The Blurred Lines of Western Sex Tourism in the Global South: A discourse analysis on the gendered and racialized narratives of German sex tourists in Pattaya, Thailand

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the case of German sex tourists who either travel or permanently move to Pattaya, Thailand. The aim is to understand how these men make sense of their involvement in the Thai sex tourism industry. A qualitative research design is employed, collecting data from three online documentaries. Applying both postcolonial critique and feminist theory, this thesis analyzes the gendered and racialized narratives of German men involved in Thai sex tourism. Through discourse analysis, particular attention within the analysis is paid to the men‘s self perception, how they portray and represent women, and how they frame the sex tourism industry. The findings show recurring patterns in the statements, including self-distancing from the identity of a sex tourist, constructing different identities for women to justify seeking companionship in the Global South instead of the West, and the denial or minimization of the industry’s exploitative structures. Additionally, the analysis shows that German men commonly tend to create different definitions of what constitutes a sex tourist and the industry itself, demonstrating how these boundaries get blurred. This is tied to scattered discourses on the involvement of emotions and financial factors, making it difficult to decipher whether an interaction is paid companionship, paid sex, or a paid relationship. Overall, the findings point towards strong notions of misogyny and Western male entitlement. They furthermore establish parallels with other misogynistic communities, demonstrating the diversity of misogynistic outputs when combined with racial components. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to feminist and post colonial IR by exposing how contemporary gendered Orientalist discourses are reproduced by Western men, how these shape their own behaviors, and the living realities of women in the Global South. It argues that sex tourism constitutes a form of neo-colonialism, reinforcing misogynistic and racial hierarchies. Furthermore, it concludes that by blurring the lines and definitions of what constitutes sex tourism and its clientele, Western sex tourists attempt to reframe and soften the narrative surrounding their involvement in the sex tourism industry in Southeast Asia.