The gift recipient is called a sugar baby, and male sugar babies are referred to as gigolos. The providing partner is called a sugar daddyorsugar mommy.[6] Sugar dating is especially popular in the online dating community due to the easy access to specific niches and desires.[7]
The phenomenon of powerful men using their money to attract women is old. At the end of the 19th century in the United States, in a phenomenon known as treating, women with low-paying jobs relied upon men to provide them with money in exchange for being an escort.[8]
With the rising costs in tuition, cuts to scholarships and bursaries, and the increasing pressures of student debt, sugar dating has become prevalent among students.[9] Research suggests that there is a growing phenomenon of female university students working in the sex industry to pay for their post-secondary education.[10] Due to the nature and stigmatization of sex work in the marginalized and hidden population, there is limited information on the percentage of students participating in these types of relationships.[11] Those that decide to participate in sugar often use various websites to come in contact with these people. Membership on one site in 2016 was US$70 per month for sugar daddies or mommies, but free for sugar babies.[12]
There is debate about whether this practice can be considered sex work; i.e., purchase of intimate attention, sexual or otherwise.[14] In an article from Deutsche Welle, the CEO of SeekingArrangement denied that the site played host to prostitutes and their customers, saying that "escorts and their clients are never welcome on our sites".[15]
^Upadhyay, Srushti (24 July 2021). "Sugaring: Understanding the World of Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies". The Journal of Sex Research. 58 (6): 775–784. doi:10.1080/00224499.2020.1867700. ISSN0022-4499.
^Motyl, J (2013). "Trading sex for college tuition: How sugar daddy "dating" sites may be sugarcoating prostitution". Penn State Law Review. 117 (3): 927–957.
^Cordero, Brittany (2015). "Sugar Culture and SeekingArrangement.com Participants: What it Means to Negotiate Power and Agency in Sugar Dating". California State University.
^Daly, Sarah (2017). "Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies: An Exploration of Sugar Dating on Canadian Campuses". Carleton University: 9–15.