media.Hustle

Everyone has heard of Russian mail order brides, but Virato of Russian Fantasy doesn’t want you to sit at home, he wants you to experience the real thing. His “Tantric Adventure” is a mostly-all expenses paid trip to Russia for singles as well as couples, that promises to be a sexual and spiritual journey that can lead to love. “This burgeoning “cyber” bride industry is clearly a sign of the ongoing U.S./Western patriarchal tradition of imperialist globalization which intends to be around well into the next millennia.” (Schiachitano, 2000) In this paper I will show how Russian Fantasy cheapens sexuality and promotes homophobia through it’s presentation, and design.

“Independent of the history and development of sex tourism in various regions, a growing concern is that the women participating in the tourism are not doing so by choice.” (Bender, Undated) This is the largest problem regarding sex tourism or mail-order bride sites such as Russian Fantasy. If women are consensually agreeing to be paid for sex or marriage, in a capitalistic society such as our own it is difficult to contest that there will be women that wish to profit from their sexuality. Women literally sold against their will is an entirely different matter, and there are clear moral implications. It is impossible to discover if this web site contributes to this without first hand research, however I feel it is an important factor to keep in mind.
According to Bender’s research, Russian Fantasy doesn’t quite fall into place with other sex tour websites, as it is something of a combination, incorporating sex tour with mail order brides and Tantric spirituality. The website shies away from making any particular statements about how you will be meeting your partner(s), with only a description of events, leaving us to guess the actual selection method.

This web page plays an interesting role when considering Collective Identities (Hall, 1991), as it merges cultural, national, and sexual identities. While not mentioned as one of Hall’s Identities, reading this site has prompted the idea of a spiritual identity as well. The ideal customer of this web site is looking for a sexual, spiritual journey in a foreign land. This is quite an adventurous proposition, and hails to people who are looking.

At first glance, the web site isn’t very appealing. The style is a bit dated, giving the entire site an amateurish feel. This reveals the character of the service itself, as it is clearly not necessary to maintain the level of professionalism other industries require. The service puts itself outside of the realm of professional commerce, which promotes the demeaning and underground nature of the current sex industry.

The site is clearly a sales pitch – every written word is trying to sell you something. Upon further examination, the reader will eventually realize Virato is offering a glorified sex vacation for anyone with enough money. This influences the audience’s ideology by associating sexuality with foreign travel, thereby limiting domestic sexuality as well as figuratively portraying the Russian population as ours for the sexual taking. This ideological skew turns sexuality into something you pay for, fly to Russia, and then claim.
For a business in the sex industry, the lack of recognition of the L/G/Q demographic is surprising simply due to the potential revenue. This could be because it is a “marriage agency,” however by not enabling homosexuals to meet and bond, even if they can’t legally wed in the States, they are passively supporting homophobia.

Hall (1991) says identity is a process, Virato has essentially halted the identity this web page is creating for itself in the L/G/Q community. The lack of L/G/Q support illustrates the homophobic sentiment still present in our society. As L/G/Q members find this page and realize their lack of representation, if they were interested in the services before, they will not be anymore, and their opinion will further promote Russian Fantasy’s identity as homophobic.

Virato’s omission could be intentional, but not homophobic – perhaps the L/G/Q community has no need for a mail order bride service. This leads to an insight in a potential difference between homo and heterosexuality – one of accessibility. Does the nature of the L/G/Q community invalidate the need for a mail-order bride service? If so, this highlights the service’s direct correlation to sexual insecurity and perhaps touches upon the role the L/G/Q community plays in our society.

To look at it from a foreign perspective, in terms of identity, Virato’s web page is making Americans look unprofessional and sexually starved. Russians and other non-United States residents who have seen this web page but are unfamiliar with America, will quickly discern our two primary concerns are money and sex. This influences our national identity, and undermines our national sense of sexuality as it reveals a sexual discontent to the point where import from other countries is required. Similarly, this also cheapens loving (as opposed to monetary) relationships between members of the United States and Russia as it has been commodified.

As Schiachitano (2000) quoted: “There’s never a discussion about the women as people. They’re talking about a commodity; it’s all about price and performance.” (Budhos, 1997) Virato’s sales pitch to men: “Unlike so many American women who seem so competitive and demanding, the Russian women still come form [his error] the old school of seeing the male as the decision maker and dominant one in a relationship.” This implies that the customer will have complete dominance over their submissive bride, further illustrating the commodified nature of these women.

“It is MOBs’ apparent powerlessness which is especially attractive to heterosexual, male client-consumers. Whether traveling in real time (on an arranged tour) or in virtual time (in cyberspace), it really makes no difference, in light of a heteropatriarchal and imperialist politics of domination that desires and demands the construction of “fantasy islands,” “new planets,” and “playgrounds” where “Third World” women are clearly positioned as interchangeable, exotic, sexual commodity-objects.” (Schiachitano, 2000) The necessity for domination and an exotic experience highlights the darker nature of this type of prostitution. Men who can comfortably live with women probably already are, and clients are paying to subject a woman to their deviance over a long period of time. This bypasses our natural faculties for sexuality, and it follows to question if such a thing has long term, or even generational implications.

Looking at Virato’s page with trips for women, “… that’s $900 less than the price for men! … because Virato just loves women!” This comes across as patronizing if not altogether demeaning, and the tone of the rest of the page is very similar. Virato is equally demeaning, however, as the same page objectifies men as rock stars and nuclear physicists. Virato doesn’t appear to be sexist in that he favors one sex over the other, as he commodifies them both, resulting in an overall cheapened sexuality.

In their open letter on marriage agencies, the site claims to be an improvement from other agencies that essentially line women up and have men choose from them, due to the Tantric tie-in and overall experience they provide. Per the comparison they’ve given us, choosing hookers in a bathroom, their service does indeed sound less demeaning at first, except that there is no ideological distinction between the two. The service never mentions precisely how you will meet women, and validating itself reveals it is aware of the thin ice on which it walks, and feels the need to distinguish itself from others who do the same.

In conclusion, Russian Fantasy purports to be a freeing sexual adventure, but objectifies both men and women. This commodification illustrates the dominant white ideology in our country, particularly on the internet, and addressing this will not only reduce domestic sexual commodification but will improve international identity as well. As I have demonstrated, Russian Fantasy promotes homophobia and the cheapening of sexuality through it’s presentation and design.

Bibliography
http://www.newfrontier.com/russia/
Bender K. (Undated). “The portrayal of women on sex tour websites.” School of Social Work. Colorado State University.
Budhos M. (1997). “Putting the Heat On Sex Tourism.” Ms. (March/April): 12-17.
Schiachitano M. (2000). “’MOBS’ on the Net: Critiquing the Gaze of the ‘Cyber’ Bride Industry.”
Race, Gender and Class; Vol. 7, Iss. 1: p. 57. New Orleans.
Stuart H. (1991). “Ethnicity: Identity and Difference.” Radical America; Vol. 23, No. 4:9-20.