Realstars is an organization that fights for fair sex – the notion that sex should be on equal terms. Realstars is also actively working against all forms of sexual exploitation, injustice and sex trafficking, which they state, is the complete opposite of fair sex.
A recent video by the dating site Miss Travel titled “Beautiful People Travel for Free” targets attractive young women who would like to travel and explore the world. The basic notion is that women can sign up for an account with Miss Travel, find a wealthy man (in the advertisement these men are doctors, lawyers, bankers, athletes, executives, entrepreneurs and millionaires) and then travel to exotic and popular locations all over the world.
Realstars finds this proposition troubling. On their website they have this to say about the video (which I translated from Swedish to English):
What message does this convey to young women and men with money? Even though paying for someone’s travel expenses is not illegal, the complete provision for a travel partner may well likely contribute to creating a grey zone of what is acceptable and what is not. There is an obvious risk of normalizing something that does not strengthen women, but instead does the exact opposite. The main issue of sex trafficking – the purchasing of a person through monetary exchange is noticeable here as well. Miss travel is an example of the type of phenomenon in our society that we react to. We want to spread awareness and create debate.
What Realstars did is create their own video response to Miss Travel. The video is hard-hitting and witty, but it also provides a more nuanced and realistic picture of what these young women may face while traveling with a complete stranger.
Traveling abroad with a stranger that is in control of all the expenses, planning, reservations, and much more can be very dangerous. What happens if this person wants more than just travel company? How are you going to get back home? Where are you going to stay? Do you know the language and the area enough to find a safe place, or a police station? Are you going to be able to contact anyone? The notion of traveling somewhere with a complete stranger is scary. How can you be sure that they are who they set out to be? As the video response states: “Sound too good to be true, that’s because it probably is!”
Here is the link to sign the For Fair Sex: Against Trafficking petition!
Yeah, this seems like total logic to me. Don’t expect dudes to give you freebies. They always expect something in return.