We try to escape. Quietly. Like water running from breaks in the dyke. And they spot the leaks and try to plug them with a law. Their ultimate goal is the creation of a new type of "iron curtain" that stops romantic flight from the West to the East; from the North to the South. In effect, the law is one of many designed to create barriers to the "escape from feminism." Why can't they just leave us alone...
I read this board often but never posted; however, the proposed marriage broker law has driven me to share some thoughts. Below is a letter I wrote to Elena Petrova who runs a russian agency. She is doing her best to inform others of the law's negative effects. If you read the definition of a marriage broker in the law, it is clear that it is broad enough to cover any site that connects Americans (read:men) to foreigners including Match, FriendFinder, Kiss, etc. It is also designed to stop men from attending organized socials in foreign countries. I have written to Match and FriendFinder to make the owners aware so they might fight the law. Match is part of AOL and has deep pockets.
Elena
I have read your recent opinions regarding the proposed international marriage broker protection act. I agree that it will not accomplish its promoted intended purpose and another approach would be best to protect the women. However, once you understand the main intent, you will realize why your efforts to alter the legislation will be ignored.
The drafters of the bill represent a large faction of mainly feminist groups that feel and may actually be extremely threatened by the desire and ability of Amercian men (AM) to procure foreign wives. This threat has several components. First, it is an affront to the feminist paradigm that has taken 30 years to construct and impose on men. The vast majority of American men have been conditioned to be “nice guys” who are highly respectful of women. Once these men "discover" that they are very desired (due to this feministic training) by very accommodating women all over the world, they naturally "jump ship" and start voting with their passports.
Second, this flight of "good men" implies that the dating pool is largely shifted in the mens' favor. Few American women (AW) desire to marry foreign men. The same qualities in AM are desired by both American and foreign women. These facts must infuriate many women.
Third, the availability of global women implies (however falsely) that many of the attitudinal changes in men that the feminists have succeeded in implementing will be undone. This potential threat implies that AM will now regress to the attitudes toward women that were widespread decades ago.
Fourth, some international marriage broker sites promote the exact attitudes feminists have tried so hard to eliminate. It’s like a slap in the face. There is a great fear that these sites will lead to a mainstreaming of the international marriage industry (they are probably right). Moreover, these sites act to very effectively increase awareness among AM of their options.
As stated above, the main goal is to eliminate the entire practice of marrying foreign women. So why attack the web sites? Because, it quickly reduces awareness among AM, it’s all that can be done in a short amount of time, and it’s a passable bill given the few media-exploited acts of violence against mail order brides. Essentially, its the "camel's nose in the tent." It has very little to do with protecting women and a lot to do with power, control and anger among certain politically-minded groups of AW.
Based on the above, I do not think your efforts to "improve" the legislation will be considered. In addition, a careful review of the definition of a "marriage broker" as stated in the new law may actually cover general dating sites such as Match.com. This bill was drafted very craft fully by vary crafty people.
Your efforts are respectable. Perhaps the only real good that comes out of all this is a wake-up call to AM. Its human nature to resist oppression (just ask the feminists) and many men who have been sitting on the fence regarding where to look for a bride will jump off and land on foreign soil.
