In defense of passport bros

Men have been finding love abroad at least since Caesar hooked up with Cleopatra. In 2024, these mercenaries of the heart have a name: passport bros.

You'll find them everywhere from Bogota to Bangkok. Western men (often American) hoping to leverage their exoticism — and first-world income — into improving their dating odds.

You'll be surprised to discover that not all women approve. Beware, ladies: That charming digital nomad who just bought you a drink may be smuggling toxic anti-feminism and misogyny into your peaceful country.

Or, maybe he's simply seeking respite from his home country's rampant patriarchy smashing. The young men and women of America speak very different languages these days.

Consider the data from recent Gallup polling. Women 18-29 are 15% more likely to identify as "liberal" than men. This disparity is five times greater than it was in 2000. Is it any wonder that some men are so fed up with hearing about their "toxic masculinity" that they're packing their bags and leaving for good?

The Good Men Project, a website apparently dedicated to exploring “what it means to be a good man,” suggests that the passport bro has one motive: cheap, easy sex. A loser in the U.S. can become a lothario overseas.

Or, maybe they just want a healthy relationship with the opposite sex and realize this is much easier to pull off with a partner uncorrupted by more recent forms of feminism. A partner for whom the shallow, negative "empowerment" exemplified by Irina Dunn’s hoary slogan that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” is patently absurd.

Such is the view of the consulting agency Passport Bros. Its objective is both basic and bullish: to create a global network of "passport brothers" who are well-traveled, open-minded, and possess an appreciation for diverse cultures and lifestyles.

Agency rep Chase Taylor tells me that he unknowingly became a “bro” way before the popular term even existed. “Back in 2009, after the end of a 14-year marriage, I began my travels abroad,” he says. “With the initial goal of healing and finding a way to put the pieces of my life back together, I found myself in the heart of Central America, with a group, hiking my way from Costa Rica up through Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.”

Originally from New York City, Taylor happens to be stateside as we speak — but not for long. He is in the process of relocating to the Mediterranean, which he admits involves inordinate amounts of tedious red tape.

Taylor dismisses critics as either "completely misinformed or ... simply regurgitating some negative third-party opinion."

One big misconception is that passport bros are only in it for sex. “While there are some who [are], there are literally hundreds of thousands of other men" who are not.

As for the bros who do seek love, Taylor says the stereotype of an uneducated, submissive, and desperately poor dating pool misses the mark.

“Many of these women are highly educated, and many even hold multiple degrees," says Taylor. They often have their own businesses or thriving professional careers.

Much like the women back home — but with a crucial difference. Unlike many of their indoctrinated American counterparts, foreign women "take pride in their femininity and understand the cooperative nature that’s required if a woman is genuinely serious about building a long-lasting, successful family unit.”

Got your own take on the contemporary dating scene? Passport Bros is currently soliciting video submissions to be featured on their site.