Since I moved to Charlotte, I've discovered an abundance of women who are bi-sexual; or more accurately, buy-sexual, as in, "Buy me something, and I'll be sexual."

We see it all the time. Stroll any Saturday afternoon through the swankiest shopping areas, or dine in some of the city's finer restaurants, and you see these couples everywhere - the ones where you aren't exactly sure if the man is with his daughter or his latest girlfriend.

I graduated from a private women's college in Virginia where it was a status symbol among the young female students to bed one of the highly paid male professors. There was no formal written policy forbidding the practice, and in some cases, these girls dated professors who were older than their fathers. Dear old Dad should've gotten some kind of tuition break.

I've also had girlfriends who never went to college, but who've sharpened the elusive skill of not ever working, bouncing from one man to another for financial support. I don't see how women in this day and age can make themselves that vulnerable and financially dependent -- sometimes literally for their next meal.

So what's going on here? I believe it can all be explained by insecurity -- on the male's part.

Yes, he may brag about his trophy wife or girlfriend, and she may go through with what may vaguely resemble an act of love, but I've noticed that most of these guys are truly crushed emotionally when they get ditched for the new and improved version of Donald Trump. But why do they expect anything different?

A male friend, a high-ranking executive for a large Charlotte corporation, has had a torrid love affair with a woman for nine years. During those nine years, he has enjoyed the exclusive benefits of her moving out of their home several times, with or without notice, sometimes even bringing back men and even women for a roll in the sheets in the bed they both shared. He even once left the country on a two-month holiday to Nepal, only to be welcomed back by a bank account $20,000 lighter than when he left. This woman was so obsessed with smoking pot, she wouldn't quit long enough to take a drug test in order to get a decent job. Meanwhile, she enjoyed the luxury of having a beautiful home, $40,000 cars to drive, and vacations in Aspen, Cancun, and Hawaii, as well as his undying love and devotion -- all at his expense, emotional and otherwise.

The return on his investment? After putting off his girlfriend for at least seven of those nine years, he eventually went all out on an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas -- only to have her leave him again three months later. The excuse this guy now gives for wanting his estranged wife back and continuing the torture of having his nails ripped out one by one, is what he describes as his "last chance" at a much younger mate. He's convinced he's too old to get anyone else as young and attractive as she. For the record, he's only 40 years old, and is what most people would consider to be attractive.

The $100,000 question is: What price is he, and other men like him, willing to pay for the privilege of sporting around a woman many years his junior? When should these men take back the credit cards, or better yet, at what point in the dating money pit do they eventually declare that the female in question can never, truly be bought?

This is why I feel prostitution should be legalized. Women who are buy-sexual are, in essence, socially accepted prostitutes and get away with it. The tricks of the trade are still the same -- find men with disposable cash and create a fantasy world that keeps them coming back. The only difference is that instead of cash exchanging hands, the payment comes in tangible goods, and you don't have to worry about a police sting or an IRS audit.

With prostitutes, at least, what you have is a victimless crime -- when it's cash that changes hands, the poor dear gentleman can't be forced to live under the illusion of a relationship that doesn't really exist. The only thing he's forced to face is reality. All men deserve better.