If you're a woman who has a list of attributes a man must have � tall, dark, handsome � is a wrong to include "wealthy," too?
If you're a man who makes six-figures-plus a year, is it wrong to chat that up to a woman you're into?
It's funny but there's a certain hypocrisy in the dating world. Online dating sites regularly include a spot to post your income and the income of your desired beloved. I find that kind of tacky, but that's because I don't pay too much attention to what a man makes, and I sure hope he doesn't pay too much to my income. I've heard from some men that women regularly come right out and ask how much he makes � on a first date! How rude!
But if a woman says she desires a man who makes six-figures and up, she's labeled a gold digger. And if a guy puts it out there for the world to see, he shouldn't get too miffed if women react to to the numbers he's flinging.
It seems that if income is a big issue for you as a single, there should be a place where you could tout it proudly. Now, I guess you can. There are a few sites offering up men who make the big bucks �
http://wealthymen.com and
www.dateamillionaire.com � proving that for every sugar daddy who wants a young plaything, there's a supple young thing named Pookieangel or Angeleyes who wants to play along.
I say, great. Get 'em off the regular online dating sites so the rest of us can meet someone whose goals, values and interests are the same as ours, and don't come with a price tag.
Same thing with the sites for men looking to be sugar daddies � http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/red-030207-sugar-main,1,3868621.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
If married men want to have "sugar babies" � women in their early 20s whom they meet "for trysts, and upon whom he lavishes expensive gifts and hard cash � anywhere from $600 to $1,500 a date," go ahead.
Here's how one guy justifies it:
"His relationships are more intimate and altruistic than a typical prostitute-john transaction, Mark insists. �A professional is someone who jumps up as soon as she's done, and a sugar babe is someone who will hold you in her arms for hours afterward,� he said. �I'm not paying for sex. I'm helping somebody out financially.�Right.
And his sugar babe isn't serving as a prostitute, either.
But at least everyone's signing up for that site knowing what he and she's getting into � unlike some men I've met from the regular dating sites (Match, etc.) who assumed they could "have" me on the first date for the price of a nice dinner.
What's more honest?
Kat Wilder's My So-called Midlife