On a Friday night in 2023, Monique Brasil, a 37-year-old Black community organizer, entered a swanky club in the Brazilian capital of São Paulo for a lively night with friends. As she approached the bar for a drink, a stranger came up to her, asking in an accent: “How much?”
She immediately discerned the situation: The man was a foreigner who had confused her for a sex worker. Startled, Brasil retreated to her friend group and decided to cut the night short. But as she left, the man trailed behind her and reached with his hand for her tightly curled locks.
“I was kind of scared,” Brasil tells Refinery29 Somos. While she considered confronting him, she knew she was at a disadvantage. “Many times when you say something to a man who is harassing you at the club and he’s a foreigner and white, you end up being the one at risk of being reported by the club. Not the white guy with money,” she explains.
After noticing the presence of her male friends, the stranger disappeared back into the club, but the events of that night and the fear and outrage they inspired stayed with her.
“As Latin America undergoes a tourism boom, an increasing number of visitors are American and European men looking to date or engage in casual sex with Latinas.”
cHRISTINA nORIEGA
As Latin America undergoes a tourism boom, an increasing number of visitors are American and European men looking to date or engage in casual sex with Latinas. Foreigners crop up routinely on apps like Tinder and Bumble. Guides to romancing Latin American women have multiplied online. And the Passport Bros — a movement of U.S. men going overseas for love — has soared in popularity, their videos obtaining millions of views on TikTok and YouTube.
But Latinas are now increasingly opening up about the unsettling experiences they’ve had with travelers. Some women, like Brasil, have been subjected to unwelcome comments and contact. Others have recoiled at the stereotypes that shape the way they approach Latinas. Now, some women are sharing their personal accounts on social media and opening up conversations about a largely normalized — and unspoken — facet of tourism in Latin America.
Andrea Guzmán, a 34-year-old yoga instructor, posted a TikTok video in 2023 about the Passport Bros after hearing of the sexist stereotypes they use in Mexico City, one of the new epicenters of Latin America’s tourism boom. In theory, the Passport Bros are pursuing love. But in practice, dating a Latina seems like another box on their to-do list, Guzmán tells Somos.
As a Mexico City native, Guzmán has seen the number of foreigners on dating apps and in upscale clubs explode over the years. But the trend is harmful partly because of the stereotypes that underlie it, she says. Foreigners will come up to her with one-liners like, “You’re caliente,” and reference stereotypes about Latin American women …read more
Source:: Refinery29
