My roommate recently brought to my attention an article on
how [female] college students are increasingly turning to sugar daddies and egg
donation to fund their college educations.
The video associated with the article discusses how
fertility clinics are targeting college students as potential candidates for egg
donation. On one hand, this allows fertile women to provide infertile couples
with the opportunity to start or expand their family. However, what are the
ethics associated with donation of eggs? Although rare, the donor can
potentially become infertile herself. Additionally, why is it acceptable to
sell an egg that will create an entirely new human being containing one half of
your DNA, but it is not legal to sell an organ such as a kidney? In both cases
there is a bit of “shopping” in choosing someone who has desired qualities such
as good health in both cases and more specific favorable traits like
intelligence in the case of egg donation. It would seem that a market in which
people select the traits given to their children by buying the best eggs
available would be just as unethical as organ donation, if not more.
Now, turning to the issue of sugar daddies.
The Internet serves as a medium through which people can
solicit potential “babies,” “daddies,” or “mommas.” Websites such as
sugardaddie.com, the self-proclaimed website that started it all, serve as
forums where “the classy, attractive, and affluent meet.” Sugardaddie.com is
free of charge, but gives users the option to ‘upgrade’ their account for a
fee. Another website seekingarrangement.com claims to offer mutually beneficial
relationships and is free of charge to babies only. Thus, the appeal of sites
like these to financially strapped college students is not surprising—they
provide a free, easy way to meet people willing to pay them an agreed upon
“allowance.” However, the problem arises in just what the relationship between
a baby and daddy entails. If sexual favors are expected, are these websites not
just forums for prostitution? Or is there a difference between dating and
engaging in sexual relations with someone for money as opposed to just engaging
in sexual relations for pay? If sexual relations are not expected, why is use
of sugar daddies not a more socially acceptable means of earning a living?
It will be interesting to see how technology continues to
influence the way people fund education as tuitions prices continue to rise.
On selling eggs -
ReplyDeleteThe biggest reason I think selling eggs (and to some extent sperm, blood, bone marrow, etc.) is okay is that they're replaceable and getting rid of some of the extra won't have too many adverse effects. On the other hand, you only have one (or two) of each organ and once you get rid of them (even if it's a kidney), you're lifespan will suffer dramatically.
On sugar daddies -
I personally think that the main issue here is the stigmatization of sexuality in our society. Since we're on the topic of reading Foucault, I would highly recommend visiting the earlier chapters of his History of Sexuality book. Sex, as it's seen by most of the population, is bad. Why should it be so? It is a natural process, but Foucault argues that throughout the 17th-19th centuries, sexuality became increasingly subject to analysis - psychoanalytically, physiologically, religiously, etc. - so much so that there was a creation of "ideal sexuality," that is, married monogamous heterosexual cisgenerational couples. Any variance was thus viewed with much disdain.
Soooooo, you must wonder how does this relate to sugar daddies. Well it turns out that there is a hierarchy of good/bad sexualities. Obviously, heterosexuality is placed before homosexuality and same race marriages before interracial marriages. At the very low end there is prostitution. Slightly above it are escorts (which in many places is merely a euphemism) and then sugar daddies.
In the end, use of sugar daddies are still viewed critically in the public eye, but when compared to other "deviants," it is seen as somewhat preferable. I cannot answer the question of sexual expectations (plot twister: I use sugardaddie.com..... that was a joke..), but I presume that since prostitution is illegal, they can't advertise that...
Also on the topic of funding education, here's a neat way some dude financed his education: Publish newspaper article in Chicago Tribune asking all readers for one cent -> $28k
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/cent.asp
I think that asking for a penny from every reader is quite a clever way to help finance an education. It did lead me to consider another interesting paradox in our society: Asking for 1 cent from every reader of a magazine is admirable while asking for 1 cent from every passerby on the street is looked at with disdain.
ReplyDeleteThis leads me back to the prostitute vs. sugar baby debate and how perceptions are drastically different when someone stands on the street vs. when they solicit money or sex (potentially) online.