Abstract
Hooked on shows like TLC’s “90 Day Fiance” or “90 Days the Other Way”? Well, this episode is for you! Dr. Julia Meszaros from Texas A&M Commerce joins us to discuss her research on the romance tourism business, more commonly known as the “mail order bride” industry. She describes the social, economic, and class-based forces that push women and men to engage in this industry. Tune in to learn more!
Keywords
Romance tourism, tourism, international dating, mail order brides
Sources
- Find and follow Dr. Julia Meszaros here:
- Dr. Meszaros studied A Foreign Affair, an international dating business.
- Check out our other episode about the sociology of tourism with Dr. Marta Soligo here.
- Julia mentioned Dr. Monica Liu’s studies surrounding romance tourism in China. Learn more about Dr. Liu here! Some articles you may like include:
- Liu, M. (2015). Surrogate dating and the translation of gendered meanings across borders: The case of China’s E-mail-order brides. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 41(1), 29-53.
- Liu, M. (2019). “Seeking Western Men: Divergent Trajectories of China’s “Email-Order Brides”.” Qualitative Sociology 42.3: 431-453.
- Liu, M. (2019). Devoted, caring, and home loving: A Chinese portrayal of western masculinity in transnational cyberspace romance. Men and Masculinities, 22(2), 317-337.
- TLC’s many shows on romance tourism can be found here. Prepared to be sucked in!
- Check out a few of Julia’s many articles here:
- Race, Space and Agency in the International Introduction Industry in A Journal of Feminist Geography.
- The Manosphere, International Dating and the Crisis of Access in About Gender
- She also mentioned the following sources:
- Nicole Constable’s (2003) Romance on a Global Stage
- Felicity Schafer’s (2012) Love and Empire