No the reason the white women travel to Africa is because in Africa whiteness is viewed as a social currency of social, economic, and political power. The white women want to feel sexy and in control. I cannot believe people are defending the racism of the European women here? So what if the African men aren’t complaining they are poor, they are the ones with less options.

I am surprised nobody pointed out the “other” reason the rich white women are travelling to Africa for sex. There are racist stereotypes about black male sexuality we all know about. Some white European women are in search for the big black penis. Let’s just be real and honest here. Society has a love/hate relationship with black men. Meanwhile I bet some of these rich white Western women some of them probably think this is female empowerment and feminism. I see it as misandrist, racist, and sexist as well. Why is the sexism and racism of white women socially acceptable? Just because the young African men are male does not mean they are not being exploited. I also take offense to the racist assumption of the article that “only” the black men could have sexually transmitted diseases. The European women are not victims here and they are not wallflowers. The European women can also have sexually transmitted diseases and they could be INFECTING the African men. Yet the Reuters article never “framed” it that way. Once again, the white female victim stereotype exist. No the white women here may be old but they are no victims they are simply taking advantage of young black men and exploiting them because they are poor.

Its been over 2 generations since colonialism was defeated,

Funny you say that as several Indian classmates and a cousin of mine who worked for years in management organizational consulting with multinational corporations in India have noticed and told me about the neo-colonial dynamics whenever the multinationals held business functions or parties. Several of them have noted it was as if they were living the life of elite British colonials during the British Raj…complete with waiters costumed in period servant costumes…and walls to keep out the rest of the local population.

Do (assumedly) post-menopausal white women buy casual sex in the U.S., at all? Or is “the black continent” the only place where they can be visible, propelled by economic superiority?

Of course wealthy women buy sex in this country! Ever heard the term ‘boy-toy’? Are there many or is the image of older women having sex at all in western society welcome enough for older women or even more, their younger counterparts to be able to score points for public exposure? No, I don’t think so. So we’ll probably never know how many men portend affection or exchange their virility to entertain for favors or direct payments from older, wealthy women.

Also, as someone who’s lived most of my adult life extremely poor, I’d make the guess that economics plays the larger part in the choices that indigenous men make when choosing to cavort with older white western female tourists.

Of course a power imbalance exists, but I’m sure that those men or women who are able to secure someone who is relatively harmless to them and easily controlled/manipulated in exchange for an easy flow of cash, feel that they in fact, hold more power than working in a factory or as a servant/waiter/porter or whatever low level, low paying position is open to them.

The real story is that like so much of the western intrusions into other social systems, cash rules over all and subsequently, like a slow dry rot under the shingles, eats away unseen at the social fabric of the local people leaving a gaping hole of ruin to the most important relationships; that of the family unit.

You can reframe the issue and create strawman arguments all you want. You can also pretend it doesn’t exist in a context and backdrop and fail to address those points. That doesn’t change the fact that this has nothing to do with people “finding joy on their own terms” but rather that’s your being disengenuous or not wanting to look at the situation for what it is.

“While you may not be sex starved, I think its mildly pathological when people can’t leave others in their bedrooms alone.”

Do you see the hypocrasy in this statement and the one you made previously?

At any rate, pointing out classism and colonialism – not to mention direct or indirect racism – in priviledged white women flying to poor countries for sexual encounters in exchange for money isn’t about the issue of *sex*, its about the power imbalace and history of political/racial/class subjecation and you know it. Afterall if these elements didn’t exist then this wouldn’t be happening, as Joseph makes quite clear. Yet there would still be sex in the world.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the sex trade is all driven by Whitey. Until recently, it was pretty openly considered a job benefit for Japanese corporate guys.

Shorter Micky: Man, I wish it was me going overseas and getting some! How dare you criticize those living out my fantasy!

Tell me, the academics you know, they don’t get any? Because the academics I know don’t really have that problem.

Without going into too much detail, if you knew all the things I did this past weekend, “puritan” would be the last descriptor you’d think of.

And yet, I still find sexual relations based on power imbalance and the vestiges of colonialism to be, to turn a phrase, sketchy as all fuck.