Free Speech Or Flagrant Foul: Dating Ads Promote Oral Sex & Sugar Daddies

We've already discussed the complicated issue of the sugar daddy: On one hand, it's a woman's right to do whatever she pleases with another consenting adult. On the other hand, paying a woman to please a man seems totally demeaning, even if sex isn't involved. But now, the sugar daddy controversy gets a bit more perplexing.

Two billboards advertising Arrangement Finders, a dating site for "mutually beneficial arrangements," were recently taken down in Chicago and, later, in L.A. after local residents — some families with young children — complained about the explicit content. On one billboard: "Hey Students, Need a Summer Job? Date a Sugar Daddy," while the second reads: "Because the best job is a b**w job."

First of all, targeting impressionable young women — with possible student debt — further propels the misconception that they need someone to take care of them. Although an easy out, it doesn't really promote self-empowerment. As for the second billboard, well, whoever came up with that slogan probably had some previously, um, sucky gigs. Considering this billboard also features porn star Bree Olsen making a very questionable shape with her mouth, we understand these parents' concerns (even if, interestingly, Chicago has the most registered Arrangement Finders users in the country). However, as journalists, proponents of the Constitution-given right of free speech, we can't deny the site's right to advertise its business as it seems fit. Again, we leave it up to you. What trumps here: free speech or female empowerment? (Daily Mail)