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!

@Crikeyalmighty well that's a completely different situation. No one has answered my 'consent' question, which is what is the act being consented to? The taking of the image or video, the uploading to the social platform or the receiving of the money?

OF is the normalisation of women's sexuality being comodified. It makes it everyday, easily available. It allows men to view women as being "on tap" for them. This is, to my mind, especially concerning for younger men, who see these images and believe that what women do on the site is what sex is about. It reduces female sexuality to performance and divorced from the whole woman.
It is exploitative and empowers no one, except, perhaps the site owners.

Very few women enjoy being sexual permisscusos

homosexual men for example behave completely different to lesbians on the aggregate

and of the the women I know who are it often involves alcohol or the fact they have been sexual abused when younger

No they are really not most people are actually very conservative when it comes to their children

it’s why you see no 2 year olds wandering around on their own unless neglected it’s why in the main children hide the fact they smoke even if their parents smoke

and it’s way most schools are trying to hide RSE because most parents would be like 😳

I can confidently say have been a foster carer and child minder and worked as a TA so come into contact with hundreds of parents from all diffrent backgrounds and political beliefs
majority of parents I’d you have two buttons one saying your child will be a cleaner at £10 a hour for life of a OF sex worker at£100 per hour almost no parent would press the OF button for a job thrill would rather their child eat patsa and not have a cucumber shoved up their anus for money

And the only people that I have ever come across who are happy for their child to do sex work are very damaged hence why their child was in foster care 🤷🏿‍♂️
we had children who’s parents we’re selling themselves who quickly realised they would make more money if they sold their daughter and them as a pair

You also are not conservative if you think this 😊

OF is bad for women in general. Therefore not feminist.

Who owns these companies commoditising, principally female, sexual availability? Left wing feminist communes? No? Whyever not if it's so liberating and healthy? I hope you do remain open to learning as you age, pp, and I hope you do learn.

Also, there's something very wrong with the University system (IE the fee paying side of it) if women are enticed into paying for extortionate tuition fees etc by selling themselves via OF.

I just think it's degrading, I also worry about the stalker element to it and worrisome men having images of you to circulate. There's a whole host of things here that could prove to have long lasting problems that working in a bar or cafe simply does not.

Plus regret. Even Miss Whiplash became a born again Christian.

There's a big difference in that the men who watch the content control what the woman is doing and they can pay for her to do sexual acts so it's essentially prostitution.
And theoretically from your previous posts your partner could be watching your daughter on OF without even knowing and you would be OK with that.

Selling anything, even if it is yourself/your body/sexuality, is about commodification. Objects to be purchased.

If your view of feminism hinges on concepts of 'free choice' and 'empowerment' to do, and earn, what and however you like in the context of a consumer marketplace society - then maybe it is feminist I certainly think this is how a lot of younger women view feminism. 'Equal rights' - detached, and in denial, about the differences between male and female, men and women.

But to my mind selling sex is predicated on the differences between men and women, male and female - and personally imagine it can only be a damaging/soul destroying activity ( or "side hustle" as someone earlier suggested) for eveyone involved, and especially the woman.

I guess it depends on how 'deep' your feminsim is; where its roots stem from. On what it is predicated. Is it all about individualism? Is it about women as a sex class? Is it about nurturing a healthy self respect and a dignity in your differences as a woman?

^^ Great Post @RebelliousCow

Great post. Feminism to me isn't about free choice which causes pain to their fellow woman.