On “gringos” and “natives”: gender and sexuality in the context of international sex tourism in Fortaleza, Brazil

Abstract

Drawing on research carried out about male European heterosexual sex tourists and young, low income local women, this paper explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, nationality, class and colour in the context of a modality of international sex tourism in Fortaleza, the state capital of Ceara in Northeastern Brazil.Focusing on relationships that include prostitution and romance, it argues that for understanding the dynamics of transnational encounters attention is recquired on how those differences are set in motion amid foreigners' and local people's reciprocal perceptions.