It's Its Own Thing

A Typology of Interpersonal Sugar Relationship Scripts

Bibliographic Data

ID2363573
AuthorsMaren T Scull (0000-0002-0006-5491, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume63
Issue1
Pages135-158
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-1214 • E-ISSN: 1533-8673
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0731121419875115
OpenAlexW2974516035
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited64

Although academics have focused on sugaring in various parts of the globe, sugar relationships in the United States have largely been ignored. The few studies that address these arrangements in the United States often frame them as a form of prostitution. Drawing from 48 in-depth interviews with women in the United States who have been in sugar relationships, I adopt a connected lives approach to explore the structure of these arrangements and to assess the extent to which they are a form of prostitution. Overall, I found that, although there is a dominant, subcultural relationship script that serves as a blueprint for sugar arrangements, they comprise their own unique relational package and take a variety of forms when enacted on an interpersonal level. Specifically, I identified seven types of sugar relationships, only one of which can be considered prostitution. These included sugar prostitution, compensated dating, compensated companionship, sugar dating, sugar friendships, sugar friendships with benefits, and pragmatic love

Biology · Friendship · Interpersonal communication · Interpersonal relationship · Sociology · Sugar · Typology · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access