A mistress is a woman that a man sees on the side to fulfill his sexual needs. When keeping a woman, a man usually gives his mistress expensive gifts or large sums of money to keep her happy and quiet, ensuring that the discreet nature of their relationship is maintained. He also pays for her apartment or condo so she’ll be available for secret rendezvous on his schedule in a place he knows is safe from prying eyes. While he provides for her monetary needs and her living arrangement, she is no concubine; a man has no legally binding contracts with her. Nor is she a prostitute; she reaps the benefits of his financial support but there is no direct payment for her intimate company. Instead, she is a Sugar Baby: a gorgeous girl who receives gifts from a generous man. In these cases, however, this man is typically married or in a loving relationship with another woman. 

 After all, even men who are in loving relationships might be lacking sexual excitement. After many years together, a married couple loses the butterflies that sparked the passion in their love. A mistress can provide for the needs of a man lacking a sexual spark with his wife. Besides, men are easily impressed by beauty. When liposuction doesn’t bring back his wife’s youth, the attractive influence of a glamorous girl makes powerful men seek discreet relationships. 

Keeping a mistress is not purely for physical needs, either. A mature man likes to be seen with a hot younger woman in order to gain status in public. If a paramour’s relationship is not secretive, a man will be looked upon by his colleagues and society as being even more powerful than his money suggests. Like the harems of the old world, a man who provides for more than one woman is a show of status and power.