Would You Ever Rent a Date? What If it was Pretty Cheap?
By Refinery29 Thu, Feb 14, 2013 5:09 PM EST
By Lexi Nisita, Refinery29
Stateside, those of us with no luck finding love in real life turn to the Internet for a helping hand – OkCupid, Match.com, and a host of other, lifestyle-specific dating sites. But if you’ve ever tried any of said sites, you know that not all of the fish in the sea are particularly fresh. So, here’s the question: In a desperate moment, would you ever shell out cold, hard cash for time with a special someone? And we don’t mean paying for dinner.
In China, many women say yes. ABC News reports that searches for “rent-a-boyfirned” have gone up 884% this year, presumably due to the unusual proximity of the Chinese Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. And, while these services come at a price, it’s nothing like the exorbitant rates we hear about on Law & Order: SVU. Of course, you have to factor in exchange rates and local price points, but a full day of fun will cost you about $128. Just going shopping? That’ll be $6.42 an hour. The movies? $8, or (this is our favorite part), $16 if it’s a horror flick.
There’s absolutely no sex involved in these transactions, just companionship (hugs, handshakes, and kisses on the forehead come free). In fact, rented boyfriends have a clause in the contract that should they get handsy with a client, they’ll quickly end up in jail. Sounds like good, clean fun to us. Now,would you try it?
