Mail-order bride is the term often
used to describe women who come to a foreign land from a less developed area
after only correspondence or short meeting with their eventual mate. The
term probably originated during the colonial period when men traveled
through various empires for financial gain. After establishing their income
in a new colony they faced three choices: (1) stay single, (2) marry a local
indigenous woman or, (3) seek to have an available woman come from the
metropolitan centre; or in the case of economic immigrants that came from an
economically depressed region to seek employment, from their mother country.
Often these marriages were arranged by members of the immigrants family
'back home' and the relatives picked amongst available women to find one
that would suit their family member thus they would negotiate with the woman
before she left with her belongings (and perhaps with her children if she
was a widow). Often these woman were willing to travel for marriage because
of the limited opporutunity in their place of origin. During the twentieth
century this tradition has been used for a (in some ways) similar, yet very
different social phenomenon, that of an western male, usually second or
third generation immigrant himself, seeking a woman from a more
'traditional' or non-western culture. For whatever reason, these men seek
out women from various countries, most notably economically depressed parts
of the world, such as countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States
like Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, or from cultures where femininity is
still encouraged and women are expected to take care of their husbands and
engage in housekeeping, child rearing and other domestic chores. The
Internet has led to a proliferation of services offering addresses, contact
information and romance tours to men willing to pay for information about
women who have expressed interest in relocating to various marriage agencies
in their native countries. These men often correspond by mail or email with
these women, speak with them over the telephone with the use of translators
and eventually after exchanging photos visit the women's country to decide
if an engagement is possible. Often after very short courtships the men
propose to the women, as they must return home to return to work and hire a
lawyer to prepare the visa paperwork. More information on mail-order brides
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