In Reply to: cowboy paradise ????? posted by ninjafool on Wednesday, 28. April 2010 at 10:56 Bali Time:
is that old gender thing again. Prostitution may be, I think, technically illegal in Indonesia. I am sure somebody will correct me if that is wrong. I don't have any feelings about prostitution either way (unless it is involuntary). It is just what it is but can end up being a pretty sad life though behind the professional smile. I also think it is, sadly, quite often, in the beginning, a choice made because of poverty.
They occasionally do a bit of a round up of the girls in Kuta because they technically have no job but mostly it's tolerated. If this is all that the latest round up is and the boys appear on the beach again next week probably short of a few Rupiah and being doubly sure to disappear quickly when the authorities turn up, so be it.
If the "clients" of the Kuta cowboys are aware of the situation and I think the majority are, then so be it. If this is about protecting innocent female tourists from predatory cowboys, I think it is largely not necesary these days. Most women are far more worldly than this and it is a mutually satisfactory (hmmm good word!) arrangement.
There will be a few who fall for the lines spun and get duped out of money on false pretences however this is also true of a proportion of the clients of female hookers who also are naive enough to fall for for the well worn lines so I don't think women tourists need any more protection (hmm another good word)for their own sake than men do.
As for the movie. I would be surprised if anyone who has been going to Bali for a while would find anything in it that they were unaware was happenning. That probably includes most posters on here.