Leeah Herrin (Edison) Mail Order Brides

You can get anything out of a catalogue these days; and if there isn’t a specific brand that produces whatever you desire, chances are good that you’ll find it on ebay. Dating has its’ catalogue shoppers as well - that’s what niche dating sites are all about. But if you want to really cut out the whole “courtship” aspect out of the equation and pick up a partner the same way you’d buy a bag of pretzels, there’s always Asian or Russian Mail Order Brides. The whole thing seems uncomfortably close to slavery to me (isn’t paying for a partner considered prostitution in most countries?) but there’s apparently enough people saying “Why should I waste hours on dating sites when I could just avoid the niceties and order one online?”

I suppose if convenience is your number one concern, then mail order brides makes sense. If you’re looking for instant gratification and just want get married as soon as humanly possible, then hitting those mail order catalogues. Some guys just want to rush into sex without any drama like “finding common interests” or “asking someone out on a date”. It could also be argued that the whole monetary aspect of mail order brides is irrelevant when you consider how much cash is funneled into normal dating. Money is usually going to be involved when you’re dealing with social interactions - not always to be sure (it IS possible to do dates that are pretty much cost-free) but money is still frequently mixed in there.

With all that said, I still have yet to meet anybody that’s been brazen enough to brag about their mail order brides. Ordering your partner on eBay is still considered pretty left-field, and it can definitely be considered a disgusting and degrading choice for finding your life partner. Freedom of choice is enshrined in this part of the world, and there are uncomfortable hints of non-consent when you buy a bride online. Sometimes that fear of slavery is unjustified - the women know what they’re getting into, know that this is basically a financial obligation, and are dying to get far away from their current (unpleasant) environment. But more frequently the women are naive, typically rural, and apply for the mail order bride positions because they think it’s a domestic service job (I think you can almost smell the irony here). It’s safe to say that mail order brides still fall into the social faux pas category, and the links between it and prostitution are a little too close for comfort.

This entry was posted on 23. April 2009 at 23:17 and is filed under Social Problems, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.