In the last month, we have seen some big changes with OnlyFans. Then retractions. Or suspensions. I am not sure what stage we are at with the evolution of this particular subscription based platform.
But I guarantee if you are reading this, you know exactly what I am talking about. Because OnlyFans has become one of the biggest platforms housing adult content and also recently made headlines with their flip-flopping, smoke and mirror games of recent times.
So, why did OnlyFans become so successful, when there are so many other platforms that sex workers and online content creators can join to sell the exact same content? Other platforms have fan club functions, pay to view content, messaging and live show options… so why did OnlyFans emerge to be one of the biggest and most successful platforms for adult content?
Here is my take on it…
Because it isn’t a porn site.
It isn’t a site that publicly proclaims to have adult content. It has never had to.
The Terms Of Service of OnlyFans was worded in such a way that left it open to interpretation on a number of fronts, including its acceptable use policy. And what is the great thing about wording things so broadly and open to interpretation?
It means OnlyFans could have porn on it. Potentially. More than likely, yes.
The Terms of Service never said “pornography is not allowed on here.” The content rules just said creators could not post content that could be regarded as “obscene.” Obscenity laws, which have the same type of shaky foundation, are pieces of legislation which are seen as extremely dangerous by those committed to freedom of speech. Because my obscene is different from your obscene, which is different again from what a legislature making decisions on our behalf deems is obscene.
Therefore, the terms of service on OnlyFans did not explicitly say “no porn”: but they didn’t say “yes porn” either. And this is good (in one way) because it created a loophole where users could upload sexually explicit content for sale, at a time when so many other mainstream platforms are imposing heavy censorship on users. This was also a good strategy for the people in charge of running the platform, because the promise of porn on a mainstream platform is enough to draw a ready and willing audience to it.
Let me draw your attention to the word “mainstream.” I have used it multiple times already, and that is for a very specific reason. Because this is absolutely at the crux of why I believe OnlyFans is so problematic for sex work as a whole.
This is part of a global war on porn which is gripping the internet, the number one host of this content.
As I said, mainstream platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are getting more risk averse to what kinds of content they are allowing on their platforms. This is because of pressures from anti-porn groups masquerading as human trafficking and child protection advocates. This is part of a global war on porn which is gripping the internet, the number one host of this content.
The stigma that sex work and those in the adult industry already face has been amplified by the escalation of activities of these groups. Being a producer/star of porn, doing live sex shows, stripping and providing full service already comes with a big pile of baggage which can have multiple effects on a person’s life; from getting a “vanilla” job, accessing banking, contact with law enforcement, navigating health systems and maintaining housing. Not to mention the risk of physical harms coming from a wide range of people who have an issue with “hoes”.
Then comes along a “mainstream” site that EVERYONE knows hosts porn. The amount of times I have heard the site mentioned by “civilians” (people who don’t work in the industry) is astonishing; they would never dare to say they know about PornHub or that they know someone with content on a clipsite.
A site which has grown due to hosting explicit content… has also grown due to the whorephobic nature of society as a whole.
I believe that OnlyFans has been embraced by the mainstream, who fundamentally hate sex workers because it is NOT a porn site.
Just think about that for a minute…
A site which has grown due to hosting explicit content has also grown due to the whorephobic nature of society as a whole.
Most of the adult performers I know have content on OnlyFans. And PornHub. And Clips4Sale and ManyVids just to name a few. And they have the same kind of content on all of these sites.
But it has become more acceptable to say “Subscribe to my OnlyFans” as opposed to “Watch my PornHub channel.” It is ok for bored housewives to snicker about putting some “cheeky nudes” on OnlyFans to make some extra cash, but professional performers continue to get hatemail, death threats and threatened to be doxxed (have their legal identities made public). Sex workers continue to be the butt of jokes, the murder victims in TV dramas and have their aesthestic stolen for monetary gain.
OnlyFans has ground my gears for many years because I have felt there is something fundamentally off about the whole thing. Check out my Instagram highlights for years worth of material collected. And it was only when they did their recent backflip that I realised what it was that was the real issue.
Sex workers continue to be the butt of jokes, the murder victims in TV dramas and have their aesthetic stolen for monetary gain.
So how do we fix it? By realising, as sex workers, that OnlyFans is one of our enemies because it continues to stigmatise us whilst also profitting from us. If we take our business to a platform that openly acknowledges the work we do, and provides necessary protections for us and advocates on our behalf, this is a good start. And guess what? By putting the same amount of fervor into getting OnlyFans subscriptions into selling content on actual pornsite, we will all be rewarded.
And this is only the start. This is the ideological foundation that I have a problem with. Wait till I start talking about the building blocks of the site, how it works psychologically on creators and users, and money issues that then trickle down. Could get a bit scary, a bit fast.
Till next time…
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger, and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counselling for almost two decades. Now, she works full time in the adult industry, as well as indulging her passion for arts, writing and music in numerous side projects.
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