A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in catalogs and is selected by a man for marriage. In the twentieth century, the trend primarily involved women living in developing countries seeking men from more developed nations. Men who list themselves in such publications are referred to as "mail-order husbands", although this is much less common.
Romance tours are tours that men take in search of a relationship, girlfriend or even a marriage. In some such tours, the men and potential brides interact in brief parties arranged by the hosting company.
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom, or his family, to the bride, or her family, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride, or her family, to the groom, or his family. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control.
Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, de facto relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private matter between two people or may be a public affair, or a formal arrangement with family approval. Traditionally, in the case of a formal engagement, it is the role of a male to actively "court" or "woo" a female, thus encouraging her to understand him and her receptiveness to a marriage proposal.
A dating agency, also known as a marriage bureau, marriage agency, matrimonial bureau or matrimonial agency, is a business that provides matchmaking services to potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them.
A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an advert in a lonely hearts column. In India, it is a dating ad or matrimonial ad.
The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their native countries via a matchmaker, who paired bride and groom using only photographs and family recommendations of the possible candidates. This is an abbreviated form of the traditional matchmaking process and is similar in a number of ways to the concept of the mail-order bride.
Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry.
War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Allied servicemen married many women in other countries where they were stationed at the end of the war, including the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Philippines, China, and the Soviet Union. Similar marriages also occurred in Korea and Vietnam with the later wars in those countries involving U.S. troops and other anti-communist soldiers.
Khadija al-Salami, is the first Yemeni female film producer and director. Al-Salami currently resides in Paris, France. She has been nominated and also won awards at film festivals such as the Dubai International Film Festival and Vesoul Asian Film Festival. Her semi-autobiographical 2014 film, I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced was submitted to the Academy Awards, but was not selected.
A transnational marriage or international marriage is a marriage between two people from different countries/races. It can either be a marriage between two people of the same race from two different countries living in the same country or marriage between two people from two different countries with different races.
An Asian fetish is a strong sexual preference for people of Asian descent or heritage. The term generally refers to people specifically of East or Southeast Asian descent, though this may also include those of South Asian descent.
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaker may be used to find a spouse for a young person.
A bride scam is a form of romance scam - a confidence trick that aims to defraud potential grooms with the offer of a foreign bride. The basis of the confidence trick is to seek men from the western world who would like to marry a foreign woman and pretend to be willing to marry them. The woman (scammer) asks the man to send money, for example, for the purposes of purchasing an airline ticket or a visa they have no intention of buying. The relationship ends after requested money has been wired and received, sometimes after multiple transfers have been made.
Bride-buying, also referred to as bride-purchasing, is the industry or trade of purchasing a bride as a form of property. This enables the bride to be resold or repurchased at the buyer's discretion. This practice continues to have a firm foothold in parts of the world such as China, India and Africa. Described as a form of marriage of convenience, the practice is illegal in many countries.
Ukuthwala is the South African term for bride kidnapping, the practice of a man abducting a young girl and forcing her into marriage, often with the consent of her parents. These "marriages by capture" occur mainly in rural parts of South Africa, in particular the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The Basotho call it tjhobediso. Among the Xhosa and Zulu people, ukuthwala was once an acceptable way for two young people in love to get married when their families opposed the match. Ukuthwala has been abused, however, "to victimize isolated rural women and enrich male relatives."
Zaritsas: Russian Women in New York is a 2010 documentary film written and directed by Russian-born American filmmaker Elena Mosaner. The film was co-produced by American actor Vincent D’Onofrio.
AnastasiaDate is an international online dating website that primarily connects men from North America with women from Eastern Europe.
Sonita Alizadeh is an Afghan rapper and activist who has been vocal against forced marriages. Alizadeh first gained attention when she released "Brides for Sale," a video in which she raps about daughters being sold into marriage by their families. With the help of Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, an Iranian documentary filmmaker who over three years documented her story in the film Sonita, Alizadeh filmed the video to escape a marriage her parents were planning for her, even though it is illegal for women to sing solo in Iran, where she was living at the time. After releasing the video on YouTube, Alizadeh was contacted by the Strongheart Group, which offered her a student visa and financial help to come and study in the United States of America, where she then relocated and has resided since. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
Isobel Yeung is a British long-form documentary senior correspondent. She has covered a variety of stories concerning major global issues such as ongoing world conflicts, terrorism, mass detention, and genocide. She has also reported on social issues in developing countries such as gender roles, women's rights, mental health and corruption. Her work has earned her two Emmy Awards and a Gracie Award.
