The Manosphere, International Dating and the Crisis of Access

Abstract

In this study, men participating in the international dating industry, also known as the ‘mail order bride’ industry, demonstrate a shared worldview of intimate relationships with men who identify as part of the online manosphere. Men in both the online manosphere and international dating industries complain about their loss of hegemonic status as middle-class men in the U.S. as economic precarity continues to grow. For non-hegemonic middle-class men, the international dating industry provides them with a market based solution to their frustration with the lack of attractive women available to them locally. Men in the manosphere and international dating industry term this a ‘crisis of intimacy’, but in fact are discussing a crisis of access to women’s bodies.

Keywords: Intimacy, Mail Order Bride, Manosphere, Masculinity.