Last Words: The Degeneration Of Humanity

What do you do when you need the extra cash to pay rent that has doubled in the past six months? Or maybe you simply want to get pampered? Here’s a thought: find a sugardaddy.

According to local news outlet Vísir, around 70 young Icelandic girls are registered on an international website where men and women seek financial benefits from so-called Sugar Daddies or Sugar Mommies. While in the US, sugar daddies often pay for university degrees, in Iceland the extra cash is spent on the most disparate causes, from the desire to live a luxurious lifestyle to simply raising a child.

What’s interesting is that the terms of these contracts are set at the discretion of both parties, from the amount of money to the gifts or free trips that one generously gives away to the type of company that the other is willing to provide, whether in the form of drinks, lunch or even sex. Surprisingly, the news caused outrage on social media. It’s the end of the world—no, better: the degeneration of humanity!

In the meantime I wonder why our range of moral vision is getting tighter where it shouldn’t. We are not talking about human trafficking, or coercion—we are talking about the fine line between Tindering and escorting. Who are you to judge?

For centuries, non-reproductive sex (provided by prostitutes) and reproductive sex (provided by wives) were both exchanged for money. The former is deemed unsuitable in a civilised society where devotion to a husband and his children are as natural as breathing. The latter, having its roots in a culturally accepted contract called marriage, has been part of our mating rituals for so long that it almost resonates with our consciousness as a biological process rather than a social contract.

So perhaps what people are suggesting is that Icelandic society would be better off if instead of looking for sugar daddies we’d just marry rich. The more children you pop out, the better your shoes. Except it’s 2017 and I don’t just want to have the cake and eat it, too; I want to chose the bakery, the ingredients and the cutlery, and if I’m asking too much I won’t apologise for it.