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UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title New Economies of Sex and Intimacy in Vietnam Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9xm5n0vf Author Hoang, Kimberly Kay Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California New Economies of Sex and Intimacy in Vietnam by Kimberly Kay Hoang A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology and the Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Raka Ray, Chair Professor Barrie Thorne Professor Irene Bloemraad Professor Peter Zinoman Fall 2011 New Economies of Sex and Intimacy Copyright 2011 by Kimberly Kay Hoang Abstract New Economies of Sex and Intimacy in Vietnam by Kimberly Kay Hoang Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology and the Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality University of California, Berkeley Professor Raka Ray, Chair Over the past two decades, scholars have paid particular attention to the growth of global sex tourism, a trade marked by convergence between the global and local production and consumption of sexual services. In the increasingly global economy, the movement of people and capital around the world creates new segments of sex work, with diverse groups of consumers and providers. This dissertation examines the dialectical link between intimacy and political economy. I examine how changes in the global economy structure relations of intimacy between clients and sex workers; and how intimacy can be a vital form of currency that shapes economic and political relations. I trace new economies of sex and intimacy in Vietnam by moving from daily worlds of sex work in Ho Chi Minh City [HCMC] to incorporate a more structural and historical analysis. Drawing on 15 months of ethnography (2009-2010) working as a bartender and hostess I analyze four different bars that cater to wealthy local Vietnamese men and their Asian business partners, overseas Vietnamese men living in the diaspora, Western expatriates, and Western budget travelers. Drawing on 180 informal interviews with 90 clients and 90 sex workers across four niche markets of HCMC’s sex industry, my dissertation incorporates three levels of analysis. I show how contemporary processes of globalization re-stratify an already stratified sex industry in HCMC, as well as how the industry is a vital player in the generation of business. Vietnam’s opening to foreign direct investment since Doi Moi in 1986 has created a domestic super-élite, connected to the levers of political power, who channel incoming foreign capital to specific projects in real estate and manufacturing. For this super-élite, conspicuous consumption provides both a lexicon of distinction and a means of communicating hospitality to potential investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other East Asian countries — and, using a different symbolic vocabulary, to Western investors. A new, ultra-high-end tier of sex workers has emerged in tandem with the emergence of this new group of clients. These sex workers only succeed to the extent that they can deploy the right vocabularies of consumption and sexuality in an elaborate 1 symbolic dance tailored to the needs of individual capital deals. They are valued not only for their beauty, but also for their ability to help their clients project masculinity, deference, and collegiality in the specific context of entertaining foreign investors: they must also be able to modify this performance for East Asian clients as well as white clients. As a result, racialized desires, social status, business success, and hope for upward mobility are all played out in the bars of HCMC. The same is true in the middle and lower tiers of the industry, but in radically different ways. In short, HCMC’s sex industry is not just a microcosm of the global economy, but also a vector shaping financial globalization itself. I examine how sex workers, male clients, bar owners, mommies (formally known as madams), and the police all work to create and maintain certain types of raced and gendered hierarchies according to the niche in which they are involved. I also focus on the practices of everyday life in the bars and examine how men and women construct their relations with each other, which lead to different kinds of intimate and emotional relationships that sometimes allow women to experience mobility, but at other times are self-destructive. Sex work, I argue, provides a unique lens through which to examine not only how transformations in the global economy reshape intimate life but also how the emotional intimacy (and not merely sex) provided by sex workers serves as an important currency in transnational business deals. Comparing four niche markets within HCMC’s sex industry, I found that local Vietnamese men and their Asian business partners participate in business-related entertainment while Western expatriates, in contrast, participate in HCMC’s sex industry for recreational purposes outside of work. Racialized desires, status, business success, and hope for upward mobility are all played out in the bars of HCMC, where dreams and deals are traded. This sex industry is not just a microcosm of the global economy; it also helps fuel its growth. 2 To my parents Richard Men Hoang and Nancy Ha Hoang who have made countless sacrifices in their own lives so that I could chase after my dreams. I am humbled by your grace, dedication, and extraordinary courage. i Acknowledgments This dissertation project has taken me on an incredible journey filled with high highs, low lows, some tears, and a lot of laughter. When I embarked on this journey, I could have never imagined how many people it would take to guide and inspire me through the myriad of twists and turns that this dissertation has taken from the initial project proposals to fieldwork and theorizing to writing and re-writing. Although I bear responsibility for whatever faults you may find with this dissertation, I owe my work to so many people who provided me with their generous assistance along the way. My greatest debt goes to the men and women who let me into the most private and intimate spaces of their lives and who taught me how to manage a broad range of relationships in the field. The social debt that I owe these individuals is enormous. There are many individuals who I cannot name here without bringing unnecessary complications into their lives. However, I would like to thank a few people using their chosen pseudonyms. First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to CQ, TTV, TinTin, and Anh Cua Ti who risked their reputations, businesses, and social connections in order to help me gain access to the highest-end bar in Ho Chi Minh City that catered to some of the most powerful local elites. These men taught me how to manage a range of relationships between local bar owners, local officials, the police, clients, mommies, and women working in the bar. They introduced me as a trusted researcher to high-level officials, elite businessmen, and various others. Without their support, this research would not be possible. I would also like to thank Anh Dung, Lilly, and Tina all who welcomed me into their bars, teaching me the ropes and allowing me to make several mistakes at their expense. I am enormously grateful to all of the women who “adopted” me into their bars, sharing their clothing, makeup tips, and other insights about how to manage the clients who came through the bar. At the University of California, Berkeley my faculty advisors provided me with a great deal of intellectual support. I would like to first thank Raka Ray, my dissertation chair, for providing me with more intellectual and emotional support that I could have ever imagined. In this postmodern era, Raka met with me several times over Skype in order to guide me through my fieldwork and help me think through many of the emergent themes that eventually became the chapters of this dissertation. She believed and encouraged me every step of the way and she trusted me to find my own way in the field and in the writing process. She also taught me the importance of learning how to find balance both in the field and through the writing process so that I would bend rather than break when moving across rough terrain. Barrie Thorne provided me with a great deal of mentorship and guidance along the way that pushed me to pay attention to subtle details, slippages, and contradictions in the field. She also taught me how to engage with larger theoretical debates while paying attention to the ethnographic detail that emerged in my field research. Irene Bloemraad read several drafts of my papers and pushed me to think about the empirical puzzle and how each piece fits with the others. She provided numerous insights and suggestions that challenged me to think not only about micro-processes in everyday life but about how macro-processes linked to the global political-economic structure shape relations on the ground. Peter Zinoman has been enormously supportive with his time, reading every draft that has come across his desk and providing me with valuable insights about Vietnam and historical works that describe colonial relations. I am grateful to all of them for sharing their ideas and expertise with me and for critically engaging with my work. I also benefited a great deal from conversations that I had with Michael Buroway, Neil Fligstein, Claude Fischer, Anne Swidler, Marion Fourcade, and Sandra Smith. At Stanford ii University, I had the privilege to have the mentorship of several great people including Paula England, Karen Cook, Monica McDermott, Michael Rosenfield, David Grusky, and Lawarence Bobo.