Gringo Love: Stories of Sex Tourism in Brazil by Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan (review)

Abstract

W is sex tourism? Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan asks this question in one of the appendices to her graphic novel, noting that the answer is not a simple one and that her book opts to provide possible definitions rather than definitive answers. In fact, throughout the book, she makes clear that Gringo Love is less about what sex tourism is and more about how it is experienced by the book’s protagonists and operated by diverse state and non-state interests in Ponta Negra, Natal, Brazil. With Gringo Love, Carrier-Moison along with William Flynn who adapted the research to the graphic format and Brazilian freelance illustrator Débora Santos have created an engaging, nuanced look at the complexities of sexual economies. The core themes of the book are introduced early and woven throughout: how anti-sex tourism campaigns are heavily raced and classed, the tenuous and blurred lines between romance and money, and the centrality of the women’s relationships with one another for support, guidance, and solidarity. The graphic novel follows Carol, the main character, and her friends Ester, Sofia, Luana, and Amanda as they navigate sexual economies in Natal. Carrier-Moisan’s character “Eva” in the story plays an important role as a narrator, friend, and anthropologist who reflects on the diverse challenges of ethnographic fieldwork in the “Fieldnotes” section breaks. “Part I: Arrivals” opens with a sensationalistic journalistic story and police operations to crack down on “sex tourism.” The decision to start the graphic novel this way foregrounds and locates the women’s stories in the