There has been a certain amount of controversy recently about a website that is to be launched in the UK. Its formula has proved successful across the pond and creators of the site have decided to give it a try in Blighty to see how it might fair. It is called Seeking Arrangements and, as the name would suggest, is a forum for men and women seeking mutual arrangements.
Apparently these arrangements aren’t always sexual in their nature and the majority of the site’s users exchange companionship for gifts and essential life contributions; trips abroad, Jimmy Choo shoes and the like. Oh and did I mention that I’ve also been signed up to be the face of Dior next season?
I consider myself to be in rather a position to comment on this subject having been out with wealthy men in the past; wealthy men who buy gifts. I also consider myself to have an education, a personality and a blinding sense of humour; I am what you might call, exceptional company (work with me people, I’m setting the scene). But even this wasn’t enough for the gold givers, it never is.
Any woman that thinks she’s getting a Mulberry bag and a weekend in Miami because she can tell a joke and has an opinion on the recent benefit cuts is either totally deluded or slightly mentally ill. Men buying presents will almost certainly want sex. Men buying presents for women they have met on a site called Seeking Arrangements will not only definitely want sex but will expect it before you’ve had time to order dessert.
And at the end of the day who could blame them? You may as well have a tattoo on your forehead saying ‘I shag for shoes’, and they may as well have a tattoo on theirs saying, ‘Hey, I’m a boring bastard who can only pull when I spell it out to girls that I’m loaded.’ But, if that’s cool then crack on.
I had a ‘fling’ with a man once who bought me things. I didn’t really fancy him but we had a ball when we were together. He got what he wanted, as did I. We regularly drank far too much wine, didn’t ask each other too much about our personal lives, it lasted about 3 months and then we went our separate ways. My wardrobe greatly enriched, his libido greatly restored, and no hard feelings either side.
It was fun whilst it lasted and I have no doubt he is in Zuma as we speak, pouring champagne down some sweet young innocent’s neck and making sure he gets his money’s worth.
Because that’s the thing with men who want to ‘Treat you like a Princess’ or ‘Spoil you rotten’; they are buying you. Buying you for half a dozen oysters and a glass of Cristal. They don’t want you to be interesting or intelligent (and yes, I can generalise), they want you to look good and be willing to not call them in the evening in case their wife picks up.
Make no mistake, I’m about as far from a feminist as you could possibly get; in fact, I positively embrace the idea of disregarding years of equal rights campaigning by rinsing rich old men for as much as possible before moving on to the next one. Likewise if shoes are that important to you, then great, knock yourself out, I genuinely wouldn’t judge a girl who has suddenly found a man more attractive because she’s found out he’s rich and powerful. She’s not the first and, God knows, certainly won’t be the last.
But if you can do without this season’s heels and and can suffer a house red over a Chateux Neuf de Pape, my advice is this:
Nothing will come from a relationship based on shoes. It’s a waste of your time and you’ll end up, 6 months later, with nothing but a few more pairs of designer sunglasses and a Virgin Upper Class eye mask to show for it. Love yourself enough to want more than that, or at the very least get an allowance out of the deluded tosser. After all, you can’t put a meal for 2 on eBay when it all comes tumbling down.
Written by Katy Horwood, from her blog, here
This was of interest to us at TBW, for two reasons –
1. It’s the opposite older/ younger relationship dynamic. In more ways than one.
2. The older woman/ younger man pairing is, in the vast majority of cases, very different, in that it’s mutually beneficial in terms of relationship, and not rewards based on material acquisitions.
For these reasons, the older woman/ younger man dynamic is more of a pairing of equals, who just happen to have an age difference.
What do you think?
