The Sugar Daddy Phenomenon in Jamaica

By Paul Andrew Bourne, BSc. (Hons) Demography


The global world in which we all reside is predominantly governed by ideologies- customs, norms, morals, culture and phenomenologies. Those ideological constructs are the thrust behind globalization and its new societies. In that globalization speaks to the political, economical and social integration of the world economies. Due to globalization, the furthest geographic locality from one nation is brought into close proximity to another by way of the electronic media. One of the introductions of this phenomenon is cultural pluralism. Where, social facts from one locality are easily transferred and-or learned by distant regions in the world by way of media communication.


Due to this phenomenon, we are made cognizant of the different social facts that are and have been studied across the world and their various findings. It is therefore ironic that within the Jamaican academics, no one has studied the ?'sugar daddy' phenomenon. The ?'sugar daddy' phenomenon evolved in the early 1980s and has continued over twenty (20) years without been noticed by any Jamaican researchers.

Since ?'sugar daddyism' is a social fact, should the matter be studied by social scientists? Sociology is a social science and is concerned with the study of social/societal facts. Many social scientists, in particular sociologists, have extensively studied various social issues such as class conflict , race , and social solidarity . Unlike the ?'sugar daddyism', race, class conflict and social solidarity were developed and studied by Europeans and-or American sociologists as those issues were present within their societies, so what about the ?'sugar daddy'.

The emergence of Reggae as a popular music form was developed by poor inner-city people within Jamaica. This art form evolved from different art forms for example ska, rock steady and African rhythms. Because many people within the inner-cities were unemployed and faced with various oppressive social settings (like no running water; no indoor sanitary convenience; sewage running past their door steps, residing in dilapidated dwellings to name a few causes), they would group themselves together to vent their dissatisfaction, disgust and disapproval of their surroundings through lyrics in rhymes. The lyrics were coined using African instruments and would encapsulate and explain the social facts of poor people within the ghettos in Jamaica. Reggae was and still is a social culture. This art form evolved with a new set of jargons and lifestyle. In that, Reggae was the life experiences of poor inner city people.

Reggae continued over the years and was popularized by Jacob "Killa" Miller, Jimmy Cliff and the late Robert "Bob" Marley. This art form has become the rich cultural history of the Afro-Jamaican diaspora. The evolution of ?'dance hall' was similar to the beginning of Reggae. The ?'dance hall' is a new social phenomenon that once again was synonymous with poor inner city people within Jamaica. This art form is not just art but a social commentary of the social experiences of under privilege people. It is their vehicle of expression, and their mode of advancement from "nothingness".

Class and class struggle are at play in the dance hall. Initially, because affluent older upper class men were totally cognizant of the poverty faced by inner city young females, they would used their finances and prestige in society to lure young and poor underprivileged females to perform sexual favours. The haves and have nots are once again interfacing with each other but through a non-conflictory way even though it is still oppressive.

Due to the fact that the dance hall is a social culture, it is used to parade a perceived lifestyle of greatness in wares and look; privileged upper class men have used this to their advantage. They paraded their ?'preys' in luxurious vehicles, clothing and expensive hairstyles for the occasions. That experience is pervasive in the dance hall, and is an explanation of a particular social fact in the inner-city. The behaviour has now become a model for other young women to follow within innercity communities. So after a time more and increasing more young women were becoming involved in this lifestyle. Because the rewards were oftentimes immediate, the recipients would boast on their friends, by introducing them to their experiences and how they can become beneficiaries of such material possessions.

Unlike Reggae, the dance hall is once again a social commentary of the social experience of poor innercity people in Jamaica. It is within the epistemology of the dance hall that ?'sugar daddyism' was coined and used to explain a particular social fact. Because human conduct is totally shaped by common norms, when dance hall artistes capture the essence of a particular phenomenon like that of ?'sugar daddy' it was a norm and a social fact in inner-city people's experience. Again, the ?'sugar daddy' phenomenon began an oppressive agency used by middle/upper class older males to prey on young and poor inner-city females. Although the young underprivileged females would in return receive material possessions for their offering, the older males oftentimes would explore various sexual encounters with these younger females that they could or would not ask their counterparts at home.