Brides on Sale ― Taiwanese Cross Border Marriages in a Globalizing Asia

The text looks at the new cultural phenomenon of Taiwanese men buying Chinese and Southeast Asian women to take as wives. It discusses the notions of marriage in Taiwanese society in general, and argues that changing culture and gender norms have caused a rift between the notion of traditional marriage and the reality of finding a culturally acceptable mate. Chapter titles include The “Advertized” Foreign Bride: A Semiotic and Discourse Analysis; Historical and Contemporary Marriage Arrangements; What it Means to Be a “Foreign Spouse”: Gendered Understandings; and Educating the “Foreign Spouse” and Her Children. The text is written in a scholarly fashion, but is accessible to the average reader. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Todd L. Sandel (PhD, University of Illinois) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Macau. A Fulbright Scholar, he is past Chair of the LSI Division of the National Communication Association, and President of the Association for Chinese Communication Studies.