• Selling Last and Love in Bali
• What to Do-Kuta and Seminyak
• The Hidden Life of South Bali
• The Struggle to Save Bali's Turtles
• Jimbaran-The Bukit
• What to Do-Impossible Surf at The Bukit
• Fair Trade in Bali
• Ubud
• A Dance for Every Day
• Balinese Painters
• Ubud-What to do
• A Word of Dance
• East Bali in a Nutshell
• The Hidden life of East Bali
• Klungkung
• Where to Stay-Padang Bay
• Where to Stay Candidasa
• First and Third World in Tenganan
• Amlapura-Tirtagangga
• Tirtagangga and Around
• Amed Beach
• Planning Your Trip: The Best of Bali
• South Bali in a Nutshell

 

SELLING LUST AND LOVE IN BALI

Trading Dream

For many men who work the beaches and bars of Bali the motivation for becoming a gigolo is simple-a ticket out of poverty and some fun along the way. Searching for the big score, they use a street-honed psychology to target older or wealthier women inclined toward “meaningful relationships” and spending money, rather than younger girls out for a good time. They ferret out women's insecurities and fill up the gaps in their confidence with flowery words and rapt attention. "I offer five star service” ­ says Surya. "I'll be a tour guide, a friend, a lover. I'll give women more attention than they've ever had before The key is to make women believe you really care.

These relationships involve economic transaction but payments are not straightforward. One man migth get a new motorbike, the other merely a cold bottles of beer and a hot shower in the morning. “Being a successful gigolo­ is not so much about how you look but about whether your brain is sharp, “ says 34-year-old Gede, who prowls the Legian strip. He explains that the most ­important thing is that what one receives –whether it's cash, a plane ticket to Australia , an expensive meal, or a set of clothes - be seen as a "gift" given freely by the "girlfriend." Surya agrees: "Women don't want to think ­ they're paying for sex or for love. If I'm trying to get a woman to give me money, I'll say that my parent are sick and can't afford the doctor. The woman has to think she's giving it to you because she wants to”.

For Western women, on the other hand, a relationship with a Balinese man offers a step out of the gender, class, and racial politics of their homelands. They can escape cultural ideals that confine women to a subordinate role. With a week's wages in their wallets, they can ­live in luxury, dispensing gifts to those who attract their ­favours. They can even escape the dreariness of democracy and become the consort of a priest or a prince. Or they can simply have a good time, doing things they might never have dreamed of, knowing that no one at home ever need find out.

romance tourism thrives

motivation for becoming

see their relationships