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Mail order brides history
mail order bride is a label applied to a woman who publishes her intent to marry someone from another country. Although the label is widely used, it may have derogatory connotations and may be offensive.
Historically, mail order brides were ladies who listed themselves in catalogs and were selected by men for marriage. Sometimes the men and women involved were citizens of different countries, for instance women from European countries moving to the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, and sometimes they involved citizens of the same country. Currently most of the ladies referred to as mail order brides list themselves on the internet and communicate regularly with their intended husbands prior to marriage. Dating agencies offer services to facilitate the verbal and written correspondence that takes place between the two parties prior to their wedding but are known to charge certain fees for their services.
Ladies labeled as mail order brides hail from dozens of developing countries, particularly Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, former countries of USSR, Colombia, Venezuela, Thailand and to a lesser extent from Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, India, China and Malaysia. In the past, international marriage agencies allowed ladies to sign up to be listed in picture magazines; now the Internet has largely supplanted this method. Men who list themselves in such publications may be referred to as mail order husbands. Nations that often receive mail order brides are the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
Apart from that there is a common belief among western population that the mail order brides are who seek for foreign husbands do so just because they want to go abroad - it is absolutely wrong. For example women in the Russian-speaking countries are looking for happy family life everywhere. Since the life is quite difficult here, all of them have experienced hard times and they don’t want the same things to happen to their children and to their family. They strive to protect their children from facing hard times and want some better life for them.
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