Imagine your job is to date older men for money and then a disease breaks out that hurts especially older men. This happened to Mylene (23), a student in Amsterdam. By being a “sugar baby” she had secured herself a safe and adventurous life. How did Corona change her life?

Full-quote interview by Dauphine Vernimmen
Illustration by Maartje Veneman

“Right now, I’m not able to date due to corona and it sucks. Dating older men has become such a big part of my life and with that disappearing, it feels boring and lonely. My sugar daddy, Edwin, would rather not take the risk of meeting me, because he is already older and scared of getting the virus. Luckily, he is still giving me monthly pays so I’m still able to afford my bills while doing nothing. I’m going through a hard time now, because I went from having a luxury life and eating out a few times a week to being stuck inside. It may sound weird, but sugar babies and sugar daddies are having a rough time as well during this epidemic.

I first got in contact with sugar daddies through sugardaters.nl, which I subscribed to out of curiosity two years ago. I saw it as an exciting adventure and hoped for a lot of luxury dates. During these dates I decide what happens and I get paid well for it. I say what I want, and the sugar daddies always agree with my terms. Thanks to my them I live a nice and full life. Before I dated sugar daddies, I had a very regular and normal life which I didn’t love as much as I love mine now. I wasn’t able to do much since I didn’t earn a lot of money. Now, I can go to concerts, take my friends out to dinner, and enjoy my student life without having to worry about money. 

Since I started having sugar daddies, I’m looking differently at men. What if I run into someone I know from the sugar daters website, my dad or an uncle? If I were ever married myself, I’d never believe my husband if he said he needed to work longer. I’m the one now who makes husbands work overtime, so they are able to spend time with me. How will I know that in the future this won’t happen to me as well?

It’s a big misunderstanding that all sugar babies have sex for money. It’s not always sexual what happens between me and my sugar daddies. Of course, having the money is what makes me live a life free of concerns and stress but the attention and always having a man around in your life, is a big addition to every sugar baby’s life. So, I went from being a poor student to a student who has an easy and adventurous life.

I’ve told my two closest friends, and I love to discuss the topic with them. It makes me happy that I earn so much money with going on dates. I haven’t shared it with my parents. If I go on another amazing date again, I would love to share it with my mom and tell her what I’m doing on these dates. I haven’t told her yet, because even though she knows I’m always careful, I’m afraid she’s going to worry unnecessarily.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, I dated several sugar daddies, one of them was Edwin. Due to Corona, I’ve not seen him for a while now, unfortunately. Usually my sugar daddies are older, busy men, who don’t want a relationship or don’t have time for it but do want the occasional girlfriend experience. They like to take care of someone, do nice things and have a conversation with someone else. I am a good listener to them, and they get the opportunity to spoil me. Once, a sugar daddy took me out to dinner and gave me two hundred bucks. We kissed, but that was all because I didn’t want to do anything else. But now that business is standing still and we are all back to being lonely and on our own, I really miss the touchy feelings and happiness you get from going on dates and being close with a man.”