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.
History
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, who created the documentary film, Frustrated. In his documentary, Greeze used the term, passport bro, which he initially coined or introduced into mainstream culture. Greeze's documentary "depicts African-American men seeking relationships with women in Brazil. According to witnesses interviewed, these men experienced a sense of displacement in the face of African-American women in the United States who were emancipated, sometimes earning more money than them", which, consequently, contributed to their view of African-American women having and showing less respect toward the masculinity of African-American men. Following the initial publication of Greeze's video documentary, numerous YouTube channels developed among African-American men, who vlogged, providing advice about travel and relationships with foreign women.
Charles Tyler, who was an African-American man born in Philadelphia and produced his earliest content, "Black Brazilian Women for Afro American who Travel", in 2012, is regarded by Ph.D. candidate Sedrick Miles as the archetype for and godfather of the Passport Bros movement. Throughout the 2010s, Charles Tyler produced YouTube content for the Charles Tyler Show (The Black Man's Option), which included content advocating for Black American men getting their United States passport card in order to travel to Brazil, content comparing African-American women with Afro-Brazilian women, content comparing African-American women with foreign women, and content discussing how to earn an income on the web. Prior to more recent social media influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, during the times of his earliest videos in the 2010s, travel content was largely limited to blogs. Given that the travel space was predominantly occupied by white people, Tyler built his audience, independent of this established space, highlighting his experiences and knowledge about how to obtain passports and travel visas, and sharing perspectives that appealed to working-class Black American men.
A notable figure, who had significant influence within the Black Manosphere and introduced Black men to the Black Manosphere, was Kevin Samuels. Samuels was one of the few within the Black Manosphere who received broader mainstream recognition for his social media platform and influence. Sharp (2024) characterized Samuels as being a charismatic figure who promoted hegemonic Black masculinity and embodied the racialized red pill philosophy commonly espoused within the Black Manosphere. The message brought by Kevin Samuels laid the ideological groundwork for, among other sub-groups within the Black Manosphere, the offshoot sub-group and subculture that became the Passport Bros movement. Samuels' common talking points often serve as a major premise for advocacy within Passport Bros' messaging.
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.
In 2020, Tommy J. Curry, who specializes in Africana philosophy and Black male studies, authored "Exposing the 'Passport Bros': A study on the intersection of race, masculinity, and sexuality in the African American community", where he characterized passport bros as a social media trend found among some African-American men who advocate for other African-American men to travel abroad for relationships and to find women in other countries that are perceived as being more submissive and having greater desirability than African-American women.
In 2023, Business Insider interviewed a popular TikTok creator, Austin Abeyta, who identified with the passport bro label. He described foreign women as more open-minded and the experience of dating them as more exciting. Abeyta also believed that cultural perceptions surrounding passport bros are inaccurate since many men living abroad have successful careers and could find a partner from the US if they wanted one.
On July 19, 2023, American rapper Bas released his second single, Passport Bros, with American rapper J. Cole, which was part of Bas' fourth studio album, We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up.
In 2024, Refinery29 published a piece about passport bros in Latin American countries, interviewing women about their experiences, who said passport bros believe in ethnic stereotypes, objectify women, and sexually harass them.
Philosophy Passport Bros are driven by a desire for peace, appreciation, respect, kindness, and love within relationships, values they feel are increasingly rare in their own cultural context. They see the trend of shifting demographics and cultural changes within Western societies as a cause for concern, believing that the traditional foundations of relationships are under threat. As a response (…) [we] choose to explore relationships with foreign women who are (…) more in line with their desired values and expectations.
The passport bros movement is a sub-unit within the manosphere, where the subject of culture and nationality intersect. Passport bros are Western men who advocate for international travel to countries within the Global South and the benefits of working remotely. Comparing women in the West to women of the Global South, passport bros advocate for travel to countries in the Global South for the purpose of finding women who are characterized and viewed as being more submissive and feminine. A common narrative among passport bros are men who became digital nomads after having quit their previous jobs, and lower cost of living abroad. Contrary to the characterization of the manosphere as being composed of young men who are not well educated, have not been successful, and are marginalized, analysis of sub-reddit data demonstrates that passport bros are men of various ages who have specialized forms of employment or considerable amounts of money in their savings accounts; consequently, this provides them the ability to work or live internationally for months at a time. The common problems identified in the manosphere with dating women in the West has been met with the solution found in the passport bros movement via international dating with women in the Global South.
Within the Reddit social media communities of passport bros, inquiries include consideration of whether it is the best decision to return to Europe or the United States of America with their Asian wives in hope of preventing her from becoming westernized and what countries are best to consider if one is a speaker of the Russian language. The four themes found among the sub-reddit passport bros were establishing ties between their goals for relationships, the countries, and stereotypes about the countries; class discussions and economic leverage, where financial differences affect societal structures; cultural parallels, where passport bros make comparisons between countries to justify the opinions they have; and self-reflection, where passport bros consider their social position in prediction of how they may be viewed in other countries. In one of the passport bro discussions regarding whether or not a Black man should immigrate to China, a user stated: "dark skin is seen as a feature of the peasant class. China is the last place I'd advise a brother to come to as there's a lot working against us."