‘Around the World in 80 Lays’ by Joe Diamond

  Monger: Short for whoremonger, it’s how men who travel and pay for sex refer to themselves.
  Writer Joe Diamond is a monger. And in his book, “Around the World in 80 Lays: Adventures in Sex Travel,” he recounts, well, his “adventures” with prostitutes from around the world — Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and of course there’s a chapter on Las Vegas, though our ladies of the night seem a bit too expensive for his budget, at least the ones who aren’t drug addicts.
  “Around the World” is less sleazy than I thought it would be. Yes, there is some sleaze, but Diamond’s self-deprecating humor balances the smut. I also didn’t find anything particularly shocking about the book; there wasn’t much there I didn’t already know. There has been plenty of media attention given to the sex tourism industry.
  The book is well-researched, and Diamond doesn’t shy away from the issue of human trafficking, which plays a huge part in the sex tourism subculture.
  A U.S. government report estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, most of whom end up in the sex trade. About 80 percent of those trafficked are female, and up to 50 percent are minors. The report cautions that its focus is international trafficking, so the numbers don’t include the “millions of victims who are trafficked within their own national borders.”
  Facts such as that are strewn throughout the book, but Diamond seems to think that as long as he is not picking up minors or anyone who appears to have been kidnapped, he’s not contributing to the problem. That these mongers are creating a market for traffickers simply by making a certain city a destination for sex tourists doesn’t occur to him. Just because he himself is not molesting little boys does not mean he’s not contributing to the problem.
  The publisher for the book boasts that it is a “down and dirty romp through some of the world’s most notorious flesh havens where a few bucks get patrons the ride of their lives. ... Travel with Diamond and his friends as they fall into the arms of gorgeous women in exotic settings.”
  The setting is exotic, but the journey a little sad. The men interviewed and Diamond himself seem lonely and bitter. They want the “Girlfriend Experience” but have to pay for it. They justify this to themselves by thinking it's too difficult to date in the U.S. and that the girls they are paying actually could have feelings for them. If they get a freebie it’s because the girl, who barely speaks English, is enamored, she couldn’t possibly be buttering up a sugar daddy. Surely these women are prostituting because they love sex and not because they live in utter poverty and have to care for children and other family members. It’s a humanitarian thing to pay them a couple of bucks for a night in the sack.
  Diamond points out that being a monger has its risks. Along with violence there is always the chance of catching a sexually transmitted disease. But to Diamond, the pleasure is worth the risk, as it seems to be for many of the men he interviewed.
  One man goes on and on about the wonderful experiences he had at a sex resort in the Dominican Republic. “I will always be a customer even if I decide to get married again.”
  Wow. Wonder why he has to pay to play?