Bananas, Beaches And Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics

Tourism is a big business, providing jobs and income for governments and private companies. As in many businesses, women in tourism make 10-15% less than men in the industry. Historically, women were instructed to stay close to home, while men were encouraged to travel. Nevertheless, women of diverse backgrounds were forced to travel as enslaved persons, indentured servants, and refugees. They, of course, provided no threat to power dynamics. However, women traveling for pleasure proved different. Women who traveled during the Victorian era, such as Mary Kingsley, defied expectations but did not completely flaunt tradition. Giving lectures about their travels, such women encouraged imperial pride in England. The concepts of adventurer and explorer, however, remained masculinized.

In 1876 and 1916, World’s Fairs promoted the notion of tourism. People could visit remote areas right at home, which helped “the public imagine an industrializing, colonizing global enterprise” (48). Juxtaposing technological innovations with pictures of Indigenous people in exotic environments, the Fairs touted the ideal of progress. Additionally, they implied that white men were on a civilizing mission. Women’s domestication in the US and England was one example of the worthiness of this mission. Enloe observes that women were viewers and viewed at these fairs, not actors. The contributions of women, which the Women’s Pavilion touted, did not challenge the patriarchal thinking behind the Fairs.

The tourism industry advertised certain women as exotic, encouraging men to travel to an area where they could “shed civilization’s constraints” (52). Thomas Cook revolutionized the tourist industry by offering prepackaged tours geared toward men and their families. Eventually, he offered tours for women on their own. In the 1850s, his company’s tours appealed to women seeking a tour chaperoned by an honorable man. Enloe comments that tourism has been shaped and reshaped by the workings of masculinity and femininity.

Commercial tourism symbolizes a country’s entrance into the global community. When a government decides to rely on tourism for its economic benefit, it must ensure that women traveling alone are safe. Women must ensure conformity with cultural norms, such as modes of dress. Early in the 21st century, Caribbean countries made tourism central to their economies. India, where local women’s rights had been disparaged, passed laws and made changes after a brazen gang rape went viral. Because tourism represented 6% of the country’s gross national product, the government clamped down on sexual assault: The Thomas Cook company offered tours for women only, and luxury hotels had corridors, staffed with women, specifically for women traveling alone. Without such international attention, Enloe doubts that the rights of Indian women would be protected.

Owned by wealthy men, beauty pageants are sometimes a means to promote tourism. Women who compete have tightly controlled diets, modes of dress, and behavior. When an Icelandic woman won such a contest, the tourism industry advertised young blonde women to entice North American and European men to come. One advertisement used the slogan, “One Night Stands” (62).

Originally, all officers aboard ships were men. By the mid-20th century, ships employed women to wait on female passengers. In the 21st century, hundreds of women work in the cruise industry. The first airline companies sought only male pilots even though women were in the first generation of pilots. Initially, even the flight attendants were men, but then female nurses assumed the role, and it was quickly feminized. Women working as flight attendants (originally called stewardesses) organized because of a deterioration of in-flight working conditions and the trend of male executives sexualizing stewardesses for the sake of marketing. Harassed by male passengers, flight attendants organized and won equal pay, protection against sexist uniforms, and the right to work after marriage. In the 21st century, a push to roll back some of these gains is underway.

In the tourism industry, 90% of the low-wage workers are women. Cleaning, cooking, and serving are considered women’s work, and women are poorly paid for that work all over the world, including in places like the Caribbean, China, and the Philippines. Nevertheless, the international tourist trade depends on chambermaids and other female workers. Three areas of global tourism offer jobs for women: artisan craft production, food production, and leading all-women local tours. Enloe cites the example of women trekking guides in the Himalayas. However, these opportunities are insufficient to change the tourism industry’s gendered politics.

Before its reputation as a gay- and lesbian-friendly tourist destination, Thailand appealed to heterosexual men looking for women. In 1960, the country passed the Entertainment Places Act, which (via loopholes) enabled restaurants to offer sex work. Enloe highlights the shared features of sex tourism, which encourages men to travel for sex, and sex trafficking, which forces people into sexual enslavement. Both are gendered, political, international, patriarchal, and commercialized. She notes the importance of learning how women and girls entered sex work, the conditions of their lives, and their opportunities to leave sex work. Complex alliances move people (who do not wish to go) across borders. Destination countries for trafficked women include Thailand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the US. These women come from countries affected by economic crisis, natural disasters, and militarized violence that drives people to become refugees.

Governments and corporations depend on tourism, which they believe diversifies economies, provides foreign currency, spurs social development, secures the loyalty of local elites, and raises international visibility and prestige. Many of these beliefs have proved untrue. The structure of international tourism, though, requires patriarchy to exist and grow. Thus, Enloe asserts that the actions of all women, from tourists to chambermaids, are internationally political.