tourists? I’ll speak directly to them: close this window. Leave this site. There is nothing here for you. Off you go, you hideous, sick, “but-I’m-good-for-the-economy”, moral-relativist scum. We’ll happily take the bounce rate.
Toodles.
Erica
Picture: Pattaya Today
