Mail Order Bride

They say rants get more traffic, after seeing yet another silly article on this topic, here is my blog rant. As a disclaimer before I begin let me just say that my wife and I did not meet this way. If you stick with this blog, I'll tell you the tale of how our romance began. (I need my wife's permission otherwise she'll understandably beat me senseless.)

The term 'mail order bride,' as it is used here in the United States today, seems to be applied to all marriages where American males marry a woman from another culture through some sort of introduction service. Guys who have had a bad experience(s) with American women hope to find women are more traditional in other cultures. Some self proclaimed progressives label these women submissive 'mail order brides' who are marrying losers, showing quite a bit of ignorance and cultural insensitivity. Needless to say, most of these couples I have met do not fit this stereotype. I have even met one or two guys who are happily married to 'mail order brides' older than themselves.

The term 'mail order bride' (I guess as different from a 'mail order husband') also implies something antiquated and ominous for the woman. The reality is dating and marriage by introduction is common in non-Western cultures, most of whom have much more stable marriages and lower divorce rates than we do. An Indian friend we know met his wife, who was living in another country at the time, this way and they have a great marriage. Marriage introduction is quite robust in even the most economically advanced non-Western cultures and is even making a comeback in the U.S.