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==Prevalence==
==Prevalence==
The phenomenon of powerful men using their money to attract women is old. At the end of the 19th century in the United States, in a phenomenon known as [[treating (dating)|treating]], women with low-paying jobs relied upon men to provide them with money in exchange for being an [[Call girl|escort]].<ref name=Krantz>{{cite web|last=Krantz|first=Rachel|title=Professional 'sugar babies' share what it's really like to get paid to hang out with rich guys|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=24 July 2018|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/professional-sugar-babies-share-what-its-like-to-have-a-sugar-daddy-2018-7|accessdate=26 October 2022}}</ref>
The phenomenon of powerful men using their money to attract women is old. At the end of the 19th century in the United States, in a phenomenon known as [[treating (dating)|treating]], women with low-paying jobs relied upon men to provide them with money in exchange for being an [[Call girl|escort]].<ref name=Krantz>{{cite web|last=Krantz|first=Rachel|title=Professional 'sugar babies' share what it's really like to get paid to hang out with rich guys|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=24 July 2018|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/professional-sugar-babies-share-what-its-like-to-have-a-sugar-daddy-2018-7|accessdate=26 October 2022}}</ref> The phrase 'sugar daddy' originated in 1903 with [[Alma de Bretteville Spreckels]], a San Francisco socialite who married San Francisco sugar heir [[Adolph Spreckels]], who was 20 years her senior.<ref name="y873">{{cite web | last=Guerrero | first=Susana | title=The SF socialite who inspired the Union Square monument | website=SFGATE | date=2022-09-29 | url=https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/sf-socialite-alma-de-bretteville-17460847.php | access-date=2025-06-05}}</ref>


With the rising costs in [[Tuition payments|tuition]], cuts to [[scholarship]]s and [[bursaries]], and the increasing pressures of [[student debt]], sugar dating has become prevalent among students.<ref name="atlantic">{{cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Terrance F.|date=15 January 2015|title=Where the Sugar Babies Are|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/-the-sugar-babies-are/384547|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|accessdate=9 September 2018}}</ref> Research suggests that there is a growing phenomenon of female university students working in the sex industry to pay for their [[Tertiary education|post-secondary education]].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Cordero|first=Brittany|date=2015|title=Sugar Culture and SeekingArrangement.com Participants: What it Means to Negotiate Power and Agency in Sugar Dating|journal=California State University}}</ref> Due to the nature and stigmatization of [[sex work]] in the marginalized and hidden population, there is limited information on the number of students participating in these types of relationships.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Daly|first=Sarah|date=2017|title=Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies: An Exploration of Sugar Dating on Canadian Campuses|journal=Carleton University|pages=9–15}}</ref> Those that decide to participate in sugar dating often use various websites to come in contact with these people. Membership on one site in 2016 was {{currency|70|US}} per month for sugar daddies or mommies, but free for sugar babies.<ref name="DP51316">{{cite news|last=Hernandez|first=Elizabeth|title=Colorado 'Sugar Babies' Use Online Dating to Cover Soaring Tuition|url=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29886103/colorado-sugar-babies-use-online-dating-cover-soaring|work=[[The Denver Post]]|date=13 May 2016|quote=Local law enforcement agencies say that because the site was set up like a dating website and advertised as facilitating consensual connections, it is not illegal.|accessdate=13 May 2016}}</ref>
With the rising costs in [[Tuition payments|tuition]], cuts to [[scholarship]]s and [[bursaries]], and the increasing pressures of [[student debt]], sugar dating has become prevalent among students.<ref name="atlantic">{{cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Terrance F.|date=15 January 2015|title=Where the Sugar Babies Are|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/-the-sugar-babies-are/384547|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|accessdate=9 September 2018}}</ref> Research suggests that there is a growing phenomenon of female university students working in the sex industry to pay for their [[Tertiary education|post-secondary education]].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Cordero|first=Brittany|date=2015|title=Sugar Culture and SeekingArrangement.com Participants: What it Means to Negotiate Power and Agency in Sugar Dating|journal=California State University}}</ref> Due to the nature and stigmatization of [[sex work]] in the marginalized and hidden population, there is limited information on the number of students participating in these types of relationships.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Daly|first=Sarah|date=2017|title=Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies: An Exploration of Sugar Dating on Canadian Campuses|journal=Carleton University|pages=9–15}}</ref> Those that decide to participate in sugar dating often use various websites to come in contact with these people. Membership on one site in 2016 was {{currency|70|US}} per month for sugar daddies or mommies, but free for sugar babies.<ref name="DP51316">{{cite news|last=Hernandez|first=Elizabeth|title=Colorado 'Sugar Babies' Use Online Dating to Cover Soaring Tuition|url=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29886103/colorado-sugar-babies-use-online-dating-cover-soaring|work=[[The Denver Post]]|date=13 May 2016|quote=Local law enforcement agencies say that because the site was set up like a dating website and advertised as facilitating consensual connections, it is not illegal.|accessdate=13 May 2016}}</ref>

Revision as of 14:29, 5 June 2025

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Sugar Baby, Sugar Daddy, and Sugar Mama.


Relationships
(Outline)
Types
Genetic or adoptive
By marriage
Partner(s)
Intimate and sexual
Activities
Endings
Emotions and feelings
Practices
Abuse

Sugar dating or sugaring[1] is an interpersonal relationship where one person receives money or gifts in exchange for intimacy or companionship. The provider (called a sugar daddy or sugar mommy) is typically older and wealthier, while the recipient (called a sugar baby) is typically younger, attractive, and interested in improving their quality of life.[2][3] The recipient obtains gifts such as jewelry, luxury goods, leisure outings, vacations, fine dining, financial support, or mentorship, and offers social benefits such as companionship, devotion, affection, dating or intimacy.[4][5][6]

Sugar dating is especially popular in the online dating community due to the easy access to specific niches and desires.[7]

Prevalence

The phenomenon of powerful men using their money to attract women is old. At the end of the 19th century in the United States, in a phenomenon known as treating, women with low-paying jobs relied upon men to provide them with money in exchange for being an escort.[8] The phrase 'sugar daddy' originated in 1903 with Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, a San Francisco socialite who married San Francisco sugar heir Adolph Spreckels, who was 20 years her senior.[9]

With the rising costs in tuition, cuts to scholarships and bursaries, and the increasing pressures of student debt, sugar dating has become prevalent among students.[10] Research suggests that there is a growing phenomenon of female university students working in the sex industry to pay for their post-secondary education.[11] Due to the nature and stigmatization of sex work in the marginalized and hidden population, there is limited information on the number of students participating in these types of relationships.[12] Those that decide to participate in sugar dating often use various websites to come in contact with these people. Membership on one site in 2016 was US$70 per month for sugar daddies or mommies, but free for sugar babies.[13]

Attitudes towards sugar relationships are shaped by economic conditions, societal norms, psychological traits, and cultural values. Research has found openness to these arrangements is related to traditional gender roles, sociosexual orientation, parasite-stress theory, economic inequality, individualism, and personality traits like the Dark Triad.[14]

Legality and comparison to sex work

There is debate about whether this practice can be considered sex work; i.e., purchase of intimate attention, sexual or otherwise.[15] In an article from Deutsche Welle, the CEO of SeekingArrangement denied that the site played host to prostitutes and their customers, saying that "escorts and their clients are never welcome on our sites".[16]

In Malaysia, sugar dating is illegal,[17] to the point where the CEO of Malaysian sugar dating company Sugarbook was arrested[18] and their website blocked by Malaysian Internet service providers.[19]

Sugaring has been called the modern-day counterpart of the courtesan,[20][21] "a prostitute, especially one with wealthy or upper-class clients."

See also

References

  1. ^ Pardiwalla, Anahita (20 April 2016). "Sugaring: A New Kind of Irresistible". Huffington Post.
  2. ^ "Meaning of sugar daddy in English". Cambridge Dictionary. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  3. ^ Recio, Rocío Palomeque (January 2022). "Blurred lines: Technologies of heterosexual coercion in "sugar dating"". Feminism & Psychology. 32 (1): 44–61. doi:10.1177/09593535211030749. ISSN 0959-3535.
  4. ^ Upadhyay, Srushti (24 July 2021). "Sugaring: Understanding the World of Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies". The Journal of Sex Research. 58 (6): 775–784. doi:10.1080/00224499.2020.1867700. ISSN 0022-4499.
  5. ^ Nelson, Rochelle (6 November 2014). "'Sugar Baby' Reveals Why Married Men Cheat with Her for Thousands of Dollars". Huffington Post.
  6. ^ Motyl, J (2013). "Trading sex for college tuition: How sugar daddy "dating" sites may be sugarcoating prostitution". Penn State Law Review. 117 (3): 927–957.
  7. ^ "Sugardaddie.com Dating Blog Meeting Online: The Past, Present and Future of Dating | Sugardaddie.com". 13 April 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  8. ^ Krantz, Rachel (24 July 2018). "Professional 'sugar babies' share what it's really like to get paid to hang out with rich guys". Business Insider. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  9. ^ Guerrero, Susana (29 September 2022). "The SF socialite who inspired the Union Square monument". SFGATE. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  10. ^ Ross, Terrance F. (15 January 2015). "Where the Sugar Babies Are". The Atlantic. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. ^ Cordero, Brittany (2015). "Sugar Culture and SeekingArrangement.com Participants: What it Means to Negotiate Power and Agency in Sugar Dating". California State University.
  12. ^ Daly, Sarah (2017). "Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies: An Exploration of Sugar Dating on Canadian Campuses". Carleton University: 9–15.
  13. ^ Hernandez, Elizabeth (13 May 2016). "Colorado 'Sugar Babies' Use Online Dating to Cover Soaring Tuition". The Denver Post. Retrieved 13 May 2016. Local law enforcement agencies say that because the site was set up like a dating website and advertised as facilitating consensual connections, it is not illegal.
  14. ^ Dolan, Eric W. (3 March 2024). "Psychological predictors of openness to sugar dating: Massive global study reveals key insights". PsyPost - Psychology News. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  15. ^ Juan Fernández, Jorge de (2019). "El fenómeno sugar babies". 21. La Revista Cristiana de Hoy. 1029: 38–41.
  16. ^ Sex work or companionship? 'Sugar Dating' is growing in popularity, from Deutsche Welle
  17. ^ "'Sugar Dating' Is On the Rise In Malaysia. Naturally, It's Being Banned". www.vice.com. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Sugarbook dating app maker arrested over 'promoting prostitution'". BBC News. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. ^ ONG, JUSTIN (16 February 2021). "Banned in Malaysia, Sugarbook launches alternate website to circumvent MCMC". Malay Mail. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  20. ^ Lawson, Leidra (2002). Sugar Daddy 101: What You Need to Know If You Want to be a Sugar Baby. Sugar Daddy 101. ISBN 9780972760805.
  21. ^ Agrell, Siri (19 July 2007). "Sugar daddies finding sugar babies". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
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