Older wealthy men exploiting financially driven women isn’t new, but it has become extremely popular in the past 10 years leading to the sugar baby culture and lifestyle.
‘Sugaring’ is the term for a relationship most commonly between an older wealthy man and a young woman which is mutually beneficial. Some say it is a higher–class form of prostitution, as it is described on sugar websites as going on expensive dates with no strings attached with an agreed financial support for the sugar baby.
However, most of the time, it is not so glamorous with men contacting women who only want to meet them in hotels for a few hours with no extravagant hotels as promised. Many men on websites such as Seeking Arrangements are divorced or still married but going through that midlife crisis.
According to Seeking Arrangements, “an arrangement is where people are direct with one another and stop wasting time. It allows people to immediately define what they need and want in a relationship.” Seeking Arrangements has over 10 million clients and is the number one sugar dating website. Seeking Arrangements also have their own blog with ideas for different types of dates and testimonials from members who were successful.
According to many testimonials, no money was exchanged unless sex happened. Therefore, many use it as a high–class escort service and not as a sugar website. However, the website must legally say that they exchange dates for money and not sex however this is interpreted very differently by many men.
However, there are some positive relationships, with some women having a long–term sugar daddy for about 6 months who bought them gift vouchers and gave maybe 300-400 euro each date.
An American woman who identified as a sugar baby was once asked: “Do you like being electrocuted? I do and I will be generous with money.”
This sugar website does not allow online only relationship and members will be banned if they do this, which is questionable as it is possible to give that ‘girlfriend experience’ without having to meet anyone.
Safety is a major issue when it comes to sugar dating. It is always best that another person knows your whereabouts and who you are with if you are on a date with a sugar daddy.
Sometimes, the glamourous sugar relationships we see online which seem too good to be true, really are too good to be true. However, this is not to say you won’t meet a genuine sugar daddy like the ones you see in movies. There are always genuine members even if it feels like a needle in a haystack.