Who are Passport Bros, driving the latest trend in the anti-feminist movement?

The infamous yet all the more relevant (at least for Gen-Z) Urban Dictionary defines the term “passport bros” as “men who have chosen to seek out foreign women, typically from other countries”. 

Sounds a bit familiar? People who are into the American dating television series 90-Day Fiance would be aware of this concept as the show too deals with people seeking out similar inter-border and inter-continental romances. 

The only difference in this case is that the Passport Bros phenomenon is heavily influenced by anti-feminist ideas and is also being seen as an off-shoot of the MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) movement. 

What exactly do the Passport Bros feel? 

Much like the MGTOW advocates, the Passport Bros community is a “manosphere”, meaning that these groups have men who believe they are being too controlled in a post-feminism world. They wish to go back to a society that they believe is “uncorrupted” by feminism, a world where they separate themselves from women altogether and live as male supremacists. 

Many of the self-proclaimed Passport Bros from Western countries like the US and the UK feel that the women of their country have been heavily influenced by feminism, which doesn’t make them suitable to be domesticated wives. This is causing them to seek out women from other countries, more specifically Third World nations. 

There is even a so-called “consulting agency” Passport Bros (@PassBros Official) on Facebook which has just over 455 followers as of now. It doesn’t advocate any gendered bias on record and describes its goal as to “create a global network of "passport brothers who are well-travelled, open-minded, and who have an appreciation for different cultures and lifestyles.”

Going by the Facebook page, its members are dissatisfied with their own home countries. For instance, the caption on one post by an American man travelling to Colombia reads, “Trying to leave the United States when I retire. I'm in my 30s now but I see this empire falling and s*** getting worse”. 

A YouTube channel "cornseason productions" (previously called Mr Passport Bro) is run by an American black man who unabashedly shows the women he connects with in countries like Thailand. His most viral video that has amassed more than 30,000 views, is literally titled "She is Wifey Material". Comments on this video joke on the man's absurd way of describing his girlfriend and future bride as "wife unboxing".

Some other commenters got concerned with how the woman is just an exotic stereotype for him as he gleefully describes her as a "traditional Thai woman". Others are also laughing on how the woman herself rolls her eyes in the video, pointing to the theory that she's probably doing this for a "green card". 

But the Passport Bros phenomenon is probably not new.

“The ‘mail-order bride’ for creepy dudes isn't a new thing,” says Redditor “cutiecat565”, to which another Redditor “Rovember_Baby” commented, “The creepiest, stinkiest, grossest, scariest dude at my old job got a mail-order bride from the Philippines. I felt so horrible for her.”

Men from First World Nations seeking a bride from a poorer nation that they can “control” more has been a frowned-upon but common practice since the past few decades. Going down a darker rabbit hole on Reddit, “FeatherWorld” claims that their mother was one such “mail-order bride” to an abusive man who was 16 years her senior. 

Redditor “maimou1” also claims that it is common for many Filipino women to go abroad in exchange for marriage to an older man. The relationships might lack any emotional or romantic spark, and might even be abusive, but it provides them a chance to go to a more lucrative country like the US. 

The Redditor adds, “Those women are amazingly realistic about it and have fulfilled their end of the bargain beautifully. Admittedly this may not be representative but I do admire their pragmatism.”

While many older men (including the ones termed “boomers” by Gen-Z) have indulged in such practices, the term “Passport Bros” is of recent coinage. And yet it is uncertain if any younger men have put the passport bro ideology to practice. 

It is possible that the mail-order bride phenomenon has impressed a new generation of “meninists” and “incels” who have modernised it under the umbrella of Passport Bros. Any large-scale cases of Passport Bros actually marrying Third World women have not been reported yet. But with the Passport Bros movement still in a nascent stage, it is highly possible for it to be more mainstream in the future. 

Passport Sis: What about the women?

While there have been no “Passport Sis” trends, it is being suggested that women too should venture beyond borders to find their true love. Again, this seems like the premise of a dating reality show like 2023 Freeform original Love Trip: Paris that revolves around four women flying to the French capital in search of love (because, duh, Paris is City of Love and all that). 

The show and this idea gained more social currency with Sadiba Hasan’s opinion piece for The New York Times titled “In Search of Romance? Try Moving Abroad”. 

The individual cases that Hasan brings out point to a toxic heterosexual dating scene in America, which prompts women to seek romantic and sexual partners overseas. 

Out there in the US and a few other territories, dating platform Tinder even provides a Tinder Passport service! This subscription service is growing in popularity, allowing users to match with people from any destination of their choice. Tinder’s industry insights reveal that from 2022 to 2023, the number of female members is increasing when it comes to shifting interest in international locations. 

A large share of American men can not only be heavily sexist as the Passport Bros movement would suggest but they can also be racist. The New York Times piece highlights the story of a certain Kacey Mago who felt she was never seen as “an option” for dating as she attended primarily white-dominated institutions. Ever since she moved to Paris in 2019, she admits that her dating life has improved drastically. 

For the women, finding love abroad is just limited to the ones who identify as straight. A prominent example is clinical therapist Frantzces Lys who moved from Boston to Thailand after a breakup. From there on, she started a podcast to document her global travels and even met a consulting agent Samiyyah Williams in Malaysia. Lys and Williams have been partners since 2018. 

What do you think of Passport Bros?