Jineterismo
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Jineterismo is a term used in Cuba to describe a number of illegal or semi-legal economic activities related to tourism in Cuba, outside the government proscribed norms. These activities include prostitution and pimping, as well as other forms of hustling, such as selling black-market and counterfeit goods. The term derives from the Spanish jinete meaning horserider. The word jinetera means "jockey" in Continental and Standard Spanish,[1] but in Cuban slang is a female sex-worker. A jinetero is a pimp, or a hustler. (A male prostitute is called a pinguero.) Jineteras in Cuba earn between US$5 and US$200 for sexual encounters with foreigners.[2]
Sex tourism, indeed prostitution generally, has been officially prohibited in Cuba.[3] However, this has not reduced its prevalence.[citation needed] One reason that sex tourists may select Cuba over other destinations is the low rate of HIV infection within the Cuban population,[4] and it has been argued that Jinetaras have played a significant role in Cuba's tourism boom.[5]
According to commentators such as Cynthia Pope, the issues surrounding prostitution and jineterismo in Cuba are shaped by "the political ideology that female sex work is an extension of pre-Revolutionary U.S. imperialism and colonialism."[6] One such commentator, Lisa Wixon, compares jineteras more to the heterai of ancient Greece than modern prostitutes.[7]
[edit] External links
- James McKinley Jr., Cuba Counters Prostitution With AIDS Programs, New York Times
- Dirty Blonde and Half-Cuban by Lisa Wixon - a novel based on the experiences of a jinetera
- Casi Rubia en la Isla del Deseo by Lisa Wixon - a Spanish-language novel based on the experiences of a jinetera
- Natasha Fatah, Tourism in Cuba: Breeding a nation of hustlers, CBC News
- Ashlee Vance, Bush's search for clean Cuban hookers goes awry, The Register
- Mariela Castro Espín, María D. Córdova Llorca and Lauren Bardisa Escurras, Cuba: Significant Unconventional Sexual Behaviors
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Cynthia Pope, "The Political Economy of Desire: Geographies of Female Sex Work in Havana, Cuba," Journal of International Women's Studies 6, no. 2 (June 2005): pp.101
- ^ Pope:103.
- ^ http://www.protectionproject.org/cuba.doc
- ^ Pope:112.
- ^ Jineterismo during the Special Period
- ^ Pope:108.
- ^ http://www.harpercollins.ca/global_scripts/product_catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=006072174X&tc=ai Lisa Wixon interview in relation to her novel Dirty Blonde and Half-Cuban
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