Online shoppers have a new product to browse: Men. Rent A Gent lets you check out guys (literally, you add them to a digital shopping cart) based on characteristics like body type, eye color, degree completed, location, and price.
Starting at $300 an hour, you can pick a guy, decide on how long you want to hang out with him, enjoy his company, and then send him on his way. Have him help you hang a new painting. Ask him to dance for your friends. The possibilities are almost endless for this handyman/prostitute service. But are disposable male companions really something ladies want or need?
"Our customer is the true go-getter woman – she is smart and busy; her social calendar is full and she deserves the lifestyle that has been enjoyed by men for centuries," said Sara Shikhman, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rent a Gent and a former corporate lawyer. "Looks are very important, but personality is what seals the deal. This is a guilt-free pleasure, its fun, exciting, and by women's rules."
The company's website states:
Rent a Gent is positioned to transform the entertainment industry by making male rentals an accessible, fun and guilt-free experience for millions of women. Rent a Gent doesn't provide grimy escorts or impersonal waiters. Rent a Gent features smart, handsome gents for all occasions, transparent customer reviews, and access to personal gent consultants. It is a revolutionary service that enables women to have the lifestyle that men have enjoyed for centuries. At a reasonable price, Rent a Gent delivers a "wow" experience for women everywhere.
There's a type of guy to fill every need — entertainers, handymen, personal trainers, drivers, bodyguards, dating coaches, personal shoppers, and the list goes on. But does a generation of independent, educated women with disposable income need to pay upwards of $300/hour for a butler or dancer? Is renting a dude, based on his looks and Internet charm, empowering in any way? Paying for good looking guys to help assemble Ikea furniture or unclog a toilet seems like a fun luxury, but also perpetuates the idea that women can't do these things themselves.
Jack "The Photographer", for example, informs us, "I specialize in bringing out the true beauty of women."
Women, I hope you can find and love your true beauty without paying this guy to tell you how beautiful you are.
On the other hand, if you're determined to share a meal with a special (or temporarily special) guy for Valentine's Day, you can have your romantic prix-fixe and eat it too. As long as you pay for the company and the meal.
Image: Rent a Gent
