Filipino brides share the ups and downs of settling in America

[+Salty Dog 67,475]

Quote

 

Richard Novac was done with dating American women. After a failed 18-month marriage and forays into the L.A. dating scene, he decided that women here were too independent.

So he turned to the internet for a foreign bride.

After five years of research, Richard ruled out Eastern European women because he wasn’t rich enough, but Filipino women fit the bill; English is their first language, Catholicism promotes traditional values, and they are petite.

“I came to the conclusion, correct or incorrect, that our culture has been doing a disservice to women,” Novac said.

The search for supplicant brides often leads American men to the Philippines, but interviews with brides and husbands show that the search for a mate can often lead to cultural consternation.

Dr. Annalisa Enrile, a Filipino professor in social work at USC and a board member of the Mariposa Center for Change, said these marriages last because of a value in the Philippines called Utang Na Loob, which roughly translates as a debt of gratitude.

“They feel that they own this man something,” Enrile said. “And they owe it to him to make the relationship work.”

The Mariposa Center for Change helps about 50 Filipino women every year who came to the states through dating websites and end up victims of abuse and domestic violence.

Enrile says that these women often stay in the marriages because they don’t know where to turn for help in the U.S. and they worry they won’t be able to get their papers to stay in the country.

Novac sorted through thousands of online profiles on Cherry Blossoms, an online dating service that connects Asian women and foreign men, before finding his wife Evangeline.

Today, Evangeline and Richard have been married for seven years, are raising a daughter, and expect another baby.

“I was just focused,” Evangeline Novac said. “I wanted to meet an American guy because that’s my dream.”

Their marriage was mutually beneficial; she gained a loving husband, financial stability and US citizenship, while he got a more traditional wife and a strong family.

Thousands of Filipino women marry American men every year and it’s difficult to measure how many end up in abusive marriages and how many find the right mates, but there’s a spectrum of results, Annalissa Enrile said.

On a warm August night, 15 Filipino women gathered with their husbands in The Bungalows, a gated community in Orange County with identical facades and potted plants, for a birthday party.

Bisaya, a Filipino language, and salted fish filled the air as young kids run through the quiet streets, and their fathers pour mixed drinks.

Most of these men are 10 to 30 years older than their Filipino wives, but many of the women in attendance say that the age gap doesn’t bother them as much as the cultural gap.

“If my husband is ready to move [to the Philippines] today, I’ll go,” Bonna Joy Holiday said. She has been in the states for four years and met her body builder husband on FilipinoHearts.com.

She loves her husband but often feels isolated when he goes to work and she’s home alone without a network of friends to fall back on, Bonna said.

“Even though we used to sleep with seven people in one bed, that’s how we used to live [in the Philippines],” Bonna said. “But I know my husband can’t survive with seven people in one bed.”

Other women at the party have full-time jobs, pursue educational opportunities or just enjoy taking care of their kids.

“If not for my parents [in the Philippines] I wouldn’t go home,” said Emma Holden, who used to talk with her husband Joel for an hour every day when they were dating online.

Cherry Blossoms, one of the prominent dating sites for men to meet Asian women, started as a mail-order bride catalogue in the early ‘70s. Today, the site has online profiles.

“I am looking for a woman who believes in God, home oriented, likes to cook, go to church and help others. I believe in Jesus Christ and I am his follower,” a user calling himself Tim S. wrote on the site.

Men on these sites sometimes misrepresent themselves as good Christians, but are actually in the market for subservient women, Enrile said.

She also noted that Filipino values can create a culture of servitude for women.

Another Filipino value called Pakikisama roughly translates to maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships and loyalties, and Dr. Enrile thinks that this cultural norm keeps women from leaving their marriage.

“These dating sites make me feel like we’re a commodity and you can buy and sell us like anything on eBay,” Enrile, a Filipino herself, said.

Check out "My Imported Bride" by David Haldane to hear the story from an American man's point of view.

You can listen to the story here: MRyan.FilipinoBrides.OffRamp.mp4

http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2012/09/26/28576/imported-filipino-brides-settle-into-love-in-south/

 

 

[Lee 17,710]

Clipped from  the article

Quote

“Even though we used to sleep with seven people in one bed, that’s how we used to live [in the Philippines],” Bonna said. “But I know my husband can’t survive with seven people in one bed.”

I bet he would not mind if it were seven beautiful women.  

[SkyMan 23,373]

45 minutes ago, Lee said:

Clipped from  the article

I bet he would not mind if it were seven beautiful women.  

Wouldn't mind, no.  But like she said, could he survive?

[Lee 17,710]

Just now, SkyMan said:

Wouldn't mind, no.  But like she said, could he survive?

What a way to go and I think they said he was a bodybuilder so probably in great shape.

[lamoe 14,240]

1 minute ago, Lee said:

What a way to go and I think they said he was a bodybuilder so probably in great shape.

Some muscles you can build up some you can't.

[Lee 17,710]

Just now, lamoe said:

Some muscles you can build up some you can't.

I do not know, have you ever seen long dong in the x-rated movies, he built his muscle up with weights, ouch. 

The title of the thread is "Filipino brides share the ups and downs of settling in America"  

Ride captain ride....  

[lamoe 14,240]

3 minutes ago, Lee said:

I do not know, have you ever seen long dong in the x-rated movies, he built his muscle up with weights, ouch. 

The title of the thread is "Filipino brides share the ups and downs of settling in America"  

Ride captain ride....  

I think I  should relinquish the title of   Cesspool of Knowledge to one who posses even more useless info

[Aerosick 1,696]

1 hour ago, Salty Dog said:

Richard Novac was done with dating American women. After a failed 18-month marriage and forays into the L.A. dating scene, he decided that women here were too independent.

So he turned to the internet for a foreign bride.

After five years of research, Richard ruled out Eastern European women because he wasn’t rich enough, but Filipino women fit the bill; English is their first language, Catholicism promotes traditional values, and they are petite.

“I came to the conclusion, correct or incorrect, that our culture has been doing a disservice to women,” Novac said.

Does the name of Richard Novac ring anyone else's bell besides mine? Was it here or in our old Forum where he was a Member picking our brains?

Maybe I've just been in too many Forums and Yahoo Groups in the last 20+ years.

Sounds like he found the woman he wanted and needed with Evangeline tho...

[angbumabasa 1,333]

My wife immigrated in 1998. That winter we has the last Christmas Party allowed, no more due to security issues. There were at least 20 men married to Fils there with their wives. Several from where we are now. Culture Shock over.

[+Salty Dog 67,475]

1 hour ago, Lee said:

What a way to go and I think they said he was a bodybuilder so probably in great shape.

Brenn Holiday and Bonna Joy Holiday met online 4 years ago. Bonna feels blessed to live in states with her husband, but hopes that they will move back to the Philippines one day.

17 minutes ago, Aerosick said:

Does the name of Richard Novac ring anyone else's bell besides mine? Was it here or in our old Forum where he was a Member picking our brains?

Maybe I've just been in too many Forums and Yahoo Groups in the last 20+ years.

Sounds like he found the woman he wanted and needed with Evangeline tho...

Richard Novac, 48, and his wife Evangeline, 32, met on CherryBlossoms.com and have been married seven years. Evangeline says she always dreamed of marrying an American man and moving to the states.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Salty Dog

[Aerosick 1,696]

17 minutes ago, Salty Dog said:

Richard Novac, 48, and his wife Evangeline, 32, met on CherryBlossoms.com and have been married seven years. Evangeline says she always dreamed of marrying an American man and moving to the states.

Yeah, that's them! Don't know how you found them. He used to sign his Posts:

Richard Novac (with a "c", not a "k")

[b7335920 441]

Be sure to check out the slideshow on the follow up article . I see us americans havent lost our sense of fashion ! Interesting article overall 

[Jester 3,591]

One of the biggest drawbacks I see with Philippinas marrying western men and settling in the US is the men.   I have met far too many that I would not let adopt a dog, matter of fact if they were puppys I could call the SPCA and have them removed. 

How they managed to get to the PI's and get through the immigration process is beyond me?  

 

[shadow 18,481]

1 hour ago, Jester said:

One of the biggest drawbacks I see with Philippinas marrying western men and settling in the US is the men.   I have met far too many that I would not let adopt a dog, matter of fact if they were puppys I could call the SPCA and have them removed. 

How they managed to get to the PI's and get through the immigration process is beyond me?  

 

They hire us!

We have sent quite a few girls to the US over the years, where we did not feel very comfortable doing so for one reason or the other. Two in particular we tried to talk out of going, or to make her man deposit $1000 into a private bank account in her name only in case of emergency. 

[USMC-Retired 10,995]

Is there a point to this article?  Other than the fact there are good looking women in the Philippines that do not consider age gap an issue?  It points out a whole bunch of success stories and lightly touches on the issues.  It is not all bubble gum and gum drops, cultural issues are huge and bigger that this article seem to make it.