Abstract
The contemporary phenomenon of the American ‘mail-order bride’ is multifaceted, ridden with perceptions of economic and social inequality and cultural stereotypes. In recent times, the practice of mail-order marriage has accumulated a negative stigma through issues of misogyny, domestic abuse and exploitation. Nonetheless, the damaging modern perceptions of this practice are comparatively modern, shrouding an intriguing hidden legacy of successful and necessary mail-order marriage during the pioneer era. Buying a Bride provides a thought-provoking trawl through this forgotten cultural sociology. Zug carefully dispels some of the myths that surround the experiences of women in mail-order scenarios by applying a critical analysis to the bridal process and the outcomes of marriage. She achieves this through exploration of archival data, historic records and pertinent mail-order marriage court cases. Insights are provided as to why the agency of women, and the power-dynamic of mail-order marriages has evolved over time. Buying a Bride takes a nuanced and feminist stance, predominantly championing the lives of the women that it explores. Both the negative and the positive aspects of mail-order marriage are discussed in depth. However, the author concludes that mail-order marriages are still predominantly beneficial and liberating for the women within them. This is a somewhat provocative stance, considering the earlier exploration within this book, of the inherent power imbalances that can occur in these relationships. Despite this, Buying a Bride provides thought-provoking insights for cultural sociologists with an interest in gender, race and migration.
The first section of this book challenges modern stereotypes, by delving into the experience of the mail-order bride before the American Civil War. The mail-order bride scenario originated because of the loneliness of male pioneer life, with the first bride arriving in 1619. However, this phenomenon also owed its existence to colonial racism towards indigenous American communities that deliberately prevented the pioneers from marrying locally. It was recognized that women were needed to enable this new society to flourish, and matrimonial advertisements were placed in British newspapers to encourage women to migrate. The promise of a different and new way of life was appealing, and the women who undertook this tough transatlantic journey became known as the ‘tobacco wives’. Their role in American colonization was celebrated: they were lauded as heroes. The brides had a freer life than their British counterparts in many ways, with access to property and labour rights that were not available back home. Unfortunately, demand outran supply. To try to resolve this scenario, the UK began to send female convicts to the USA for a fresh start. The gradual unravelling of the mail-order bride’s good reputation had begun.
Buying a Bride proceeds to explore the different places and spaces that the brides called home, taking in Japanese war brides, the 20th-century Chinese mail-order brides and subsequent legislation to control Chinese immigration, and contemporary South East Asian and East European brides. Cases of murder, breach of contract, prostitution, human trafficking and immigration fraud are sensitively explored in the second part of the book. There is some exploration of domestic violence and murder statistics pertaining to mail-order brides, however this section of the book does not reach the same levels of clarity and sophistication of the first part. Buying a Bride argues that in the context of contemporary feminism, it can be difficult to discern who, if anyone, is being exploited by the business of mail-order marriage. Herein lies the paradox of the contemporary mail-order bride. Whilst the risks are greater, so too are the potential rewards. For many women who migrate to marry men that they do not know, their union can provide life and career opportunities that would be unattainable in their countries of origin. These women are drawn to less patriarchal societies than their own, hoping to deliver themselves some mail-order feminism. This contrasts starkly with the desires of chauvinistic American marriage-seekers. With their beliefs that brides from less-developed countries will behave more like traditional wives and take ‘better care’ of their husbands than western women.
In an era of online dating, we routinely cross geographical and cultural boundaries to access a larger pool of potential suitors. So, what distinguishes the experience of the contemporary mail-order bride from an online international date? The transactional nature of the exchange? The industry that has sprung up around mail-order marriage? The traditional nature of matrimony, or something else? Buying a Bride explores the consequences of online dating to the mail-order sector, and the novelty of the mail-order husband with gusto. It concludes with a positive argument for the emancipatory possibilities of contemporary mail-order marriage, which feels slightly jarring, despite the otherwise compelling material that this book presents.