Sugar Dating Is On The Rise. Here’s Why.

These are all terms that perhaps 10 years ago, we may not have been all that familiar with and probably would have sought the help of a friend or a dictionary for that matter – to help us determine the meaning behind these phrases. Nowadays? Not so much. We’re all very in the know about sugar dating, and what it means to be either a sugar daddy or sugar baby. Why? It’s everywhere. Although, there may be a small number of you that still aren’t entirely certain about the concept so I’ll hash it out for you.

Pretty straightforward, right? I know what you’re thinking. There’s gotta be some huge stigma behind that. Apparently not. It’s actually become a fairly common dating practice in 2018, and for the last few years too. A Sugar Relationship is effectively a mutual, consensual agreement between two people. Much like any other relationship, although there are generally financial perks involved.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, a young woman named Lexi Jay from Ealing, West London, made the headlines as she discussed how she  makes up to £800 per date by dating older, richer men. Not sure why it made the headlines now, it’s really not that uncommon. It’s a wonder as to why really…

There is definitely something within the concept of Sugar Dating that has really caught on, and become more attractive to – not to mention less stigmatised – to the modern generation. A plausible reason would be popular culture. A good few years ago, you’d have to really do your homework to find a platform where you could find a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Baby to date, or even to see it on television. Now, we’re presented with this ideology in all forms! Let’s take the controversial yet massively popular book-turned-movie ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Powerful, wealthy older businessman meets young woman. No wonder people are trying to find that same set up after how it was presented to them! If we think about it logically – stigma aside – why wouldn’t it be desirable?

 Popular Sugar Dating website, Sugardating.dk, have had a lot of feedback from their female users and the general consensus suggests that what many females miss from tradition dating sites, in addition to actual dating situations, is the “traditional gender-oriented patterns of courtship”. It seems that although many women are opposed to supposedly old-fashioned gender stereotypes when it comes to dating – for example, the man picking up the cheque at dinner – a lot of women out there still crave the old-school, gentlemanly behaviours when dating. Sure, some may criticise this idea but why? If it’s all mutual and consensual, who cares!

Well, apparently it’s got a whole lot to do with lifestyle. With lots of people – both men and women – working harder, focusing on their careers, constantly travelling for business and living the hotel life, the sugar dating concept actually works quite well for them, as opposed to something more conventional shall we say. Some argue that having a career can often make it huge challenge to manage both the demands of a dedicated work life and a relationship. However, we’re all red-blooded humans who crave romantic attention so rather than simply ruling out a relationship and refraining completely from enjoying the company of the opposite sex, many men and women find sugar dating to be the most suitable solution.

When you really think about it, perhaps sugar dating isn’t as sordid and stigmatised as conventional wisdom suggests it to be. It’s no secret that popular culture and societal acceptability has played a huge part in the rise in its popularity, or rather it ‘not being behind closed doors’. When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter who, why or how you date.