Miscellaneous Musings | Sugar babies and Cyberpimps

So once again I've picked up a copy of  the Leeds Student paper for a quick news fix while having lunch and stumbled across an article about a pretty controversial topic: Sugar dating. No it has nothing to do with sweets or desserts but refers to a special kind of 'mutually beneficial relationship'. If you've heard of the term sugar daddy before, you'd probably have an idea but for those that don't..

Sugar daddy: A rich older man who lavishes gifts on a young woman in return for her company or sexual favors. taken from http://dictionary.reference.com

'Sugar dating' is not a relatively new thing, it's been around for a while actually - pushed to the back pages of magazines under 'Escort Services', for instance. However, the LS article centers on a new site SeekingArrangement.com that Leeds Uni students and other University students have been using. News media covering the topic points to the problem of student debt as a prime motive for students entering these kinds of relationships. Though something tells me that this isn't the full story. On the other hand, there are those that argue that this is just a form of disguised prostitution.