My mother's grandmother used to tell her, "It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one." But somehow my mother managed to fall for a poor history teacher instead. (Good for me and my brother--but not her bank account.) Imagine though--if grandma was able to point Mom to this new online dating website instead. It's called SugarSugar.com and promises to match "dynamic women looking for financial support with the bills" with generous men, looking to support them.
Okay, sure, sugar daddies have been around since the beginning of time. With men seeking beauty and women looking for financial security--especially back in the day when we couldn't easily join the workforce. Heck, walk into any fine restaurant or hotel in New York and you'll see the stereotypical hot blonde with the old geezer sipping champagne. So, in one sense I'm thinking--why not shed the pretense and put it all out in the open online?
But at the same time--man, it just kills the romance, doesn't it?
The site boasts 100,000 users a month--but no word on whether the majority are sugar daddies--or sugar babies (as the women are called.) You can make a free profile and browse, but it costs money --around $60 a quarter to use all the site's features. Babies get a discount,though. for filling out a complete profile and uploading multiple pics. There are no testimonials on the site--just a slide show with stock-photo looking couples like Meghan, who "needs help with bills and tuition" and Jonathan who's "looking to spend time with someone special." There's also a blog, chock full of advice on gift giving, receiving, and oh--how to win-over a married sugar daddy. Nice. One potential sugar daddy worries he doesn't earn enough to win a sugar baby of his own, though he promises to earmark a thousand dollars each month--twenty percent of his salary--to paying her bills. Is he looking for a girlfriend or hiring an escort?
Maybe I'm just naive, but I hate thinking of a relationship as a financial transaction at the core--with women being bought and paid for by men looking for a little arm candy rather than an equal partner. But then, who am I to say it won't work out--and be a match made in Heaven? After all--each party is getting exactly what they want, right?
What do you think? Would you sign up to be a sugar baby?
