Telling the story of sex tourism research in Brazil differently: the "Gringo Love" graphic novel

Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan holds the Joint Chair in Feminist and Gender Studies at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa (2023-2025), and is Associate Professor in Anthropology at Carleton University. Her current research focuses on institutional abandonment, the anthropology of care and bureaucracies, and the social production of disability in Quebec City-area educational institutions. She has also conducted ethnographic research on sex tourism in Natal, northeastern Brazil, focusing on intimate practices of social mobility against a backdrop of social and geopolitical inequalities. 

This presentation will focus on Gringo Love: Stories of Sex Tourism in Brazil, a graphic novel adaptation of Professor Carrier-Moisan's research in collaboration with Brazilian illustrator Débora Santos and sociologist William Flynn, who adapted her work into an illustrated narrative. Gringo Love has also been translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil. The presentation will focus on this graphic novel, reflecting on how comics can be used to tell a different story about ethnographic research and sex tourism in Brazil.