If you haven't heard of the world of sugar babies, know this, the upside can be sweet. If you find the right sugar daddy, you could get a free ride to let's say, NYU, or all the trappings of the sweet life, complete with plastic surgery.
But, you may wonder, what's the price these young, attractive women pay?
NYC Psychologist Dr. Lawrence Balter cuts to the chase: "I think the part that's of concern is that a person is willing to use themselves as a commodity. Now, if you're going to do that, then call it what it is and if you're going to trade sex for money, then you're in the business of doing sex for money. Even if you package it differently, if you market it differently, if you give it a different name, it's still 'I'm being paid for sex.'"
To be clear, sites like seekingarrangement.com, who sponsored the party we attended, say they're not selling sex, they're making it easy for their 800,000 members, to form "mutually beneficial relationships." According to the site, the man offers financial benefits and the woman offers "companionship." But is that really what's going on here?
We asked criminal defense attorney Jeremy Saland to take a look, "They're not saying pay x and you get sex in return. They're using other words like relationship, intimacy. Intimacy can certainly mean sexual conduct. Intimacy could certainly mean cuddling."
The site's CEO Brandon Wade says, "I think there are people definitely who misuse the site."
Seekingarrangement.com is one of the biggest sugar dating sites out there. Wade says some sex sellers do slip in, but they quickly get booted out, "We do a lot to try and kick out escorts and entities like that because that's really bad for business at the end of the day."
You may wonder what kind of woman turns to the sweet life. We turned to Elizabeth Nistico, who's a researcher, and now a documentary filmmaker working on a film about the phenomenon, "In New York, the exchanges tend to be very extreme, we've met sugar babies who get up to twenty thousand dollars a month, some people use it for networking to get jobs through their sugar daddies, some people use it just to have fun. Obviously, there's this phenomenon of young girls using the relationship in order to pay for student loans or pay for school but it varies so drastically, case by case."
Nistico says don't get the idea these women are victims. She says they're strong and self-assured, "They know what they want and they're getting what they want and they don't feel uncomfortable in the arrangement that they have set up for themselves."
In the end, is this a new bold way of babies paying bills, or a dirty dating secret? Our three experts weigh in.
Dr. Lawrence Balter: "The only difference, I think, between what's going on now and what went on for years and years before, is that now we have really good technology."
Researcher Elizabeth Nistico: "Hopefully, this can be a more accepted phenomenon. I know that people look at this relationship and are disturbed in some way."
Criminal Defense Attorney Jeremy Saland, "This is New York, this is America, there's a lot more surprising things. Do I think it's okay? It's a slippery slope? I think It's a dangerous slope."
But, you may wonder, what's the price these young, attractive women pay?
NYC Psychologist Dr. Lawrence Balter cuts to the chase: "I think the part that's of concern is that a person is willing to use themselves as a commodity. Now, if you're going to do that, then call it what it is and if you're going to trade sex for money, then you're in the business of doing sex for money. Even if you package it differently, if you market it differently, if you give it a different name, it's still 'I'm being paid for sex.'"
To be clear, sites like seekingarrangement.com, who sponsored the party we attended, say they're not selling sex, they're making it easy for their 800,000 members, to form "mutually beneficial relationships." According to the site, the man offers financial benefits and the woman offers "companionship." But is that really what's going on here?
We asked criminal defense attorney Jeremy Saland to take a look, "They're not saying pay x and you get sex in return. They're using other words like relationship, intimacy. Intimacy can certainly mean sexual conduct. Intimacy could certainly mean cuddling."
The site's CEO Brandon Wade says, "I think there are people definitely who misuse the site."
Seekingarrangement.com is one of the biggest sugar dating sites out there. Wade says some sex sellers do slip in, but they quickly get booted out, "We do a lot to try and kick out escorts and entities like that because that's really bad for business at the end of the day."
You may wonder what kind of woman turns to the sweet life. We turned to Elizabeth Nistico, who's a researcher, and now a documentary filmmaker working on a film about the phenomenon, "In New York, the exchanges tend to be very extreme, we've met sugar babies who get up to twenty thousand dollars a month, some people use it for networking to get jobs through their sugar daddies, some people use it just to have fun. Obviously, there's this phenomenon of young girls using the relationship in order to pay for student loans or pay for school but it varies so drastically, case by case."
Nistico says don't get the idea these women are victims. She says they're strong and self-assured, "They know what they want and they're getting what they want and they don't feel uncomfortable in the arrangement that they have set up for themselves."
In the end, is this a new bold way of babies paying bills, or a dirty dating secret? Our three experts weigh in.
Dr. Lawrence Balter: "The only difference, I think, between what's going on now and what went on for years and years before, is that now we have really good technology."
Researcher Elizabeth Nistico: "Hopefully, this can be a more accepted phenomenon. I know that people look at this relationship and are disturbed in some way."
Criminal Defense Attorney Jeremy Saland, "This is New York, this is America, there's a lot more surprising things. Do I think it's okay? It's a slippery slope? I think It's a dangerous slope."
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