Buying Bodies: Sex Tourism and Mid-Century Travel Posters

Sex, Lies and Red Tape: An overview of sex tourism, legalities and constraints of tourism from a postcolonial state.

BWIA Caribbean Travel Poster

A Neocolonial Conceptualization of Fantasy.

Vintage Caribbean travel posters such as BWIA: The Airline of the Caribbean created in the mid-twentieth century are currently being idolized, collected and sold by the thousands through novelty art shops andonline vendors. These posters are largely viewed as decorative accoutrements; for most, they are a visual placeholder reminiscent of a past trip or act as a visual cue for desired travel goals. However, while seemingly innocuous to the casual viewer, these posters can be seen as idealistically transforming our notions of “the foreigner” through the process of Orientalism while intersecting the notions of power and human commodity in the sex tourism trade. This analysis aims to research and illustrate how these images have shaped the historical, political and social implications of tourism dependent economies and their exploited identity through the ethical lens of Edward Said’s theories of Neocolonialism and his conversations surrounding the idea of Orientalism. Which leads to the question: What, exactly, do these images represent? And, how have these classic posters perpetuated problematic ideas of fantasy and the exotic impacting the commoditization of humans in the sex tourism trade?

“For decades destinations [in the Caribbean] have been saddled with images of smiling natives, often [scantily clad], shuffling under limbo bars with frothy fruit and rum drinks, much to the delight of the world’s [tourists]…” [1]

Sex Tourism and COVID-19:

The decision to analyze and ethically review the mid-century modern poster, BWIA: The Airline of the Caribbean, comes on the heels of a larger research graduate project directly dedicated to mass tourism and the impact the industry has on the degradation of historical destinations through ever expanding capitalist societies focused on western ideals of sales and consumption. With the current situation of COVID-19, it would be remiss to not address the enormous impact this pandemic has placed, not only on global travel industry leaders, corporations and workers, but in addition, the wholly devastated destinations relying on travel and tourism as their main source of national income. Previously, the focus of my research work had been mainly dedicated to those areas of the industry where tourism negatively impacts local lives. It is safe to say the pandemic has powerfully shifted so many of these priorities from: how can we do better to, paradoxically, how do we begin again? Arguably the most productive and powerful change or new beginning in conversations should come from the historical over- consumption and degradation of places and people to viable, sustainable and ecologically sound travel solutions for those working in and relying on the industry. However, these solutions should painstakingly take into account the historical trajectory of the travel boom of the mid-century and apply the lessons of postcolonialism and neocolonialism to begin to address the significant losses occurring within local culture through the tourist trope. Additionally, we need to begin to prioritize the troublesome lessons of neocolonialism in the next wave of travel as it opens post COVID-19. I believe my work in this research can assist in envisioning a more responsible travel industry aimed at an empathetic response supporting sustainable growth and equity for all travel destinations. The focus of this analysis seeks to show the historical response to travel marketing tactics and how these messages, close to 100 years later, continue to negatively impact the destinations that tourism, and sex tourism specifically, serves.

Hung in homes and businesses and prized for their colorful aesthetic value and nostalgia, vintage Caribbean travel posters of the mid twentieth century are currently sold by the thousands—whether as collector’s originals or printed copy. The original British West Indian Airlines poster, BWIA: The Airline of the Caribbean, analyzed for this writing is currently valued at The Vintage Poster, a retailer in southern California, starting at $970. Prints and similar closely appropriated imagery can be purchased anywhere between $15 and $50, depending on size and framing options. It is not surprising the fantasy-like marketing images adorning our living and entertaining spaces were largely created by white, Western or European influenced male advertising executives working for airlines such as Delta, British Airways and Pan American Airlines. While created during the boom of mass tourism circa 1930-1970, these images are still perpetuated today through these collections, creating a false sense of reality and continuing to pin and promote an Orientalist era through fantasy even in the minds of the modern tourist.

Inspiration, Review and Method:

The primary theoretical filter used for this analysis begins with Edward W. Said. Said, in reference to Orientalism (a way of seeing, imagining, fantasizing or distorting differences in culture), discusses at length how Postcolonialism places the Westerner in a state of positional superiority so the “will” towers over others, “it’s will to power, and will to govern…”.[2] Postcolonial theorists like Said have been concerned with investigating the various trajectories of modernity, applied here as mid-century modernity in marketing messages, as a range of philosophical, cultural, and historical perspectives. Said’s Postcolonial theory has been used to decode tropes by which art, literature and the media marginalize, distort, manufacture and represent cultures.[3] The culture itself is created through a cultural hegemonic western lens and representation is made through fantasized differences. Cultural hegemony is derived from a Marxist philosophy calling attention to the rise of one culture over another, meaning, essentially, the power of majority rules. This cultural economic benefit persuades if not completely intimidates the colonized group into the belief that profits for both cultures outweigh the losses, a kind of dehumanizing mutual benefit. In this way, the colonizing culture is able to maintain their superior status.[4] During the mid-century Postcolonial era, the progression of tourism slogans attempted to encapsulate the Caribbean’s special character and lure for foreign visitors in business—and yet mostly for pleasure. “So near and yet so far” is a single example of the colonial slogans featuring the appealing Caribbean meets West trope. As evidenced, Westerners are still currently drawn to these highly accessible mid-century travel posters providing a glimpse into the past, and the Caribbean “culture” that attracted tourists from the same middleclass traveling boom of the mid-twentieth century. An influencer for this work is Kamala Kempadoo. Kempadoo is a Professor in the Department of Social Science at York University in Canada and is affiliated with Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Kempadoo’s Caribbean sex work research is embedded in Postcolonialism, which is concerned with the aftermath of colonialism, situated as a survived experience.[5] Colonial experiences that have adversely affected the culture still remain behind.[6] According to Kempadoo, Postcolonialism can also be use to describe the need to rescue and rethink the history and the agency of people subordinated.[7] To some degree, Edward Said echoes this by saying, “… the science or discourse of anthropology depends upon the silence of the Other. The alternative would be a representational system that was participatory and collaborative, non-coercive, rather than imposed, but as you know, this is not a simple matter.”[8]

While Postcolonialism can signal a possible future of overcoming colonialism, new ideas of subordination and domination become apparent, including new forms of global commoditization; commoditization of people for sex work, used specifically for the purpose of this analysis. And, according to Kempadoo, Postcolonialism should not be confused with an idea or quick fix of the world we live in now claiming it is now devoid of colonialism.[9] Enter Neocolonialism as the continued exercise of political or economic influence over a society in the absence of formal political control. According to Said, one of the more complicated aspects of Neocolonialism is its definition. The environment in which the term Neocolonialism was coined was quite unique. Post WWII saw the fast decolonization of many countries previously subject to Western/European rule. The term “Neocolonialism” has been used to describe the ongoing relationship colonies keep with their former colonizer.[10] Because Neocolonialism developed as a concept in this post-war period, a great deal of focus was put on the remaining rela-tionship. This kind of relationship, seen as hegemony, paints a very clear picture of Neocolonialism with respect to the relations between post war Americans and the Caribbean as a fantasy destination.[11]

Sex, Lies and Red Tape: An overview of sex tourism, legalities and constraints of tourism from a postcolonial state.

Tourism today accounts for one of the largest global economic sectors. In the Caribbean, it accounts for a whopping 70% of the national income. Originally, the Caribbean was promoted heavily in the 1960’s as a destination not only inexpensive for the middle class, but these cluster of islands were also touted as “close and yet so far”, underpinning Orientalist attitudes [see fig.2]. Western tourism leaders, along with the actual consent of Caribbean nations have used a strategy of neocolonialism to diversify and overcome postcolonial economic crises.[12] Additionally, the Caribbean, with few employment opportunities and sub-standard living conditions in the postcolonial era, had women and girls flocking to more densely-populated tourist areas in search of sexual employment and although illegal (not enforced — and interestingly, it’s the workers that are ticketed or jailed, and not the tourist), sex tourism then and now has become a major component of the Caribbean’s successful tourism industry. While it isn’t possible to obtain the exact statistics on the number of sex tourists and sex workers in the Caribbean due to its poor accounting as a whole, the Caribbean has seen female and child prostitution become a major income generator, perpetuating a dire and unbalanced global economy for the region.[13] Tourists from everywhere in the world can book weekend sex tours from the convenience of their laptops and command female sex workers as easy as ordering a cocktail in their favorite bar. There is significant growing evidence to support women seeking men and same sex tourism as an emerging economic commodity. For example, some might remember the movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Unfortunately, while interesting and important, there is insufficient time to cover that additional topic in this writing. For the purposes of this paper, I will relate the imagery in my analysis to the most common and traditional type of sex tourism—men seeking women. Because of the Caribbean’s reliance on marketing messages to support the economy through its clear dependence on tourism, the region continues to be a haven for those in the upper and middle class in search of cheap luxury and prostitutes, just as was purported during the golden age of mass tourism.[14] While Sex Tourism is a global issue, it might be surprising to some that the Caribbean has one of the highest rates of sex tourism globally. As stated previously, this industry of sex work in the Caribbean is extremely profitable for the nation, and obviously the tourist market's role in sex tourism raises questions about how we sell and market images of Caribbean culture within the tourism industry.

Fake News: Marketing Images and Semiotics

To address the visual analysis of these vintage marketing tools and how they influence modern behavior, the poster entitled BWIA: The Airline of the Caribbean [see figure 1] is a classic representation of marketing messaging in the mid-century travel boom by British West Indian Airlines. The original poster has no known date of release. However, it can be assumed this poster came into circulation around 1960 based on the airline’s history. British West Indian Airlines (or BWIA), was based in Trinidad as a held subsidiary of British Airways. In 1960, BWIA began its direct service for tourists to and from the United States. The advertising poster [see figure1] features what might crudely be considered an indigenous woman with an ambiguous skin tone; not brown, not white, but perhaps red. She is dressed in beach bikini style dress and dancing the limbo as a monkey and parrot hold opposite ends of the limbo pole. On the woman’s head is a fruit bowl style hat perceived to be filled with pineapple, banana, mango and passionfruit. The woman, herself, is situated between animals harkening back to Darwinism, which concludes women’s brains are actually equal to that of animals. Her figure and skin tone classically represent the ideals of Orientalism; the savage of another land with her exotic animal friends and hat teeming with the semiotics of sexual abundance disguised at fruit. According to Caribbean farming lore, the monkey in Caribbean culture is revered for its clever and emotive nature. But, interestingly, the culture itself sees these animals as displaying the ideals of revenge and remorse.[15] The parrot is also classically known in the Caribbean for its association with fertility and unfulfilled desires. On one end, fertility and desire, on the other, remorse and revenge; a rather classic yet forbidden sexual combination. Also interesting are the semiotics of the limbo pole. While it might on first look seem clear the pole could represent a substitution for the sexual partner, the dance itself has a unique and troubled past. Originally, the limbo was a nineteenth century funeral dance meant to symbolize the spirit crossing over to the afterworld, or the bondage of slaves entering the galley of a slave ship. In the 1950’s, not surprisingly, the American military adopted this dance for its own pleasure, where it became a sought after and expected part of an American tourist package to the Caribbean in the very next decade.[16]

While the author and designer of this poster is unknown, a clear parallel to western influence can be seen through the work of other notable designers in the tourism trade. Other notable travel boom designers include Ferguson Dewar. Dewar’s biographical in

formation is scant, but his early work as a freelance artist in the 1950s included illustrations for articles in Woman's Own magazine, packaging artwork for Hollands Toffees and advertisements for the P&O Cruise Line and Murraymints. Also notable was Czech

illustrator, Miroslav Sasek. Sasek’s designed a set of reissued children’s travel books entitled This Is… , a series completed in 1959. Sasek continued to capture worldly

destinations like London, Israel, Munich, San Francisco and Hong Kong, with his notable mid-century style. These influences are significant in that the artists generating the images for travel are primarily derivative of Western or European ideation, white and male, looking to define the exotic of another land, and perpetuating the travel industry’s vested interests in the status quo.

During the colonial era, Western writers and artists tended to characterize local Caribbean residents in one of two ways. Either, first, they exoticized cultures as distant and alien, or second, they domesticated and reduced local residents to fit into a colonial tendency; i.e., the limbo dancing exotic woman and her animals are sexually intriguing, and exoticized.[17] Both a culturally fetishized image and a socio-political statement, BWIA’s Caribbean poster (and others like it) combine a sexual image and ideal

ized Caribbean vacation alongside a troubling message about colonial power relationships. The sex tourist can easily interpret this imagery as empirical evidence that Caribbean culture combined with sexual discourse is a way of life and not prostitution while ensuring the sex tourist is justified of his cultural superiority and prowess as male.[18] This can also be translated to male gendered power in the western world and its perceived constraints on western women’s movements of today, further perpetuating the notions of the Orientalist and Neocolonialism.[19]

“Illustrations in advertisements are not merely analogues to visual perception, but symbolic artifacts constructed from the conventions of a particular culture”. -Linda Scott

Fantasies are complicated by a range of framings, drawing on history to portray the islands as a sexually permissive, pleasurable, seductive and sensuous destinations, pervasive not only in the U.S., but also to the colonized themselves. Indra Munshi for Kempadoo writes: “[People] are always inclined to attribute perfection to those who have defeated and subjugated them. This can be part of an explanation as to why the practice continues to grow at the hand of not just Westerners, but to some degree, the locals as well.”[20] While this isn’t to conclude the locals are to blame, but rather, much like the abused, perhaps sometimes it’s easier for a culture to put up with ideologies, or go along with the fantasy and become intercultural. The rhetoric of BWIA poster image, in circulation or collected, continues the discourse of domination. Kempadoo writes:

“Certainly, Caribbean vacations are often marketed with the promise of sexual pleasure and for many Western male tourists are intimately entwined with notions of eroticized and sexually available local women. Highly sexualized images of Caribbean women held by the tourist rests on assumptions. Assumptions that the ambitions of the objectified is to be desirable to the western man. Alternatively, these women are not recognized by western men as prostitutes, but rather women, poor and uneducated that genuinely enjoy sex with them. Basically Marcia (not her real name) is not a real hooker, but a very attractive and horny girl who likes to make a bit of extra money (much needed in Jamaica). In return, if you treat her right, she’ll give you a great time with no hassle. ‘There’s plenty of village girls like this around Negril and Montego Bays [sic] these days’. The idea that the young [Caribbean] women are naturally sexy and desire to have sex with much older men (sometimes quite senior and overweight) white men for pleasure

enables tourists to deny any exploitative aspects of their relationship with the Caribbean.”[21]

Globalization, a form of homogenization, is arguably one of the most powerful forces affecting the tourism and sex tourism industry today. For example, Starbucks recently opened its largest European franchise in Florence. These and other troubling global homogenic trends can be directly related to the practice of Neocolonialism. We can conclude while the term “globalization” may feel more diverse, the reality is this is homogenization and more composed of western ideals. These culturally hegemonic practices actually reduce the influence of other cultures, leading to a “global culture” that is essentially of the west. Therefore, the fantasy remains well past the mid-century modern ideals.[22]

Sex, Power and COVID-19 Conclusions:

Who hasn’t on occasion dreamt of a sun-drenched tropical island vacation on a dark and dreary February day? This analysis is not about a moral panic, or an abolitionist sentiment, but rather bringing to the forefront the practice of market messaging

through the historic use of Orientalism as it perpetuates power. There is nothing inherently wrong in giving women choices over their own legitimization and agency in the practice of sex tourism. However, prostitution is the very act of objectification and dehumanizing another, particularly from a western male perspective. Sex tourism, therefore, is about control and dehumanization. Sex tourism continues a traditional western discourse which rests heavily on the fantasized notions of superiority against a backdrop of “barbarous” third world. My argument that BWIA’s mid-century poster perpetuates the sex tourism trade in a negative way is based in the perpetual circle of power, not choice. The more economies rely on tourism through the sex trade and women as its main commodity, the more this becomes a power cycle. The simple act of traveling to the Caribbean to indulge in vacation and service sets the tourist in a privileged position against the backdrop of the local working person.

“In the Third World, Neocolonial relations of power equip Western sex tourists with an extremely high level of control over themselves and others as sexual beings and, as a result, with the power to realize the fantasy of their choosing.”[23]

This is an example of a long-standing gendered and economic power between a tourist and local, and alternatively between wealthy and poor nations. The mid-century marketing images of the past continue to influence the actions of the present. BWIA’s

poster stands as a historical example and important indicator of how to define, encounter and relate to a population on a go-forward. The myths and stereotypes of the past provide legitimate and timely reasons for reevaluating the next conversation a new tourism world post COVID-19.

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[1] Palmer, Catherine A. 1994. “Tourism and Colonialism.” Annals of Tourism Research 21 (4): 792–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(94)90084-1. [2] Said, Edward W. 2002. Power, Politics, and Culture: Interviews with Edward W. Said. Vintage [3] Said, Edward W. 2003. Orientalism : Edward W. Said. New York: Vintage Books. [4] Palmer, Catherine A. 1994. “Tourism and Colonialism.” Annals of Tourism Research 21 (4): 792–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(94)90084-1. [5] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [6] Burney, Shehla. 2012. “CHAPTER TWO: Edward Said and Postcolonial Theory: Disjunctured Identities and the Subaltern Voice.” Counterpoints 417: 41–60. www.jstor.org/stable/42981699 [7] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [8] Said, Edward W. 2002. Power, Politics, and Culture: Interviews with Edward W. Said. Vintage. [9] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [10] Palmer, Catherine A. 1994. “Tourism and Colonialism.” Annals of Tourism Research 21 (4): 792–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(94)90084-1. [11] Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. 2013. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Soft Exoticism and the Aesthetics of Diversity.” In Essays: Exploring The Global Caribbean, edited by Susan Robertson, 63–73. 12 Back Chapman Street, New castle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. [12] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [13] Brennan, Denise. 2004. What’s Love Got to Do With It?: Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic. Edited by Walter D. Mignolo, Irene Silverblatt, and Sonia Saldivar-Hull. Duke University Press. [14] Palmer, Catherine A. 1994. “Tourism and Colonialism.” Annals of Tourism Research 21 (4): 792–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(94)90084-1. [15] Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. 2013. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Soft Exoticism and the Aesthetics of Diversity.” In Essays: Exploring The Global Caribbean, edited by Susan Robertson, 63–73. 12 Back Chapman Street, New castle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing [16] Ibid. [17] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempadoo. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield [18] “From Bleeding Hearts to Critical Thinking: Exploring the Issue of Human Trafficking Edited by Kamala Kempadoo and Darja Davydova Centre for Feminist Research.” n.d. Accessed April 26, 2020. [19] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield [20] Ibid. [21] Kempadoo, Kamala. 2004. Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race, and Sexual Labor. New York: Routledge. 2009. Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and Sex Work in the Caribbean. Edited by Kamala Kempado. Lanham, Md [U.A.] Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [22] Ballengee-Morris, Christine. 2002. “Cultures for Sale: Perspectives on Colonialism and Self-Determination and the Relationship to Authenticity and Tourism.” Studies in Art Education 43 (3): 232. https://doi.org/10.2307/1321087. [23] “From Bleeding Hearts to Critical Thinking: Exploring the Issue of Human Trafficking Edited by Kamala Kempadoo and Darja Davydova Centre for Feminist Research.” n.d. Accessed April 26, 2020.