Passport bros is a neologism, which has come to broadly describe Western men who travel abroad for the purpose of dating or marrying women from a foreign country. The passport bros movement is a social media movement that has become a viral phenomenon. The passport bros movement may have originated among an emerging digital community of African American men in 2011 with African American film director, Al Greeze, via his documentary film, Frustrated, where the term, passport bro, was initially coined or introduced into mainstream culture. Following the initial publication of Greeze's video documentary, numerous YouTube channels developed among African American men, who vlogged about travel, relationships, and foreign women. The passport bros movement began to spread from digital communities of African American men in 2019, considerably expanding as a movement, into other digital communities of men with diverse racial backgrounds, during the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 lockdowns. The term became popularized through TikTok, where passport bros created content depicting their lifestyles. The passport bros movement has since spread throughout social media platforms, such as Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube. Passport bros have both been described as sex tourists or men looking for marriage abroad.
Definition and defining traits Passport bros are single men with high-earning employment who travel to foreign countries; they advocate for men to travel to non-western countries to increase the likelihood of them finding women that fit their tradwife ideals. On social media, passport bros have been described as American men who travel internationally in search of traditional values-oriented women that they can have romantic relationships with via dating or marriage. While Western men have had a long history of sexual tourism in less expensive countries and countries within the Global South, passport bros have sought a combination of both sexual pleasure and long-term romantic relationships with their companions. Men deemed passport bros may describe themselves as digital nomads that travel to other countries to enjoy increased purchasing power and have reduced living expenses that make it more affordable to raise a family on a single income. Many of these men believe that foreign women are more likely to have traditional values, perceive the men as rich, and enjoy showing them their local city. Passport bros have been described as Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), a sub-group within the broader manosphere, and as a sub-group of Save Your Self Black Men (SYSBM). Save Your Self Black Men is a part of the Black Manosphere, which identifies African American women as a problem, advocates for African American men to seek romantic relationships with women that are not African American women, and criticizes African American women. Similar to Save Your Self Black Men, passport bros criticize African American women and advocate for other African American men to get and use their passport card for international travel outside the United States. The passport bros movement has been described as a phenomenon that "illustrates how the manosphere transcends its Western origins, functioning as a multicultural and transnational domain where culture, national identities and gender are actively negotiated." The movement is an operationalization of the Black manosphere's racialized red pill philosophy. Social media communities (e.g., Reddit) are composed of existing passport bros, or veteran members, and aspiring passport bros, or new members. Rather than considering themselves to be an aspect of the manosphere, passport bros consider themselves to be more of a movement. In contrast to other aspects of the manosphere, passport bros are more inclined to specify and identify their race, ethnicity, and/or nationality. Additionally, contrary to social media manosphere communities that are largely composed of white men, the passport bros movement includes men of color. The Black manosphere's racialized red pill philosophy has resulted in a leveling effect upon racial and ethnic identities; consequently, this has contributed to the development of racially and ethnically inclusive spaces within the passport bros movement.
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