Comments on: Buy a wife from Vietnam for $6,000

By: Loren Pechtel

Loren Pechtel — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Whether the ad is real or not I’m sure there are similar businesses out there. The desire to marry people from places that are better off is widespread. I’m married to a woman from China (but *NOT* a mail-order bride) and I see the pattern repeatedly. More than once I’ve had young women in China express an interest despite knowing I was married–obviously hoping I was interested in trading up. (And there haven’t been all that many that I’ve met that spoke enough English and weren’t family–as a percentage this is substantial!) Also, there’s the conversation that’s played out many times when we are out shopping: Young woman, to my wife: “Can he understand us?” Wife: “No” (I can pick out some words, I can’t follow a conversation at all.) Woman: “How do you like being married to an American?” Wife: “I’m happy.” Woman: “How do I get one?”. When the contact has been longer it’s not unusual for them to ask my wife to introduce them to some Americans. (Not a one of the women making such a request spoke any English, though!)

Vietnam is a lot poorer than China, the pressures would be a lot stronger.

By: donovan acree

donovan acree — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:36:00 +0000

So you can rescue a person from a lifetime of sexual slavery for only $6000.00?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:07:00 +0000

It’s not instantaneous.

By: wreckrob8

wreckrob8 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:49:00 +0000

@Antinous You can take the people out of Peoria, but you can’t take Peoria out of the people?

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:41:00 +0000

1. Buy wife.
2a. Set her free.
2b. If she comes back, she’s yours, if she doesn’t:
3. Claim she ran away.
Etcetera.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:03:00 +0000

If the wife speaks more or less no English and they live on a dead-end dirt road three miles outside of Bugtussle, possession is nine tenths of the law.

By: redesigned

redesigned — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:58:00 +0000

Is that legal? They can’t all be held captive like that can they?

Maybe I am just too optimistic and naive.

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:46:00 +0000

The Civilisation of Maxwell Bright was an Excellent film detailing a guy who imported an Asian wife

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:04:00 +0000

Well at least there’s a warranty.

Of course, you probably have to dial a bad VOIP connection to Saigon and scare up a supervisor to claim it.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:36:00 +0000

The thing about mail order brides is that you don’t really know the details because they don’t get to interact with people outside the home.

By: redesigned

redesigned — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:54:00 +0000

I wonder what percentage of any of these stories/unions turn out well? Has any documentary been done that followed any x number of these people?

I assume most cases are as bad as what people here imagine, but i also wonder if any end up escaping a situation that was much worse and are fairly happy being with some sweet introverted guy here in north america? no? yes? maybe?

By: redesigned

redesigned — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:50:00 +0000

wait for the BOGO sale…

By: Brad Bell

Brad Bell — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:26:00 +0000

After reading the NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02…

It is more interesting to consider sex slavery than it is to consider arranged marriages.

The value of moral judgement is dependent on apprehending reality in a relatively trustworthy way.

The ad was obviously written by someone who was not competent in English. I thought it was a Lost in Translation joke. I laughed. But then, my clothes were all made by a 13 year old Vietnamese peasant girl. She also assembled my Mac. I think I might marry her one day. If the global economy can spare her.

By: cdh1971

cdh1971 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:41:00 +0000

Very true. The upside – at least just in my anecdotal observation of friend’s parents as a kid, these Asian wives were very adept at persuading these white men to change their ways, and actually make these guys not be such wing-nuts and or assholes. They are not the subservient easy to bully women these dudes think they are — especially in private, especially depending in which Asian culture they were raised.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:17:00 +0000

So Bonsai Kitteh is the gift that keeps on giving? Sweet.

EDIT: Thinking about it a little bit, Bonsai Kitten could probably spread like an outraged wildfire on Facebook.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Even in SF, really?

SF is largely populated by people just off the boat from Peoria.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:09:00 +0000

Even in SF, really? As for the "Geisha" thing, at the very least, these men you speak of should take a gander at Empire Of The Senses. Abe Sada is not a geisha, I know, but it's still quite a cautionary tale, if one is looking for "submissive", according to some stereotype.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:01:00 +0000

Certainly, men looking for submissive Asian women should probably avoid women from a country that’s had two women Heads of State in the last two decades, one of whom led the movement that toppled the previous dictatorship. But I guess that, to those kind of people, Asia is just an amorphous blob of Kung Fu and Geisha.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:25:00 +0000

The classic “what could possibly go wrong” scenario, I can see the headline:
White guy marries Asian spitfire, ends up locked up in his own dungeon.

By: allenmcbride

allenmcbride — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:05:00 +0000

http://oglaf.com/human-women/

By: mobobo

mobobo — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:34:00 +0000

totally agree – now the inhuman women deserve, just like the inhuman men, everything they get.

By: sburns54

sburns54 — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:30:00 +0000

What do they think, I’m made of money? That’s outrageous. Do they have anything in the $300 to $500 price range?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:12:00 +0000

Charlton Heston: “Hello, ‘Furniture’.”

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Living in SF for years, I know a few cases where white guys married Asian (but lived in the US since childhood) women, apparently expecting them to be submissive. Ouch.

By: Ethan

Ethan — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Joli?

By: Al_Packer

Al_Packer — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:42:00 +0000

Possibly not the “best option”, but the least bad option?

By: CSBD

CSBD — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:47:00 +0000

OMG I had no idea you were friends with my brother… he turned into that after a traumatic brain injury. Went off the evangelical deep end and tried to buy a non feminazi wife… yeah it went “well”

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Heh. You know it’s STILL possible to troll people with Bonsai Kitten?

By: KWillets

KWillets — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:17:00 +0000

Actually I meant enrolling in the foreign-spouses program, since my wife is Korean. I’m the sex slave.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:16:00 +0000

Hard to see how it’s much different than legions of American McMansion owners with undocumented (and easily exploitable) maids.