"How Stella Got Her Groove Back" is one of those movies that, in my opinion, is about female empowerment. The movie came out during the era of Lilith Fair and "girl power." Upon first viewing, the film is about an American divorcee going to Jamaica to “find herself” In turn, she ends up falling in love with a local male prostitute.
Make no bone(rs) about it, this is also film featuring female sex tourism, which is actually a real thing. Jeannette Belliveau wrote a book entitled Romance on the Road about her Stella-esque sex-shopping spree while on vacation. “Going rates for sex with men have been reported as high as $30 an hour in Jamaica,” says Belliveau. But she says it is more informal than handing over an envelope upfront. In her experience, the guys usually ask her, post-romp just if she can “help them out with some money”.
Belliveau explains that in Jamaica, the “rent-a-rastas” as they are sometimes called comb nightclubs for women who might pay for it. The men initiate, but both parties pretty much understand what is going on. It happens in other countries too, but almost always among older Western women who have more earning power than the men they are visiting.
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