
Don’t tell me about your trip to Southeast Asia - allenleein
https://medium.com/@coligadinha/dont-tell-me-about-your-trip-to-southeast-asia-8c4a842b54e5
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jacknews
So it's ok to buy an amazingly cheap fast-fashion dress or other stuff
produced by near-subsistence labor in these countries, or have them do your
payroll, transcribe your insurance applications, etc in BPO farms, but not to
actually visit them in person.

If you're male. Or especially, male and white.

I see.

~~~
jonballant
The sentiment of the article is not that there is anything wrong as a white
male going to visit these countries. Its how westerners behave while they are
over there and the way they interact with locals. By all means go visit in
person, just take the time to learn a bit about their culture. People seem to
treat SE Asia like its a giant amusement park and not a group of countries
where large population live every day.

~~~
jacknews
The sentiment is exactly that white males shouldn't visit these places - or at
least she doesn't want to hear about it, it says so in the very title.

And she's quite pointedly attempting to paint any such visit or presence as
sex tourism.

If her point had been direct, to decry tourists (white or not, male or not,
heterosexual or not) getting sex "on the cheap" in impoverished nations, we
might agree. But then we'd also have to decry the way corporations and
financial capitalism gets other forms of labor and resources on the cheap in
impoverished nations, and a whole lot of other arguments. Sex is not some
magic pixie dust, to be bestowed by royal fairies, after all; it's just
another thing people do.

~~~
jonballant
She does seem to make two separate points which is perhaps the flaw in this
article. On one hand she is pointing to the economic disparity the locals face
compared to the Western Tourists, but at the same time she cannot seem to help
herself from commenting on the "sexual tourism" that as she points out has
"been on her mind".

"To boast of cutting corners in countries where human beings depend on literal
dollars, table scraps of your hourly income, to feed their families for entire
weeks holds no repute for me." <This is the point I was arguing and I can see
her point of view. (I also have no problem with financial capitalism and
corporations seeking out cheaper labor and resources as long as it is humane).

However to broadbrush all White Western Males in Asia as individuals on a Sex
Holiday goes too far.

~~~
jacknews
"To boast of cutting corners in countries where human beings depend on literal
dollars, table scraps of your hourly income, to feed their families for entire
weeks holds no repute for me."

The thing is that capitalism does indeed thrive on cutting corners in these
kinds of situations, albeit often indirectly, by selecting the most "cost
effective" supplier, building the factory in low-tax, or low-labor-protection
states, and so on.

It's no different when Nike, or even the more enlightened conglomerates, do it
than when an individual privileged white male imperialist tourist does it.
It's just more personal, rather than systematic, perhaps.

But I suspect the systematic pressure is much more damaging than disrespectful
tourists. And since when have tourists been known to be respectful anyway, in
SEA or anywhere.

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dvfjsdhgfv
It's the first time I used "flag" on HN. It's quite difficult to understand
the conclusion of the article among racist remarks and anti-white-male
sentiment.

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tombh
I'm British and been in and around Asia about 18 months now. I agree with the
article's sentiment. I might even take it a step further to say that such
tourism is a metaphor for the West's relationship with Asia. I'm currently in
China where the majority of my, and I suspect your, material possessions where
manafactured. It is such an alien culture to me yet it is fundamental to how I
live my daily life no matter where I reside. This disparity reminds me of the
article's distaste for Westerners mindlessly enjoying SE Asia. Perhaps in a
way it's as if the entirety of the West is having a "holiday" in China?

~~~
jonballant
There certainly are a huge number of westerners who go visit Asia and treat it
like its Epcot Center in Disney World like a zoo that exists for their
pleasure. These are real working cities with distinct and ancient cultures
that should be respected. Too many westerners take advantage of the genuine
hospitality offered by locals and never take the time to educate themselves,
instead spending the whole time partying.

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jonballant
I spent a few months working as a tour guide in Vietnam and you are absolutely
correct about the difference in economic conditions of the local and the
western white men that come. In the job I had which was a mix of educated
western backpackers along with locals, for some reason the westerners
automatically got paid more than the locals, despite them working twice as
hard. For us, the job was a fun break/opportunity during a stay in SouthEast
Asia. For the locals it was means to support their family. I will say they did
their jobs every day with a huge smile on their face and happy as anyone I've
met in any part of the world.

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anothergoogler
Pretty tasteless of the author to headline the post with a picture of sex
tourists when talking about regular tourists and expats. I'd like to see some
evidence of the "long-talked-about sexual appetite for women of color" given
that most people marry somebody of their race. I will make sure to not cross
her path, yikes.

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purplezooey
Though difficult, one thing you can do is stop buying things from companies
that rely on the aforementioned exploitative labor practices.

------
usmanshaikh06
Free speech. If you don't like it, doesn't mean everyone should stop talking
about it.

~~~
dima_medvedev
Which he didn't, the title is "don't tell me".

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pathseeker
>white man who makes $100s/day at Facebook bragging about frugality at the
expense of a Filipina living on cents.

(Ignoring the idiotic racism), what is this even supposed to mean? Does she
prefer that the Facebook employee go to Australia instead so the Filipina gets
nothing?

>from an industry that seems to have a professional appetite for white men
(~88% male, ~70% white to be exact)

Funny how that 'professional appetite' matches the graduates from
universities.

~~~
ozim
I don't think that is the point of article. Point is one should not brag about
it like one is so rich.

If you are so rich go to Ibiza. Spend 100$ for entry to Ibiza club, and 500$
on two drinks. Hook up with gold diggers that would laugh at 100$ k/year
salary. That is something to brag about. But really rich people don't brag
about such stuff. Description from article is about poor mindset, which does
not change when you get big salary.

