Russian Brides -- and Ukrainian Grooms?
Sometimes I think that on any given day, only three or four interesting ideas are bouncing around the world, and everyone is thinking and writing about those same three or four things. Like when I started writing about True.com. Suddenly, articles everywhere! Yesterday, it was Russian brides. Jane Ganahl wrote a fascinating article called “Turning the tables on male order” for http://www.sfgate.com/ (or maybe she works for the San Francisco Chronicle—it’s hard to tell). Ganahl says that more than 400 Internet sites are devoted to connecting up American men and foreign women, mostly from the former Soviet Union, the Philippines, Colombia, Costa Rica, and China.
Then last night, I get an email through my website from a guy who says he has met a Russian woman who wants to come here and live with him. His question? Is this real or a scam? My answer? Well, it could be either, but beware. There are women all over the world in desperate enough situations to try to marry an American to get here. Any American.
Interesting that eHarmony matches people up to be as similar as possible, and here are matching sites that inherently match people who are massively different. I’d like to see some stats on how well marriages between people of different nationalities, cultures, and languages fair.
Ganahl also included a couple of sites for the ladies: One (http://www.alovinghusband.com/) matches American women with foreign men. Intriguing idea, right? I looked up the site and did a couple of searches. No men at all over 50, and 11 between 40 and 50, every one from the Ukraine. Those guys ought to hook up with the Russian ladies. Not so far to travel for that first coffee date. The other site was http://www.mailorderhusbands.net/—a spoof, but definitely worth the visit.
So “Buyer beware!” about sites offering foreign pairings. Note that the matches come from countries where the financial situations are pretty bad, which would make financial incentives for matching with Americans likely.
