Latino Truck Driver Trade: Sex and HIV in Central America (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780789008831)

What do truckers do about their sexual needs on the road?This startling and unique study examines the on-the-road sex lives of Central American truck drivers. It takes a quantitative and qualitative look at the extent of homosexuality, prostitution, drug use, and vulnerability to HIV infection among these men who operate in a strangely unique sexual culture. Latino Truck Driver Trade: Sex and HIV in Central America documents the extent of their sexual activities with both men and women as well as drug use and prostitution among this population. Honest and revealing, this valuable book uncovers the incredible danger that truck drivers put themselves in by risking HIV infection and why Latin sexual culture does not always define men who participate in acts with other men as "homosexual." Latino Truck Driver Trade explores the concept of "machismo" and why truck drivers act very "manly" (to avoid being teased or being made fun of).Through interviews with truck drivers, this detailed account gives insight into how friends pressure others to perform sexual acts, drink alcohol, and take drugs in order to "fit in." Latino Truck Driver Trade: Sex and HIV in Central America

• provides suggestions for HIV prevention programs to decrease the spread of HIV that is prevalent among this group
• shows how theories of homosexuality fail to account for its widespread practice among Latino heterosexual men
• explores the sexual practices of these men
• questions basic assumptions about Latin machismo
• demonstrates how Latino men can practice homosexuality without acquiring a gay identity
• shows how this international truck driver culture will impact the U. S.

Latino Truck Driver Trade explicitly examines the on-the-road lifestyles of Central American truckers, revealing that many times they are completely the opposite of the quiet, "normal" lives these men lead at home.