Paper long abstract:

In an era of 'tourist mania' (Adams 2005), researchers in tourist settings are situated in pre-existing stages of drama where our traffic in touristic representations may collide with locals' own. The 'sex' of tourism is problematic for local residents whose lives are impinged upon by sexual tourism in their community. In this regard, my fieldwork in a Caribbean tourist town in Costa Rica presented dilemmas both in the field and while writing up. Sexual relationships between European and North American female tourists and local men are hidden by narratives of sin, shame, and secrecy yet at the same time women wanted to tell their stories, as do locals. I was challenged to consider various complications presented by sexual secrecy, including the question of 'context' and how to situate the drama and conflicting narratives in a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-national, and somewhat 'closeted' sexual town, which is also, ironically, a global stage for tourist-local sexual encounters.