American Men and Romance Tourism: Searching for Traditional Trophy Wives as Status Symbols of Masculinity

Abstract

Increasing numbers of American men, as well as men in Western Europe, Canada, and Australia, are engaging in travel across seas in search of traditional brides. While it may seem obvious to people that women participating in the international introduction industry can potentially increase their wealth and status by marrying an American man and migrating to the United States, what is less obvious is the status increase that men receive from these marriages. This study adds to recent scholarship on the history of intimacy and the development of a new form of intimate relationship dominating western societies. Through the study of men involved in the international introduction industry, I illustrate the importance of what I term the labor of selflessness, and how women's emotional labor increases men's masculine status in transnational marriages.