STUDENT SUGAR DATING: SUGAR BABIES' PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR DECISIONS TO BEGIN, CONTINUE, OR DESIST Taylor Ann Lenze A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2020 Committee: Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor Kristie A. Foell Christy Galletta Horner © 2020 Taylor Ann Lenze All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Hyeyoung Bang, Advisor Sugar dating is defined as a mutually beneficial relationship between two partners where one, the sugar baby, is compensated by the other, the sugar momma or daddy, for his/her time. Sugar relationships are rapidly increasing in popularity among college students as a way to earn money yet there is a dearth of scholarly research on this trend. Despite parallels with the sex industry, sugar dating is not necessarily sex work. This thesis describes how sugar dating websites appeal to students, and it explores student sugar baby experiences and reflections on their decisions to start sugar dating, and then to continue or desist upon finishing school. The study has two parts. Firstly, content analysis of the leading sugar dating websites in the United States and Germany, seeking.com and mysugardaddy.de respectively, offers contextual information on the appeal of sugar dating to students in countries with very different cultural and legal norms around sex and sexuality. Secondly, eight semi-structured interviews with sugar babies, examined using interpretive phenomenological analysis, explore student sugar dating experiences. The websites revealed three main appeals to potential sugar babies: money and luxury, mentorship, and sex appeal. All of these topics were mentioned in the interviews; however, the participants focused especially on their worldview and potential conflicts of sugar dating, the dangers and drawbacks they experienced, and their personal agency. Sugar dating is understood as enabling financial stability. Middle-class and educationally privileged, the young women interviewed are primarily from a generation accustomed to online dating and delayed life milestones like home ownership and marriage, saddled with unrepayable student debt, and without expectation of job security. Their decisions to begin, continue or even quit sugar dating reflect their strategies to succeed in this anxious environment. The life they are creating does not iv necessarily seem socially connected, and reveals potential isolation, yet sugar dating has become a normalized endurance strategy. These findings underscore a lack of stability or financial security in the United States faced by many students and graduates, not just those who pursue sugar dating. v To Phil, for seeing me through. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am immensely grateful to the many people who helped and supported me throughout the research and writing of this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank Dr. Bang, my thesis advisor, as well as my committee members, Dr. Foell and Dr. Horner, for their advice, direction, and support, and not only during the research process but also throughout my master’s program, in the formation of the initial proposal, and during the entire writing process. Without Dr. Bang’s reassurance during my first introduction of the topic in class, I do not think I would have been gone further with the topic. I also want to thank Dr. Anna Müller for her patience, encouragement, advice and belief in me. Without her questioning my assumptions, asking tough questions, checking in with me, and redirecting me when I was lost with analysis, the final thesis would have been far shallower and more disjointed. I would also like to thank Julia Höfferer for her listening ear, even after the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to return to Austria. Her enthusiasm and conviction helped ease the transition to graduate school in Ohio. This current thesis looks very different than it did in the middle steps after finishing preliminary research. I had created a stigmatizing sex work narrative which had no connection to my actual interviewees. I am especially grateful to one of my participants, Marie, for pointing out my assumptions and the harmful ways I was enabling stigma. Above all I want to thank all the brave women who took time and personal risk to trust me with their stories. Without their words and experiences, this thesis could not have existed. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 Background to the Problem....................................................................................... 3 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 5 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 6 Problem and Purpose of the Study ........................................................................... 7 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 8 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 10 What is Sugar Dating? .............................................................................................. 10 Is Sugar Dating Sex Work ........................................................................................ 11 History of the Culture Surrounding Sex Work in the West ....................................... 14 Internet, Personal Computer, and Phone Technology Advances ................... 15 Western Culture and the Middle Class .......................................................... 17 Middle Class Sex Workers and Authenticity ...................................... 18 Late Capitalism and Neoliberalism ................................................................ 19 Risks and Dangers Associated with Sex Work ......................................................... 20 Disease and Sickness .................................................................................... 21 Bodily Harm and Violence ........................................................................... 21 Legal Recourse ............................................................................................ 22 Psychological Health ..................................................................................... 23 Whore Stigma.................................................................................... 24 viii Prevalence of Sex Work and Sugar Dating Among Students .................................... 25 Literature on Exiting Sex Work ............................................................................... 28 Motivations to Continue ............................................................................... 28 Resume and Future Job Prospects ................................................................. 30 Process of Exit or Continuation .................................................................... 31 Sex Work in Germany vs. the United States ............................................................. 33 Legal Atmosphere in Germany and the United States .................................... 33 Cultural Environment around Sex Work in Germany vs. the United States ... 35 Student Sex Work in Germany and the United States ................................... 36 Theoretical Framework: Bronfenbrenner ................................................................. 37 Bioecological Model .................................................................................... 38 Bronfenbrenner and Adults .......................................................................... 39 Human Agency ............................................................................................ 39 PPCT Model and Proximal Process .............................................................. 41 Additional Theoretical Underpinnings .......................................................... 42 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................... 42 METHODS ............................................................................................................... 44 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................ 44 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 44 Methodology: Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) .................................. 45 Bronfenbrenner and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis ........................ 46 Research Design ....................................................................................................... 47 Participants ......................................................................................................... 49 ix Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 51 Snowball Sampling ...................................................................................... 51 Sample Size ................................................................................................. 52 Mental Health of Participants ....................................................................... 53 Analysis Procedures ................................................................................................ 54 Content