Claudia sits down at the computer to find that she has just received 17 new emails—all from affluent, established men offering her thousands of dollars to date her; some, just once a month.
Claudia is a 26-year-old make-up artist who has joined a dating website called EstablishedMen.com that connects older, successful men with young, beautiful women. Among the usual profile information listed for the men: age, height and photo—income also shows up as a category requirement.
A self-described “Sugar Daddy” claims that these websites help him screen potential dates. He explains that there are basically four categories: The Professionals—who are essentially prostitutes and they go from one man to the next demanding allowances before the first date, The Cougars–who think they should still be considered arm candy, The Established—who are in search of a man who is as successful as them and are ready to marry, then the class of women that have been in relationships before with men of their own financial status that didn’t work out, and are now ready to try something new.
The offers that some of these young ladies receive vary. Some are sexual requests. “Oh yeah, these guys have offered me $5000, $6000 just for one time.” And some are fetish driven “This one guy, he just wanted to be like, my little bitch. He actually said that he just wanted to be my pet.”
Jay is a real estate investor from New York who has contacted Claudia says that he is not about prostitution and that sex has nothing to do with it. He even says that the women are welcome to bring their own boyfriends over to stay at his New York residence. “I’m not gonna tell you what to do, that’s not what I’m about. What I want is to be a host to your pleasure.” He says that this is because of his fetish to be submissive and that what he is looking for is someone to be his muse, his requirements: “I’m into looks and height.”
Although Claudia is out to find her a man that is willing to spend thousands of dollars on her, she doesn’t see is as prostitution. “There is a very fine line, I’m willing to walk it, dance around it, jump right on it, but I’m not willing to cross it.”
She says that the main difference between what she is looking for and actually selling her body for money is the agreement. “This is mutually beneficial, it’s not a job, and there is not contract. I am looking for a relationship with a man that will take me out, wine and dine me, and if he decides after a while to, you know, help me out financially, well I just see that as him taking care of his woman.”
That’s the reason why she has chosen to date a man who has not made her any financial propositions, however is the president of a flourishing Canadian company, and so has potential to support her. “He needs to have a minimum of a six figure income” and with a little chuckle she adds, “mid-six figure is better.” Among that prerequisite, she counts on her well manicured fingers “needs to be attractive, I’m not willing to date an ugly old man. He needs to put me first, like if I call his office, I get put through right away—I’m a priority, and after three or four dates, I am expecting a Chanel purse.”
Even though this sounds like a pretty good set up, it’s not always a fairy tale. Constable Daniel Wacker of the Toronto Police Force says that women should be weary of these sites. With an inhale, he continues to say “I can’t say all—but most of these men that join these sites are also the type of men that pay a great deal of money, to travel to foreign countries, where it is legal to pay to have sex with children.”
He warns that this may be a less costly, more convenient alternative for the men here in Canada, and because these are sites where adults join of their own free will, it is difficult to monitor the type of information that is being exchanged and thus, difficult to wean out the potentially dangerous.
Claudia does put her safety first, but is not concerned with her present situation, she says that her dates have been fun and casual and her “Sugar Daddy” has been a perfect gentleman. In December he will be going on a tropical vacation and Claudia would like to have him pay for her to go along. When asked about her chances, with a flick of her hair and a smile she replies, “It’s in the bag.”
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“A naked woman kneeling, wearing a toilet roll attached by hosiery to her groin area. On her face is a mask with egg carton eyes.”
