OnlyFans, what is it? What’s it used for? And what does it mean for the sex work industry? - Girlsplained
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Welcome to another issue of Girlsplaining, where I - a girl - explain things. I don't pretend to be an expert on these topics; in fact, I am not. But I'm a fast learner, and I can easily explain the basics to increase your chances of someday winning 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' with every article you read.
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Babes, go pour yourself a glass of milk because this is issue #10 and things are about to get spicy. (Not really, but it was really fun to write that sentence).
Today I am going to explain what “OnlyFans” is, what it is used for and what role it plays in the sex work industry and society.
Ready? Let’s begin!
What is OnlyFans? What is it used for?
It’s a social network for digital creators. They can use it to produce and sell exclusive content for their fans in the form of a membership. For example, if you have a podcast you could use this platform to charge a monthly fee and give your listeners unique and privileged content. Mm, but that’s not its main use. For those types of creators, Patreon is the most used platform.
I don’t know if the creators made the website with the intention that it would be used for what it is used today, or if it was distorted over time. In any case, the reality is that OnlyFans has become a space to sell and consume adult and explicit content.
OnlyFans grew dramatically during quarantine last year, it went from 7.5 million users to 85 million, in December 2020. And with more than 1 million creators, men and women around the world have managed to make a living out of selling rated-R content.
The platform has paid out more than $ 3 billion to creators since 2016. The amount of money people are willing to spend on this platform is absurd, Blac Chyna makes an estimated $ 20 million a month on OnlyFans.
Sure, Blac Chyna is the most paid user on the platform, and she was famous even before using. But still, that’s a lot of money.
What does this mean for the sex work industry?
Several things happen with OnlyFans and the prostitution industry.
The first thing is that with the pandemic, sexual services were reduced because it was not possible to have close contact, and clearly you need physical contact for this job. That’s why many people migrated their services to the digital world and opened profiles on OnlyFans to continue generating income.
The other relevant factor is that 90% of sex workers have a pimp, that is, a person who handles them, offers them to clients, and earns a percentage for the encounters.
Pimps are extremely dangerous because, in many cases, they offer loans or give "gifts" to their employees and generate an absurd amount of debt that takes them a long time to pay back - that’s of course if they can pay it back.
OnlyFans allows sex workers to offer their services and earn money for it without the need for any pimp to manipulate them. Although OnlyFans takes 20% of all profits from users, they can leave the platform whenever they want.
With 80% of sex workers being women, OnlyFans has become a space for female empowerment because now women who want to be in the porn industry can do so without depending on someone else. It represents an outlet for making sexual content under your own rules.
OnlyFans also allows people who want to provide sexual services to do so with less physical and health risks. According to the Huffington Post, "globally, sex workers have a 45 to 75% chance of experiencing sexual violence at some point in their careers." As well as, sex workers have 13 times the risk of contracting HIV compared to the general population.
By being exposed virtually, they avoid the possibility of getting an STD, as well as reducing the rates of violence by clients. Although that does not mean that they are not exposed to other types of risks.
A terrifying fact I learned while writing this issue is that there are many countries where sex workers are not protected by the law in case of rape due to their profession. Even when "no" should be "no" regardless of the context.
The Bad.
We live in a world where although we believe that our body is our decision, we do not always have the power, and that creates some risks. OnlyFans security is not airtight, which allows user content to go public, there are rumors that the platform has children on it, and also, being an online service it minimizes the act of selling your body image.
First, content security. In my opinion, this is a social issue and is not so attributable to the platform -although OnlyFans should improve its security levels-. Some consumers leak the content to which they are subscribed, and since sex is seen as something private and intimate, people have lost their jobs by selling photos of their bodies on the Internet. Although the reality is that everything we put online can work against us when looking for or keeping a job, it does not only happen with pornographic photos and videos.
The porn industry has always had shady undertones, OnlyFans is not exempt from this. Although the policies of this platform indicate that users must be over 18 years or older, some teenagers use false identifications to create users, and although I did not find trustworthy data on this, I would not be surprised if there was child pornography handled by adults in this website.
The last risk, in my opinion, the least tangible, but one of the most important, is minimizing or over-naturalizing pornography. Because while it is true that there are people who go to sex work as a last option, there are others who really enjoy it and decide to pursue it like any other career. However, OnlyFans makes it so affordable that it makes it look like “easy” money without evaluating what it actually means.
The danger of minimization.
Making pornography* so achievable makes us forget the consequences of selling our body, not just socially, but emotionally. Being fully exposed for the enjoyment of others does not sound like an easy decision or easy money to me.
Also, to get clients, you must promote your account (like any other social network), and promoting it implies exposure and constant work. Anyone who has had an account on any social platform and tried to make it gain followers knows that it is not that easy.
I feel that the impact this can have on your life has been minimized. It sounds like all you need to do is take a nude photo or video with your phone when in reality there is a lot more at stake. And just as there are so many success stories of men and women who have made a fortune using OnlyFans, that is not the reality. On average, users earn approximately USD 180 per month.
I don't want you to get the feeling that OnlyFans is a bad idea, not at all. It seems to me that it is the best way to do sex work in this eras, and I love that there are these types of platforms where more and more people who do this type of work can do it freely without having to be threatened or objectified by a pimp.
What I want to achieve, in addition to understanding what this platform is and how it works, is that you can see OnlyFans as any other job, which is not easy and has consequences that perhaps today you decide to ignore due to accessibility.
Be free to choose your sexuality, your identity, and your jobs, but always be careful. Because, although it is annoying and we are all fighting to change it, we live in a patriarchal society where showing a nipple can cost you a job. It's not okay, but it doesn't mean it’s not happening. Taking care of yourself does not mean giving in.
Now, if you don't want to open an OnlyFans, you can buy me a beer here.
Look at all the things you learned today:
OnlyFans is a platform for creators to sell exclusive content to their followers.
Over 1 million creators are using this platform.
OnlyFans increased more than 70 million users during the pandemic.
On average, someone can earn $ 180 a month creating content on OnlyFans.
OnlyFans is a much safer option for sex workers.
OnlyFans security is not airtight.
Making this type of content is seen as “easy money”.
Minimizing OnlyFans can lead you to not fully assess all the consequences.
Be free, but always take care of yourself.
Thanks for reading. I hope you learned something. If so, please recommend it, leave a comment if you want me to explain any particular topic, or buy me a beer if you truly enjoyed it.
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