Posted June 18, Reviewed by Kaja Perina. Are sugar babies girlfriends or sex workers? It seems that they walk a thin line between the two. Sugaring is also present among homosexual people. I focus here on the most common relation between sugar babies and sugar daddies. Sometimes, there is no concrete agreement, and the sugar baby relies on the gifting whims of the sugar daddy. Some sugar daddies want to meet several times a week; others prefer once a month.
While sugaring ranges from hand-holding and cuddling to a full sexual encounter, sugar daddies usually seek both companionship and sex. Those more interested in companionship tend to gift their sugar babies with a monthly support, and those more interested in sex tend to gift them with cash on a date-by-date basis.
Sugaring has become increasingly popular in the past few decades, especially among students. There are many sites for this purpose, which are used by millions of people. Although sex is indeed common in sugaring, not all sugar daddies seek such intimate relations. Similarly, although most sugar babies engage in sugaring in order to meet their expenses, some are hoping for a serious relationship—yet, in many cases, the sugar daddy is married.
Self-esteem can be a tricky issue for both sugar babies and daddies. A sugar daddy does not want to feel like he is a john and a sugar baby does not want to feel like she is a prostitute.
Accordingly, sugaring aims for mutual respect between the partners. Maren Scull has identified a range of sugaring types: at one end of the continuum there is sugar prostitution, and at the other end there is sugar friendship and sugar love. I understand the game. They want sex. And I want their money. The above features are also relevant to the difference between sugaring and romantic relations. Romantic relations are much more complex than sugaring.
