When we think about romance, we often believe it exists outside the commercial landscape. In fact, romance and commerce have long been intertwined. Throughout history and across various cultures, the practice of older, more financially affluent individuals compensating younger, more attractive companions for their time and attention has been observed.
If we stretch our gaze far back into history, for instance, to ancient Greece towards the end of the Archaic period around BCE , the custom of pederasty emerged.
This was a socially recognised romantic relationship between an older male erastes and a younger male eromenos , typically in his teens. Today, the same old story, whereby care and affection are commodities, is being retold, only with new language and social infrastructure to guide it.
Unlike other online dating sites, it catered to a niche user group: primarily older, affluent men seeking young, beautiful women. In exchange, the younger woman, referred to as the Sugar Baby, offers emotional, intellectual and often but not always sexual services.
To some degree, they build their lives around each other. Encapsulated within this relationship is a shared understanding that the flow of gifts and money will not stop. That this emotional, material and sexual economy is not a haphazard occurrence but an intrinsic agreement, essential for the survival of the dynamic. Together there is a collaborative blurring of what is bought, what is sold, what is performed labour, and what is an authentic action.
