Onlyfans - good or bad for feminism?

[JustGraduated]

Hi all - I’m new here so not sure if this is the right topic for this forum. Sorry if it isn’t but would love to hear your opinions! Also sorry for how long this is!!!

I recently graduated from uni & one of my housemates (and best friends) had an onlyfans page. It was the cause of disagreement between her and our other housemate (and friend) who is a really strong feminist.

She is stunning and loved doing it, so regularly posted on it & did really well (like insane well). She made enough to cover tuition fees, rent, bills & a whole lot more beside. And don’t get me wrong she works hard on it.

Our other housemate was strongly against it. Saying that it was demeaning her as a female & that she should stop it if she respected herself.

The three of us all get on really well and besides a few little arguments between the two of them it never caused anything serious.

I just want to know what you guys think. Can you be a feminist and on Onlyfans? I often play with the idea of starting my own, especially when I look at my student loan debt and how well my friend did!

Bad, just porn under another name.

Though we should condemn the site before anyone who is on it.

Very bad indeed.

And very bad indeed for women and girls, which is what feminism should be about.

Also very bad for men and boys.

So it's a shit show all round really. Grim and depressing.

Anything that reinforces to men that women can be bought is a blight on society, and I wish to God that it didn’t exist.

Only fans might seem great when you're fit and young and your body is in the best shape its ever going to be.

But you don't stay in your 20s forever and as time goes on, unless you make it big, but that doesnt happen at all if all you do is show a bit of tit now does it,.

So the things you have to do will get worse and more degrading, the money you get for them will get less. It won't just be photos, videos. degrading

First you'll agree to meet one man.

Then another.

Then you're selling your body to Fat smelly Stan with his beer belly and his scratchy stubble and chick that hasn't been washed in a week. And you'll be grateful for the £20 he gives you.

Yeah only fans. Great idea. Go for it.

OnlyFans is no different to any other part of the sex exploitation industry. It uses the financial success of a tiny minority of women who delude themselves to think they’re “empowered” with the money they’ve earned, to mask a vast trove of misery, exploitation, trafficking and paedophilia in the levels below.

I have likened it before to an iceberg. At the top there’s the few that are sparkling in the sun, the ones making loads of money. But they’re still not exactly a warm safe place to be. Then there’s the layer just on the surface, the ones bobbing up and down, oscillating between having enough to breathe and get by and drowning and needing to expand their performance repertoire to earn more.

Then below that, in the icy depths are all the women who are just struggling, drug addicted, trafficked, even children - OF has been uncovered to have children on its site - that are kept submerged by the sparkling top of the iceberg people who enjoy their day in the sun without giving two fucks about the misery below them they help enable.

And do the horrible men who use it care whether you’re making a choice or coerced, or making lots of money or scraping by, or trafficked or not, or overage or underage? Of course not. You’re just another naked female to them.

OnlyFans is the world’s biggest pimp, and only women who don’t care about other women would freely choose to use it.

So no, it’s not compatible with feminism.

You can be a feminist and be on only fans

But anyone who thinks being on only fans is somehow a feminist act is wrong headed.

Its like being a feminist and waxing all your pubes. Some feminists do that. But it isn't a feminist act.

Marxist feminism would never argue that a woman benefits from sex work: she doesn’t control the means of production just by selling herself in the system, any more than the labourer controls the means of production if he sells his labour to the highest bidder, however high the price is.

The woman isn’t the beneficiary of the system any more than the freelancer who does piecework is, or the seasonal labourer in the factory.

A Marxist analysis would point out that the women are merely the labour for the system, and the means of production is the platform and its ownership. So the people who are really empowered by OnlyFans are — the owners of OnlyFans.

That aside, any sex work doesn’t just trade in the woman’s labour, but makes her into part of the product - turning her into a commodity, and alienating her from her humanity by making her into an object, rather than a full human subject. And the objectification of women as goods for sex and the sexual use of men, is the very first cause of feminism.

Objectifying yourself as a sexual product is never feminist, no matter how much money it makes you. It entrenches the system whereby men and their systems see women as chattels, goods, products for sale, fodder and objects for exchange and market rather than human in their Jen right.

There’s zero that’s genuinely feminist about OnlyFans. Don’t kid yourself. Making money from your own objectification isn’t feminism.

*humans in their own right.

Great post

Stunning you said? Hmm...

It's not about "being a feminist" it's about opening your eyes to the world you live in and, if you dont like it, standing up for change.

Do you like living in a world where male violence against women is both common and sanctioned "she was asking for it" etc.?

Do you like that woman = carer both for children and elderly/disabled relatives?

Do you like earning less than your male counterparts in the same job?

Do you like that there is less female representation at higher levels in all areas of life from commerce to politics?

Do you like the fact that your worth as a woman rests on how you look and as you age you are worth less? Do you like that this is not generally the case for men?

Do you like that technology has developed to the point that men and women can offer themselves up for public consumption and earn "fabulous money"? Do you think this is a job like any other? Or do you think it is degrading? Do you think that men (and it is mainly men) paying for such commodification of largely young, female bodies could get a distorted view of other women who don't choose to flog images of their genitals?

Do you think that putting yourself out there on OF Could be detrimental to future career prospects or relationships? Is society so sophisticated now that no one cares if there is footage of their CEO/MP/teacher/social worker going to town on themselves with a dildo? Have men and women evolved to the point that they aren't bothered if their husband or wife has been viewed naked and doing whatever by thousands (millions?) How do their children feel about it? Would you like it if it was your parent/sibling/partner/child?

Could porn in general cause people to have unrealistic expectations about physical appearance and sex acts? How does this affect self esteem and anxiety and depression levels in (mainly) young people?

So many questions.

Does that make me a feminist?

Yes, great post.

I answered the first time without even having seen that it said 'good or bad for feminism' - I honestly thought it had said women, which is why I answered again.

It isn't good for any women, not even the ones who manage to make quite good money on it.

However I don't judge the women on it. I judge the men who buy access to women's bodies.

I overheard a conversation today where a very high level female scientist is taking a new role at senior merchant banker type money- so let's have less of the 'unequal' type reasons usually spouted as justification - women can get on quite nicely without only fans and there are lots of opportunities for the right mindset who apply themselves. Uni lads have student debts too. the fact is there are far too many young women who see it as an opportunity to make good cash without having to do a student job etc- so are going to have rather blank CVS too unless they are ok about being upfront about it. they are perpetuating the idea amongst some men that women are just a piece of meat.

Why do I get the feeling OnlyFans is like a shit MLM scheme?

'I earned $46789 in only 20 minutes day! You, too, could earn $$$$ by exposing yourself in perpetuity to anyone who wants to see it'*

*terms and conditions apply, $$$$ only applicable to the final 2% of accounts with viewers signing up and agreeing to purchase your firstborn in monthly installments - future job prospects and relationships may be irrevocably damaged but you retain all responsibility and liability for all of the resulting physical and mental health issues you may be at risk of developing and any risk you may find yourself in going forward for evermore

Ignore my last lot of smilies I was on the wrong thread

That's actually exactly what it is. It functions as a pyramid scheme (IIUC, although tbf I've not ever looked into it in any great detail, so I could be mistaken).

Very bad.

Anything Uighur out on the internet id there forever and can be used against you.

Imagine the worst person you could think of that would be excruciatingly embarrassing for you to see it. Imagine your worst enemy finding it, all the ways it could be used against you. your future children finding it, the person interviewing you for your dream job, jury member/defending solicitor in the trial of your rapist etc etc

Can you be a feminist and on Onlyfans?

Yes you can be a feminist and on OF, but being on OF is not an act of feminism.

I don’t really agree with the slut shaming opinions already posted.

I think women can be their own worst enemy at times when it comes to things like OF. Conflating it with trafficked sex slaves being forced to have sex with any Tom, Dick or Harry is OTT. Not all sex work is the same. Nor is OFs some sort of “gateway drug” to going from a cam girl to extreme live sex…you’re not going to become a “fallen woman.”

Being on OF doesn’t mean you endorse human trafficking for sex any more than being a farmer means you endorse human trafficking for cannabis farms/fruit pickers or being a nail technician means you endorse human trafficking into nail bars or being a domestic cleaner means you endorse the human trafficking of domestic maids. It’s ridiculous to suggest anything you choose of your own free will to do as a self-employed person means you are in any way endorsing or supporting any modern slavery at all.

The point about stigma and being judged for doing this is spot on, you can see many think it is degrading, disgusting, grim and so on. So that is something to consider. Wigs, masks, body makeup to cover tattoos, moles, birthmarks. It would be wise to somehow conceal your identity so as to avoid bullies trying to get you sacked from your day job in the future.

Many do not know that sex work isn’t a career for most women who choose it. It is a side hustle that they dip into now and then. And they can earn good money. It’s a fair option to reach certain short term financial goals like pay off student loans, gather a home deposit, and so on.

So, in summary, I’m personally nonjudgemental about women freely choosing to go on OFs.

Later in life, when you are married with 3 kids, how will you feel to find your husband viewing some gorgeous student on OF? Bet you won't feel so empowered then.

Basically selling her body for sex….might as well be a prostitute… Wait doesn’t it class as prostitution selling your images hmmm there’s a debate.

I don’t really agree with the slut shaming opinions already posted.

No one has slut shamed anyone.

Conflating it with trafficked sex slaves being forced to have sex with any Tom, Dick or Harry is OTT

It is not conflation. This happens to women and girls on OF.

Nor is OFs some sort of “gateway drug” to going from a cam girl to extreme live sex

There are many accounts from women who talk about how it started off with just pics, then it progressed to more explicit content because of financial struggles and the money offered, particularly during lockdowns.

Being on OF doesn’t mean you endorse human trafficking

But it means you’re happy to give a percentage of your money to an organisation that makes money from trafficking and pays only lip service to attempts to solve the problem of trafficked women and girls on its platform.

being a domestic cleaner means you endorse the human trafficking of domestic maids

But if you gave a cleaning agency 10% of your cleaning fee and they were doing the same from men trafficking domestic maids, would you stay with that agency?

It’s ridiculous to suggest anything you choose of your own free will to do as a self-employed person means you are in any way endorsing or supporting any modern slavery at all.

But if you’re one of those people talking about how amazing OF is, and enticing other women into it despite the fact most women will struggle and be exploited (even if that exploitation is “only” having images stolen) then you are supporting modern slavery. You’re helping normalise a company and build a respectable facade for it, despite all the misery it facilitates.

What she said.

I follow one very successful OF content creator on tiktok. You can't help but like her. She's earning a ridiculous amount of money. It's very sad when you see someone comment that they aren't doing well at all on OF can they have some tips. Earning what this top creator does you really wouldn't give two hoots about being degraded. But for the girls earning 150 quid per month I'd imagine they feel very differently indeed. So yes, like an MLM. But with far worse consequences than a left over pile of candles.