Passport Bros: Misogyny on a World Tour
Because women aren’t individual people, and other cultures don’t need respect
Returning home from a long vacation can create a little bit of culture shock.
Last year, I traveled further than I ever have before, down past the southern states of America and out onto the islands of the Bahamas.
I walked sun-kissed sands, experienced the vivid blue-green tones of an unfamiliar ocean, and met people from all over the globe. Travel is expensive, but if you’re able to, it’s absolutely worth it.
Seeing chickens strutting about like pigeons was an interesting experience. And telling my mother-in-law that my little nephew was not mistaken, there is in fact a peacock wandering around the patio, made for an entertaining moment.
There’s no better way to broaden your horizons and break out of your bubble than throwing yourself out of your comfort zone. There’s a whole wide world out there, and there’s nothing to be gained by confining yourself to a tiny piece of it.
If I only have one life to lead, then I want to see as much as I can before I go.
That said, travel can be dangerous. I had a sobering reminder of exactly how bad it can be when one of the women in my group was targeted by a predator.
He tried to slip something into her drink while she was distracted.
Fortunately, her friend spotted the attempt in time and loudly called him out. The bartender wasn’t interested in letting him make excuses when he had his staff surround the man and escort him out of the building.
Everyone needs to be careful when traveling, but for women, the threat can be especially daunting. You never know what’s going on in the heads of the men you meet.
You have no idea if the stranger smiling at you is a potential new friend, or if they’ve got plans to try and destroy your life.
I don’t want to spread fear and paranoia with this story. The vast majority of the time, the random dudes you meet on the road are just like you; they’re living their lives and don’t intend anyone any harm.
This is very much a ‘not all men’ situation.
That said, predators are out there and they aren’t always as obvious and bumbling as this guy was. Humans can’t read minds, and there’s often no way of knowing somebody’s intent until they turn it into action.
There’s no harm in being cautious and wary around strangers. Trust is earned, not granted by request.
For any inquiring minds who might be curious, the guy in this story wasn’t a local. He was a fellow tourist, traveling around the islands before heading back to his home country.
Traveling provides an opportunity for dangerous people to perform nefarious actions like this without soiling their reputation at home. They don’t need to worry so much about stories spreading from the local bar and getting back to their jobs or their friends and family.
Sometimes they think the women of other countries will let them get away with more than the women where they’re from.
Hell, some guys build an entire lifestyle around it.
I’ve written a lot in the past about the strict gender roles and subculture of submission in the far-right these days. I’ve covered the so-called ‘Manosphere’, pick-up artists, toxic masculinity and the tradwife phenomenon.
These things are all interconnected, carrying similar expectations aimed towards both men and women. But there is another subculture within this sphere that I haven’t really touched on before.
They’re called ‘Passport Bros’, and they can be serious pests.
I’m not trying to imply that ‘Passport Bros’ are out to drug women and hurt them. Far from it. By definition, these guys are on the lookout for potential dating partners rather than one-time hookups or victims.
The subculture isn’t overtly about victimizing and assaulting women in such an obvious way. Rather, the harm they do is much more insidious and less direct.
It’s more like a high-grade toxicity rather than a threat of bodily harm.
There is a very bizarre stereotype among these men that insists that women of various cultures around the globe are less ‘Westernized’ than the women of North America.
Did you catch the dog whistle? If so, treat yourself to a cookie.
Your average Passport Bro is on the prowl for a wife. And he doesn’t want the modern, independent career woman who might dare to have a conflicting opinion.
He wants the old-school 50s package. Submissive, ‘traditional’, stay-at-home mom.
There is a pervasive idea in Passport Bro circles that women of other cultures are naturally more inclined to live in a patriarchal household. In their forums, they debate the best countries to go to when seeking a ‘traditional wife.’
They also expect that their version of ‘traditional’ will automatically match the traditions of their potential bride. To call this assumption ignorant is a bit of an understatement.
Their ideal woman ought to be sexy, a great cook, and disinterested in a career of her own. She should be all smiles and good cheer, happy to be led like a dog on a collar by her husband.
North American women are too mouthy, too concerned with living our own lives, and insisting that we deserve to make our own choices. Feminism has destroyed us and turned us into man-hating fiends who are too ‘masculine’ to be considered attractive.
By contrast, they think that women from other parts of the globe aren’t interested in independence and personal achievement. They think women from ‘poorer’ countries are more subservient and conservative with their values.
Where did they get the idea that the women of other cultures and countries are innately willing to go along with this? Beats me. I don’t know why they assume that feminism is a purely American movement.
I’ve met women and girls from all across the globe, from Asia to the Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe to South America.
They were all independent, vibrant people with minds of their own. I can’t imagine any of them throwing away everything they’ve worked for in their lives just to please a man.
The idea that women are individual human beings with personalities, dreams, and needs of our own seems to go right over these guys’ heads. We might as well be non-player characters in a video game.
Most of them don’t even bother to do the bare minimum of research into the cultures they’re expecting to marry into. What he wants matters, what she wants is irrelevant.
She’d better conform to his expectation of a traditional wife by the standards of his culture, but there’s no need for him to conform to her cultural standards for a traditional husband.
After all, he’s more than likely expecting her to give all of that up and go back to his country when they get married.
And he does expect to marry. He’s going to keep up his facade respect for as long as it takes to put a ring on it.
If the Passport Bro movement sounds racist and misogynistic…that’s because it is. The proof lies in the way they talk about women as an objectified monolith.
They divide us by lines of race and nationality and make assumptions about our beliefs and behaviours based on those features rather than getting to know us as people.
And what’s more, it’s obvious what their expectations are. They’re in search of a living blow-up doll that will be completely dependent on them, safely within their control.
They want a live-in maid who will bend over backward and do whatever they desire.
They think women from other countries are more malleable, easily manipulated, and vulnerable to their tactics. There is a strong current of racial fetishization in the subculture, and they are not shy about discussing it.
In short, Passport Bros are little more than sex tourists with a new coat of paint and engagement rings in their pockets.
Now, to be abundantly clear, there is a vast difference between Passport Bro behaviour and falling in love with a person from another country. If you meet somebody on your travels and you just so happen to click, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
It’s the dehumanizing and degrading attitudes that pose the actual problem here, not nurturing a blossoming romance.
So much of the Passport Bro subculture is based on the same principles that you see elsewhere in the Manosphere.
Feminism is evil, men are oppressed by women not providing them with sex, objectification is natural and women belong in the kitchen. The ideal mate is a subservient woman who cooks, cleans, and knows when to shut up.
While it’s not as directly deplorable as a man trying to slip something into a woman’s drink at the bar, it’s hideously toxic and dangerous on its own.
But for me, and for many other women, the existence of Passport Bros only reinforces the thing they hate so much. It serves as a reminder of why feminism exists, and why the fight for women’s rights and autonomy isn’t over.
It’s a reminder that we still have to be careful, protect ourselves, and be on guard. Because no, it’s not all men. It’s not even most.
But predators will always exist.
Solidarity wins.
We have come so far, yet it seems we have taken a huge u-turn. Women ( and the men who love them) must stand together and continue fight for the equal rights we deserve.
It's like that time when Asian American guys kept hyping Thailand as a great place for their professional growth and careers only for them to move out when they realize they need to learn the language, and the quality of life issues outside of the major cities.