During the summers when I worked in the Hamptons in New York as a nanny, I'd celebrate the end of a gruelling 9-hour day by grabbing a drink in East Hampton. For a few hours, I'd sit outside expensive Italian restaurants with my chilled glass of white wine and people watch. On those nights, I'd see young, attractive women - straight hair, big pouts, even bigger boobs - hanging off the arms of groomed, well-dressed older men. One night, when a girl who couldn't have been older than 21 breezed past in stiletto heels and a killer mini from Topshop, a woman who was also having a solo drink leaned over and said: "That girl is a sugar baby."
Right on cue, the girl in question turned around and squealed, "DADDY!" to a 50+ man trailing behind. (And based on the pinch he gave her on the butt, I’m certain it was NOT her actual daddy.)
I’ve often wondered who these women are - college students, single moms, or simply thrill seekers? So I decided to seek one out and found Angel. Now, of course, that’s not her real name. Her blog, Blonde Angel Baby, is an indicator of her superior status. An “Angel Baby” is a term reserved for a woman who “has made Sugar Daddy Dating her career and she usually needs a budget of at least $10,000 a month just to cover the bare essentials.” Wow, right? Angel is clearly the perfect woman to get the inside scoop on being a sugar baby.
“There are so many great reasons for becoming a sugar baby,” she tells me. “Some girls are interested in the experiences and the travel, some are interested in the mentoring aspects or having a sugar daddy to make connections and get a foot in the door to their future career.”
Frankly, all of these motives sound reasonable to me. It’d be difficult to refuse a first-class plane ticket to a five-star resort in Bali or attend ritzy movie premieres where you can hobnob with industry people. However, Angel had more practical reasons to begin dating older, wealthy men - the financial freedom. “Before I became a sugar baby, I really struggled. I was working three jobs, going to school full time, and trying to raise my child,” she remembers. “Once I stepped into this lifestyle, doors just began opening up for me. For the first time I was able to help my family rather than being a burden on them financially. “
Her first foray into SDD happened without her realizing it. Although they had, she admits, a “boyfriend/girlfriend type relationship” he also gifted her with money when she needed it and put a credit card in her name. One day she watched a TV show that described what a sugar baby is and thought to herself: "Wow! That's what I'm doing! From there I began extensive research into the sugar baby lifestyle,” she says. “I took a very hands on approach wanting to experience everything for myself and I signed up for several different sugar dating sites.”
Eventually Angel decided to maintain a profile on one site, SeekingArrangement.com. “For me, it has the best results, it's the most well organised, and it’s great for sugar babies who are in University because you get a free year of premium membership when you sign up using your uni email.”
“I tend to date several sugar daddies...but some girls find one sugar daddy of which they have a great connection with and that is all they need.” Since Angel’s in it for the cash, she scours the site for as many arrangements as she can handle. She currently juggles eight different sugar daddies and sees four of them on a regular basis.
Before you clutch your pearls at the thought of Angel sleeping with all of these men, you might be surprised to learn that sex is not a given.
“The idea that sex is a requirement is a common misconception because if you haven’t researched it or tried it for yourself it’s hard to understand the complexity of an arrangement,” she argues. The truth is some older men simply want companionship, a young person to mentor, or just a hot date to take to a work dinner.
"People see an older, wealthy man giving a younger woman money and the first thought is: 'Oh, he is paying her for sex.' Yes, a mutually beneficial arrangement where a man is happy and content with just having someone to talk to and have fun with is difficult for others to grasp, but they are out there. "
So what ARE the benefits? Well, Angel’s most lavish gift is a house “that was paid in full” in her name. Another sugar daddy put a $10,000 (around £6000) down payment on a car, financed the rest in her name, and continues to make payments on it every month. She claims “the dates are one of the best parts of having a sugar daddy!”
She attends high-end restaurants, sits in great seats at basketball, NFL, and baseball games, gambles at casinos, goes on expensive shopping trips, and travels.”I enjoy being able to try new foods and meet high powered people and build connections that take many years to work their way up to.” Now, the impressive generosity IS a requirement for being a sugar daddy. “I just really like being spoiled,” she shamelessly admits. “I love presents, shopping, and being pampered and all sugar daddies know that with a sugar baby that is a must!”
Angel has to keep her jet setting lifestyle private. She has told her boyfriend and one friend about her Sugar Daddy dating but keeps the rest of her loved ones in the dark because “it can cause a lot of turmoil if friends or family don’t approve of it.” She says the secrecy is one of the most negative parts of being a sugar baby. Public opinion is still deciding if its simply glamorised prostitution, and she’s also fearful that an employer would not hire her or fire her if they know what she does.
Still the obvious perks to dating a sugar daddy keep her in the game. Maybe someday she’ll quit the life but sugar daddies seek out women of all ages. “People assume that sugar daddies are only looking for a super young girl and in many cases that’s not what a man is looking for,” she tells me. “Many men are also looking for women only a few years younger or possibly in their own age range. There is no time at which a woman isn’t able to be successful as a sugar baby.”
Angel has had a positive experience as a sugar baby but that’s not always the case. "Safety is the number one issue I stress to new sugar babies...hope for the best and prepare for the worst." She claims she encounters many naive women. "Every girl hopes the next man she talks to is going to be the sugar daddy of her dreams, but I always strive to remind girls to be alert and not to get taken advantage of because you’re young or new."
She urges rookie sugar babies to "take precautions like screening the men before you meet them, make sure someone knows where you are and is there for you to check in with, read advice blogs about what to expect, and do research on how you can be as safe as possible." Once you have a handle on how to protect yourself then the rewards of sugar daddy dating will come soon enough!
Would you ever become a Sugar Baby? Tweet us @sofeminineUK!
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