The situation of women (both a “surplus” of women and severe gender discrimination) in many countries in Asia and the former Soviet Union has created a cottage industry of “mail-order wives.” American...

The situation of women (both a “surplus” of women and severe gender discrimination) in many countries in Asia and the former Soviet Union has created a cottage industry of “mail-order wives.” American men are invited on websites to select foreign brides who are “unspoiled by feminism.” In 2001, the U.S. government issued over 17,000 “fiancée” visas, most for women who had never met their future husbands in person. About half of the brides were from Asia and half from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.