The pandemic: known for its lack of toilet roll, lockdowns, daily walks and… OnlyFans? Despite changing the industry, the subscription-based website has entailed popular debates questioning whether sex work can be Feminist. While many highlight the empowering nature of sex work as an expression of sexuality, is the commodification of women’s bodies hindering the Feminist movement? Are women actually benefiting from sex work? If Feminism relies upon one’s own autonomy and choice, then sex work must be Feminist… right?
The Oldest Profession
Typically regarded as “the oldest profession”, the history of sex work precedes the modern creation of online sexual content. And yet, the intentions remain largely unchanged; women are still positioned at the sexual disposal of men. Since the foundation of sex work, the pornai, or “free women,” were often trafficked slaves forced into this lifestyle. Though sex work has modified throughout history from brothels to paywalled content, human trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploits is estimated to generate $245 billion every year. Can we, morally, continue to uplift an industry that has and continues to exploit women and girls?
Moreover, many fail to acknowledge the ideas that continue to fuel the industry today. Approximately 88% of top-viewed pornographic content includes scenes portraying physical violence — a figure that grows parallel to the 37% increase of violent crimes committed against women and girls by men since 2018.
Similarly, the London UK Parliament Committee launched the ‘Prostitution Inquiry’ to explore the correlation between sex work and abuse. Their findings highlighted that 85% of women in “prostitution” reported being abused by a family member. 74% are reported to be living in poverty and up to 70% have a history in a local care authority. While one may see top creators gaining success and financial freedom from sex work, primarily it is the women lost within these statistics that are bearing the negative fallout of sex work. It is far from glamour, autonomy, and big houses; rather it’s living pay-check to pay-check, harassment, and abuse.
Friends or Foe?
Some speculate that OnlyFans has rejuvenated the industry by paving the greatest collaboration of the century: Feminism and sex work. But can these two truly intersect? Despite many women promoting the sex work industry as an empowering choice, it is difficult not to question whether the “get rich quick scheme” is truly rooted within autonomy. Is this instead a case of quick financial gain being disguised as Feminism?
Many promote modern sex work as a be-your-own-boss industry that seeks to empower women through autonomy over content and paywalls. And some women are finally being offered a job that promotes sexuality rather than condemns it, but this does not come without negative consequences. The idea that women are finally in control of their bodies and financial income is often misconstrued, as many female sexual content creators remain at the financial mercy of men. Two of the largest pornographic sites, OnlyFans and PornHub, are owned by men, with both CEOs’ net worths totaling more than $1.5 billion each. This dwarfs the average woman’s salary from OnlyFans, totalling approximately $150-$180 per month. Moreover, the highest earning woman on OnlyFans, Iggy Azalea, makes $9.2 million per month ($110.4 million per year); the disparity between all three workers for OnlyFans is staggering. With women occupying the top ten positions for highest earners, this simultaneously means they are the largest contributors to the pockets of men.
Sadly, these statistics are unsurprising when exploring the history of sex work: an industry that is run by men and commodifies women’s bodies, typically for the benefit of men. Some men argue that women are “lucky” to be able to make “easy money”, yet forget to consider the mental and physical effects of the industry. Similarly, there is a failure to acknowledge the largely depressing fact that a lot of women resort to the sex industry as a means of survival in the face of the gender pay gap, sexism, and abuse.
Rather than judging the individual, we should question why consumers of this industry are still predominantly men? If the industry is so empowering to women then why are only 4% of British women watching porn at least once a week, compared to 36% of British men? Can sex work really be considered Feminist if it is still catering to the male audience at the expense of women?