Last night radio 4 broadcast two programmes on relationships of a revealing nature. The first was called Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby and was about young female students who utilise websites to find a sugar daddy to finance their studies.
It was an interesting programme though I wondered if it was a honest one. The presenter Emma Kirby could not disguise her disapproval bordering on disgust. She did refer to double lives. My concern is how truthful were the interviewees. If they were discreet about their extra mural activities outside the lecture hall and concerned they might be revealed, why should they go own programme to discuss it with someone who disapproved of them?
One of the first interviewees was an American who run such a site. She said that if anyone used it for services of prostitution they would be booted off.
This disingenuous line was adopted by some of the girls interviewed. The older man was lonely, seeking companionship, they said and sex was not necessarily on the agenda. The presenter switched to men. An American banker said he felt uncomfortable with younger girls around 21 and did give up the practice to return to his wife. However this was less out of morality, more utilisation of his time. My own view is that 2 people can do what they like unless they harm a third.
I do not see myself as a moral judge who can pontificate that they are harming themselves. I prefer the French attitude reflected in a film called Elles with Juliette Binoche, in which she plays a journalist Anne investigating a student prostitution ring who interviews one, Charlotte.
