# Russian Gals on the Internet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701 "2005-09-08T20:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/41 "2005-09-12T02:17:49Z")
Forgot to add that kiwi women tend to like their men manly. It also didn’t say how many of the 20,000 women are gay or prefer not to be monogamous or don’t want a man full stop. Also didn’t point out that of those available 20, 000, very few are cool like me. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/42 "2005-09-12T03:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Everything about it seems on the up and up, and she’s a well-educated woman who wants to meet a guy who isn’t an alcoholic, has employment prospects and doesn’t look at women like livestock. She wasn’t likely to find that at home. I’m pretty sure you can buy livestock on the internet, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/43 "2005-09-12T12:07:31Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > […] she’s a well-educated woman who wants to meet a guy who isn’t an alcoholic, has employment prospects and doesn’t look at women like livestock. She wasn’t likely to find that at home. > [@Phase42](#): > > The thing that attracted me were the number of 18-23YO women who were looking for a man aged 35-45. […] I was looking at another one of these sites a few years ago, and was amused by one particular woman’s ad. I guess the men in her hometown must have been kind of short, because she specified that she wanted a man who was taller than 160cm. That’s 5-foot-3. Not gonna be a problem if she was looking for an American husband! > [@MelCthefirst](#): > > So the women out number the men in Russia and thus are searching for foreign men - I’m guessing it also has something to do with alcoholism rates amongst those few available men in Russia too. It would be kind of naive to assume that what women in “mail order bride” ads say they’re looking for in a man is always a candid and spontaneous revelation of their true preferences. If they’re asking for a pretty basic minimum of eligibility (not an alcoholic, not unemployed, not shorter than 5’3", not a wife-beater, not over 50), it’s not necessarily because their dream man is really a middle-aged average joe. After all, they’re trying to appeal to a target audience of men who aren’t currently very satisfied with their sexual or romantic success and are considering spending big bucks to improve it. They’ll naturally say things that those men want to hear. Mind you, there are indeed plenty of cases where international arranged marriages work out happily, when the individuals involved really get along. But I wouldn’t put too much faith in the general assertion that “beautiful young Russian women are so desperate for men that even the most ordinary American shmoe looks like Prince Charming to them.” It certainly **might** be true, just as it may well be true that Chevy SUVs are like a rock, or that Coca-Cola is the real thing. But don’t forget that they’re all first and foremost advertising propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/44 "2005-09-12T18:53:45Z")
Why would anyone send money to a person you’ve never had any contact with and who lives on the other side of the planet who sends you an email out of the blue? Not only that but they say they love you? I’d pretend to be willing to send money on the grounds that they tell me how they got my email address. String them along and then suddenly say you’re already married to a woman who sent you an email from Nigeria. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/45 "2005-09-12T19:02:06Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Forgot to add that kiwi women tend to like their men manly. I’ve got back hair…does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/46 "2005-09-12T19:19:29Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > Even if you and I don’t click, with odds like this it’d be worth relocating to Kiwiland. I’m a trifle skeptical about the articles I’ve read about the “man dearth” in Australia and NZ. For one thing, it doesn’t address the fact that NZ young men of the native population (Maoris) have a death rate three times as high as that of Maori young women. IIRC this is partly because the Maoris are kind of in the position of Indians and blacks in the US: lower socioeconomic class, lower education levels, higher incarceration rates, more problems with violence, drinking/drug abuse, and reckless behavior. Thus, more accidental/violent deaths among the men. So yeah, there may be a large number of “excess” 20-something and 30-something women in NZ, but it may not be true that most of them are well-educated, well-employed, or middle/upper-class. (Or white, if that happens to be an issue for you.) Nonetheless, you should definitely go to NZ anyway—it’s a beautiful place! ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/47 "2005-09-12T20:22:51Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I’m a trifle skeptical about the articles I’ve read about the “man dearth” in Australia and NZ. For one thing, it doesn’t address the fact that NZ young men of the native population (Maoris) have a death rate three times as high as that of Maori young women. IIRC this is partly because the Maoris are kind of in the position of Indians and blacks in the US: lower socioeconomic class, lower education levels, higher incarceration rates, more problems with violence, drinking/drug abuse, and reckless behavior. Thus, more accidental/violent deaths among the men. > > So yeah, there may be a large number of “excess” 20-something and 30-something women in NZ, but it may not be true that most of them are well-educated, well-employed, or middle/upper-class. (Or white, if that happens to be an issue for you.) > > Nonetheless, you should definitely go to NZ anyway—it’s a beautiful place! Not quite sure what point you are making but in New Zealand, Maori people make up around 12% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/48 "2005-09-12T20:23:56Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > I’ve got back hair…does that count? Sounds manly to me! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/49 "2005-09-12T21:46:02Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Not quite sure what point you are making but in New Zealand, Maori people make up around 12% of the population. Just that AFAICT, NZ society has some race/class divisions, and the male/female disparity among younger people may not be evenly distributed over those different groups. So despite the media focus on the “man dearth” being caused by a “brain drain” of young male professionals, the biggest component of that 20K “man dearth” might actually occur not among middle-class professionals, but among poor and less-educated Maoris. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/50 "2005-09-12T22:27:32Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Forgot to add that kiwi women tend to like their men manly. As in not just heterosexual, but outright rough-hewn, cussing, spitting, wrassling and patriarchal? ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/51 "2005-09-13T00:34:10Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > As in not just heterosexual, but outright rough-hewn, cussing, spitting, wrassling and patriarchal? Not quite that manly - but able to fix things and get things done and probably not really romantic, a bunch of flowers on mothers day is enough. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701/52 "2005-09-13T00:43:40Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Just that AFAICT, NZ society has some race/class divisions, and the male/female disparity among younger people may not be evenly distributed over those different groups. > > So despite the media focus on the “man dearth” being caused by a “brain drain” of young male professionals, the biggest component of that 20K “man dearth” might actually occur not among middle-class professionals, but among poor and less-educated Maoris. The Maori population is not big enough to make an impact, so no, there aren’t hordes of poor, un-educated Maori women looking for husbands. The problem is due to the high number of female Asian new immigrants and they tend to be working in the lower paid jobs but marrying white NZ males: > **[New Zealand attracting young female immigrants](https://workpermit.com/news/new-zealand-attracting-young-female-immigrants-20050727)** > > Women of "marriageable age" are moving to New Zealand at rates of up to one-third higher than men. A new study has found that New Zealand has a... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-gals-on-the-internet/320701.md?page=2)