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Don't Blame It on Rio: The Real Deal Behind Why Men Go to Brazil for Sex | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jewel Woods, Karen Hunter
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $23.99
Buy Used: $12.00
You Save: $11.99 (50%)
New (32) Used (7) from $12.00
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 46197
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0446178063
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.7420981
EAN: 9780446178068
ASIN: 0446178063
Publication Date: April 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
There is a not-so-new, not-so-secret destination where a growing number of American black men are traveling for the kind of sex and freedom they say they can't find with black women. Thousands of unsuspecting women are kissing their men good-bye while they go on "business" trips to Rio where they meet up with some of their friends and have sex every way they can imagine-no strings, no hassles, and no conscience.
This social worker is a Ph.D. student at the Mandel School of Applied Social Science at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. He is the founder of The Renaissance Male Project Inc. and a New Voices Fellow 2005. He has made appearances on both national and regional television and radio shows, and print publications such as Essence magazine, The Toledo Blade, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Then Who Do We Blame It On? May 9, 2008
Angelia Menchan (Florida)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Don't Blame it On Rio by Jewel Woods and Karen Hunter is an interview style commentary on why African-American men are choosing to go to Rio, Brazil to find companionship. The general gist of the book is how African-American men are not having their needs met by African-American women and as such they are justified in searching elsewhere. I had read several articles on this so-called phenomenon that gave me a sketch of what to expect when reading this book. I must say that the book was simply a longer version of the articles which have appeared in African-American magazines for the past couple of years.
Don't Blame it On Rio was fairly easy reading, I was able to complete it in less than a day, however, what kept me reading was my desire to find a different story to the age old lack of communication between brothers and sisters. Instead, I found a rehashing of a decades long debate about how most African-American women are simply interested in success and status and are less focused on pleasing their men, particularly sexually. What I found particularly interesting was how some of the interviewees indicated interest in successful, career-minded women but also wanted them to take care of the children and the homefront, while maintaining `freak' status in the bedroom. Much of it read like male fantasy to me which explains why one would spend thousands to travel to a tropical paradise in search of a relationship.
What I found most disheartening was how objectified the Brazilian women were and the lack of clarity on the parts of the men who found the relationships to be anything other than mercenary. In a country filled with poverty and where the sex trade is legal, having sex with wealthy men would seem to be a standard operating procedure. I recommend this book to those who are interested in reading about what goes on in the minds of men who can afford to travel to exotic locales for fantasy fulfillment.
Angelia Menchan
APOOO BookClub
 Very Good And Intelligent Book That Covers Plenty Of Points If View From Black Men April 15, 2008
Terrance (St. Louis, Missouri)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
I am an african american male who owns a travel event website and company that deals with black male and female travel excursions so I read the book with great interest. In fact I finished the 300 plus page book in 4 hours, it was THAT good.
I have traveled to Brazil a few times and can relate to what the author was saying as it relates to why black men travel to Brazil. I love all the personal experience from many different men on the reasons why they go to Brazil.
I originally heard about the author in Essence magazine. The magazine article gave a small glimpse of what happens in Brazil for many black men who come for the first time so when I heard he was doing a book
I thought the book was very well researched and gave a good balance on the many different reasons why men travel to this destination. Alot of people think that sex is a driving force. Now make no mistake it is important but not really the most important because most men can get sex in the US. It has to do with much more then that.
For example: Most women from the time they become teenagers to present are so used to getting attention and chased by all types of men on a daily basis that they almost become immune and it becomes expected. They expect men to pay for everything. They expect gifts. They expect men to compete for their affection and there is nothing wrong with that.
However
Most black men do not get that type of yearly let alone daily attention that women receive...so after 30 years and finally becoming that successful businessman, lawyer, doctor, teachers or any successful occupation and being able to want to relax and meet attractive nice women ....they are looking for a place where they can get attention too.
They land in a place where thousands of extremely beautiful women chase you down the street ( whether fantasy or not) saying things and DOING things .... that you never thought would happen in your lifetime which in turn becomes a life changing event for many men who travel for the first time. In one solid week, everything you have always wanted in a women or relationship becomes a reality.
I think the author touched on so many feelings on why so many men travel to Brazil that it deserves a rock solid A+ for covering so many area. Now the only thing I would disagree with ( if at all ) is the scare tactic that the book presents.
Although there are alot of many who go to Brazil, its a myth to think that black women are in danger of this phenomenon and that most professional black men are going to Brazil and leaving women in the US behind.
Sure, I think there are many men who travel to Brazil but NOWHERE near any sizable numbers of men compared to how many black men are in the US.
99% of men will NEVER go to Brazil because of cost, travel distance and the amount of effort it takes to fly to Brazil.. We are talking about a select few individuals in country of millions who have found about what I like to call the "Black Fantasy Island"
In the meantime without being judgemental, if you can read this book and not easily offended( Im talking about female readers) then you will enjoy the multiple dynamics of what men truly desire in relationships.
This book gets a rare 5 stars in my review
[...]
 fiction; plain and simple April 22, 2008
TheRioGuy
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
First of all I live in Rio and have been in the Rio scene for almost two decades. Every year i see brothers flock to Copa and every year i see and hear the horror stories of broken hearts and empty wallets. This book should be titled Blame it on America because of the sex starved mindsets that some Brothers bring to Rio. Talk about having baggage. The equation for disaster is simple. Take one 3rd world country full of beautiful, super poor women. Add in the fact that there is no welfare,WIC,social services and very little child support. Mix in the law that says prostitution is legal and WA-LA; you have hundreds if not thousands of young, beautiful, sun tanned women who could compete for cover space on any American magazine out selling their bodies. Now along comes MR. AMERICA. He's middle aged, successful, and has a pocket full of money but his sex life is in the tanker. The only twenty year old skin he sees is Beyonce dancing in a video or fantasizing when he drops his daughter off at college. Blend the two together and you have Rio. For the most part its simple pay for play and everyone leaves happy but more and more Brothers are starting to develope feelings for the girls. These are the men who have contributed to this book and books like these help foster the myth of men finding love, friendship, and some sort of gratification other than sexual that they are not finding in the USA. A super small minority of men actually take the time to meet regular brazilian women and its a possibility that they've found something real but to sum things up this book is based on interviews with the majority of men who have been duped by brazilian prostitutes into thinking they've found something real in Brazil. Sorry Jewel Woods but your sources are all wrong.
Not too impressed May 19, 2008
KBH
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
In an attempt to offer a balanced review of this work, I found myself in a conundrum: Why is it that these men find no fault in their own behavior; and choose to deflect total blame on American black women?
I found the book somewhat cliche in that it offered nothing new that hasn't been written on blogs, in popular magazine and on Youtube. I guess I was looking for more sustenance; instead I found the book rehashing those same rationales: American black women are too goal focused, materialistic, physically unattractive, sexually inhibited and lack the ability to please our men.
Ok... got it.
Not really....
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Quite honestly, sex tourism is not new. Many men (black, White...) have traveled to distant lands in search of some exotic poon that they don't think exists at home. As a matter of fact, a very good friend of mine traveled to Rio several years ago with some friends; and was very candid about the freaky sex, the beautiful women...the freaky sex and of course, the freaky sex. To him, he'd realized very quickly what the game was about. It was about sex. Which, is why, I believe, looking for deeper meaning in this behavior is problematic. Primarily because the motivation seems to be linked to sex.
_________________________
It's not the sex that I question. It's the deeper message that people are trying to derive from this. Primarily that it's the fault of American black women, and our inability to be feminine, freaky, intelligent (yet not too intelligent), and live solely for the purpose of pleasing our men. We are supposed to engage in every type of freaky sexual act (or at least not out-right refuse), cook, clean, physically birth children, yet remain as thin, tone and flawless as a nulli-parius 19 year old; and not become too focused on our own careers and ambitions.
When I attempted to summarize this text, I found that it (and many of the anecdotes) was parked at the intersection of narcissism and immaturity. I found that many of the interviewees found that they needed not to be partnered with black women; yet served by black women. Many of the men, not surprisingly, were either divorced, or had several failed relationships. Yet, at no time did any of them cast blame with the "man in the mirror" for the state of their failed relationships with American black women.
I also found it amazingly interesting that many of the interviewees found the sexual freedom of Brazilian women attractive; but degraded American black women who were sexual. Most painful for me to read was the chapter on "Morris-Brown, Clark and Spellman college women", when the barrage of "ho comments" were introduced. I also found it a bit sad when these men openly admitted that American black women exploited the sex-drives of professional black men for money or materialism, yet could not see that "paying to travel to a poor country for sex" was intrinsically, exploitive. In other words, the interviewees were quick to blame their behavior on American black women's lack of ...whatever...; yet couldn't admit that traveling to a poor country for sex with women (many of whom don't even speak the language) was equally or if not worse than any perceived manipulation they faced by American black women.
Another issue (as a public health researcher) that bothered me was the high rates of STDs and HIV in this country. These men spoke candidly about risky sexual behaviors; yet omitted any consequences these behaviors had on their health, the health of their partners (in the US) and the health of the women involved.
Also, it almost comical that many of these men really believed that they were in "exclusive, monogamous relationships"; when it's clear that they will quickly be replaced once the passport expires, and the next group of brothas who paid for the experience, roll down. Yet, for some men, this seems to be more attractive then working on mature relationships with women who are their social and intellectual peers.
I don't know. I really think this whole "Rio-thang" is more about ego-stroking, fantasy and no-frills sex than about some systematic abuse from black women. And not an epidemic among black men.
Lots of research but totally missed the point June 14, 2008
jason_francisco (San Francisco)
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
The authors attempted to analyze sociological and/or psychological reasons of something requiring no analysis at all. Why people love to visit restaurants serving good, tasty food at reasonable prices? Why consumers like high quality good value Japanese automobiles? The authors asked why U.S. men visit Brasil where the women are total mercenary and men only got themselves fooled. I never wrote a book before but I can answer their questions. Same reason why Japanese cars continue to be top seller in U.S., why McD continues to sell the most burgers in U.S (despite all the talk about lean/low fat diet). In Brazil's case, American men are tired of overweight women who claim themselves to be "thick" or "full body" and don't take care of themselves. American men also are tired of the same "mercenary" attitude of U.S. women. Yes, Brasilian women are very mercenary however, at least they provide the superficial or short term attention/care to the men they are with whereas in most cases here in U.S. American women just take your money and offer nothing in return.
Full Disclosure: I am not African American and have dated a lot of women in the U.S. I still date women in U.S. but Brazilian women in Brasil still outclass, outfit, out pretty most here in good 'ol USA.
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