Contemporary perspectives and feminist critiques on the digitalised consumption of pornography: The prominence of OnlyFans in current culture

 Introduction

Since 2020 there has been a sharp spike in the demand for adult content subscription sites, with the global pandemic leaving the house-bound to search for alternative sources of sexual gratification. The most prominent in this field is ‘OnlyFans’, growing from 7 million in August 2019 to 170 million by 2022 (Spire, J.  2022). This essay aims to look at OnlyFans and feminism, specifically fourth-wave feminism by identifying key attitudes from the second and third wave which have affected perspectives in the present day. This digitalisation of pornography consumption can be directly held in parallel to the shift from third-wave feminism into the fourth wave which is considered by many to have started in 2012. A major component in this transition is the prominence of social media (Anand, T. 2022). This technological age has encouraged society to ask broad questions surrounding issues of empowerment, equality, and freedom (Soken-Huberty, E. 2022) through the use of social media and the internet. The third wave is believed to have started in the early 1990s when it demanded the dismantling of ‘femininity’ and what it means to be ‘female’. Being female in the 1990s meant tackling ‘bimbofication’, eating disorders and misogyny which is what encouraged women to reclaim their sexuality and how they wanted to be perceived.  Now society has debatably regressed to an era where self-sexualisation and objectification is unavoidable; online, on television, through fashion and through advertising. This opens the argument of whether an accepted sexualised culture is empowering or regressive. 

Our technological age has however positively encouraged the public to address key issues including intersectionality, reproductive rights, violence against women and sexual liberation (MasterClass.com, 2022). The redefining of femininity and female sexuality has carried into 2022 (the fourth wave) and has made a significant impact on societal views and this essay will focus on the perspective of modern sex work, contrasted against feminist theories on pornography. The significance of the ever-evolving adult content (porn) industry maps the course of social change by exploring how technological advancements have impacted society’s opinions and general attitudes towards sex work.  

Feminism and sexual liberation

The third wave reignited an emphasis on sexual freedom and gender equality, it centred around the fight against sexual harassment and violence. When regarding third-wave feminism it is critical to remember the ‘sex wars’ from the second wave in the 1970s. The ‘sex wars’ was the debate and political movement between groups within feminism which argued over pornography and sexual activity. There were anti-pornography feminists who argued that pornography should be limited as it catered only for men and encouraged violence against women (Anand, T. 2018). The sex-positive feminists argued that sexual liberation was a crucial component of equality and that banning pornography would be repressive (Anand,T 2018). Even in a modern context “radical feminists (anti-pornography feminists) focus on the dismantling of oppressive social structures, arguing that individual ‘choices’ are inherently constrained rather than ‘free’ within a patriarchal context” (Farvid, P.  2017). The two feminist standpoints still exist especially with new debates surrounding the digitalisation of sex work, like OnlyFans, camming and the expansion of the porn industry. Technological advancements have had a direct effect on the accessibility of pornography consumption, with the 1990s bringing the introduction of the world wide web (1991) and therefore the birth of internet porn (Pornhub youtube, 2015). There is undeniably a hang-over from the sex wars in the present day with the argument that porn is catered solely to the male gaze and pigeon-holes women into subservient or deviant roles. A poll orchestrated by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) discovered that “72 percent of 18-year-olds surveyed (500) believe that pornography leads to unrealistic attitudes about sex, and 70 percent believe that pornography can have a damaging impact on young people’s views of sex or relationships” (Gibson, M. 2014). With this considered in a modern context and recognising the issue of accessibility, it brings back the argument of whether porn should be limited, and debates if this is repressive (as it was argued back in the 1970s). Since 2014 there have been huge changes within the porn industry which may have subsequently altered general opinions surrounding porn and adult content.  

 OnlyFans; a new way of thinking

The prominence of OnlyFans in 2022 has certainly posed new arguments surrounding sex work. There can be two feminist views on the matter; it can be seen as empowering to women as they are taking advantage of the male gaze and monetizing off of it but this in turn can be controversial as women are simply surrendering themselves to the heterosexual, patriarchal desire. Laura Mulvey argues that the “male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female form which is styled accordingly” (Mulvey, 1989), at present being styled “accordingly” is to not be dressed at all, or provocatively for social media and content creation sites (like OnlyFans) for the viewership of male attention which results in payment. In spite of this (disputed) submission, a core element behind the empowerment of using OnlyFans comes down to the greater control over content and a lower cut of the creator’s earnings to the site (Voicebox, 2020). OnlyFans takes a healthy 20% of the creator's profit, while the majority of adult content sites can take up to 50% (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2022). With this recognised it becomes easier to understand why many women are considering OnlyFans as a career option. Social media is a signpost of the beginning of fourth-wave feminism, (many argue it to be ‘post-feminism’), with 59.3% of the entire global population having social media accounts it is undeniably a pivotal part of today’s society (DataReportal, 2022) and certainly youth culture.

Third-wave feminism sought to reclaim femininity and female sexuality. Today it could be viewed that ‘sexiness’ has lost its subtlety, leaving us with one overly saturated version of “sexy” (India, F. 2021) within mainstream media. In the midst of the ‘influencer’ era, hyper-sexualised imagery of women is everywhere. Mackinnon’s theory on gender as sexuality posits that the social meaning of gender is created by sexual objectification, and subsequently women are treated as objects for satisfying men’s desires (MacKinnon, C A. 1989). MacKinnon was an anti-pornography feminist and defined pornography as “the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes women dehumanised as sexual objects, things, or commodities, enjoying pain or humiliation or rape”(MacKinnon, C A. 1985). These feminist theories were made during the beginning of the third wave (1985) when porn was accessed through buying physical copies of magazines and videotapes. With pornography's advancement, general attitudes (outside of the young heterosexual male sphere) have shifted even further and become less of a feminist issue and more of a growing concern.

 Cardi B and the ‘influencer’ era

With the constant evolution of the internet, it enables society’s views on heavy topics to shift as the issues are circulated publicly for all to weigh in on. The focus of female empowerment through fourth-wave feminism has come a long way from the beginning of feminist protests over voting and equal pay. When looking at the timeline of female empowerment, it can be useful to pin-point a zeitgeist. Rap artist, former stripper and OnlyFans creator, Cardi B, is a prime example of a woman who is pushing boundaries surrounding female sexuality representation, she presents herself to be hypersexualised in all senses of the word; her outfits, dance style and lyrics. Cardi B as a Black Latina female fits under Kimberle Crenshaw's feminist theory of intersectionality which describes the experience of being double oppressed through both gender and race (Crenshaw, 1989). Throughout hip-hop music videos, women are usually depicted through an objectifying lens in which they make themselves readily available for men. Black and minority women are sexualised in specific ways, centering a fascination on their body shape; most notably the heavy focus on their posterior (Larasi, I. 2013). What is interesting is that Cardi B as a performer chooses to show herself through this hypersexualised lens that has been cultivated by men for centuries. It opens the debate on whether she is empowering girls and women by being sex-positive or if this had an adverse effect. Much like the discussion on sex work being empowering or regressive, women within popular culture face the same topics of debate through opinions on their music and personal style.

Cardi B’s 2020 hit single “WAP”, (abbreviation for “wet ass pussy”) with fellow female rapper Megan Thee Stallion, will be used as a tool to examine her social commentary on the modern perspective on feminism. She is evidently unapologetic about women's sexuality; she promotes women's right to sexuality and pleasure through power. She reverses the societal narrative by describing their standards for men's sexual performance (Garoutte, no date). This has subverted all we have been taught about the sexual double standard (SDS) which “implies that male and female sexual behaviours should be judged by different standards, such as the belief that casual sex is acceptable for men but not for women” (SageJournals, 2013) Therefore, the established SDS favours highly sexually active heterosexual men to be evaluated more positively than women who exhibit the same behaviour (Beroccal, G & Del ,M. 2019). Artists like Cardi are owning their sexuality and subverting the double standard, as crude as the lyrics come off, it is intentional to hear women possess the same attitude as men. Centering back around to the idea that we are in an age which challenges outdated ideologies on female sexuality, empowerment and equality; having a black, bisexual woman rap so freely about female sexual desire should be praised rather than scrutinised, which it has been by the media.  

Considering Cardi B as the zeitgeist of ‘new feminism’ (equally, post-feminism or neo-liberalism ), draws attention to the current concern of celebrities endorsing hypersexualisation which encourages girls to objectify themselves (Schlott, R. 2021). Despite Cardi B not using OnlyFans exclusively for explicit content, she utilised her partnership with the adult site as a marketing ploy, therefore, sexualising herself by associating with it. Celebrity endorsement of OnlyFans has become a magnet for controversy. Actress Bella Thorne joined OnlyFans and was the first person to earn $1 million in 24 hours which stirred up the debate of whether wealthy ‘influencers’ and celebrities should join the platform considering sex work is often leaned on for financial necessity (Sanchez, S. 2022) rather than additional profit and media attention.  Influencers and celebrities like Iggy Azalea most recently are selling sex work to their followers highlighting two issues of the substantial earnings gap and also ignorance of disregarding centuries of criminalisation and exploitation of sex work (Sanchez, S. 2022). In the last decade, social media has morphed into a vessel for narcissism and self-sexualisation, far from its beginning of simply just networking which has resulted in the era of the “influencer' '. Influencers are regularly condemned for their blatant tone-deafness and being out of touch with reality, and the debate over the ignorance of overlooking the demoralising need for sex work is no exception.

Porn and moral panic

 Revisiting the sex wars that took place in the 1970s to 1980s America, specifically San Francisco the group known as Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media (WAVP) are vital to the significance of the anti-porn movement. A prominent figure who was part of  WAVP is Andrea Dworkin, author of “Pornography: Men Possessing Women” and “Women Hating” and was a forthright critic of all pornography, not only of the violent kind (McBride, 2008).  Dworkin argues that pornography “is war on women, serial assaults on dignity, identity, and human worth; it is tyranny” (Dworkin, 1981. p27). She proposes the idea that rape is the central image of all pornography.  Despite the recent encouragement of ‘healthy’ porn there is undoubtedly still a desire for the consumption of violent pornography and rape-like scenarios such as BDSM which has been relabelled as a ‘fetish’ or ‘kink’. The accessibility of such graphic and violent content is what has caused the moral panic of pornography, most notably in the last decade when children have access to smartphones and tablets, but also even since the digitalisation of porn moving online. Dworkin argues that “The boy becomes a man by taking on the behaviours of men to the best of his ability” (Dworkin, 1981. p.50). With this considered, the consumption of violent pornographic material by young boys and men could inherently affect their future behaviour and current ideas surrounding sex. Katherine A Hare proposes that young adults typically perceive pornography consumption as a venue for sexual exploration and learning about sexuality (Hare, 2014) this exploration can be corrupted by violent scenes perpetrated by male adult actors.  Society has acknowledged this ‘panic’ and in recent years there has been a conscious effort to encourage more healthy porn to be made. The ongoing reinvention of the porn industry establishes a link to OnlyFans and the opportunity for adult actors/ actresses to escape from the confinement of the porn industry, which is dominated by male directors and grants them complete control over their work so they can avoid exploitation. 

Porn is this the turning point 

The development of pornography over the centuries has only had the most extreme evolution within the last 20 years due to the birth of the internet which has heightened accessibility.  “Affordability, accessibility and anonymity” (xxxchurch, 2020) are the qualities that have made porn dominate in modern society, shaping popular culture. Considering that porn sites get more visitors daily than internet giants Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined (Kleinman, A. 2017), porn’s prominence in today’s culture is impossible to ignore and its influence on youth culture is even more so. Gail Dines defines the world’s current state as a “pornified culture”, where hypersexualized imagery is unavoidable (Dines, 2015), which influences girls to ‘pornify’ themselves and boys to (subconsciously) objectify them creating a damaging cycle.  Srinivasan proposes that “Feminists have long dreamed of sexual freedom. What they refuse to accept is its simulacrum: sex that is said to be free, not because it is equal, but because it is ubiquitous.” (Srinivasan, A. 2021), emulating the idea that feminists are rejecting new sex-positivity feminism because it is almost inescapable today.  The recent phenomenon of OnlyFans has promoted a new wave of women reclaiming their sexuality, in spite of that this has also encouraged young women to be influenced into self-sexualisation. There are many benefits to the growth of OnlyFans which is influencing women from stepping away from the porn industry and therefore exploitation, degradation, and submission. However, the drawbacks of this shift weave their way into the complex notion of women objectifying themselves for financial gain, using the heavily critiqued and flawed male gaze to benefit their bank account. To what degree is owning sexuality in this sense empowering for women when they are ultimately succumbing to men? Being a part of fourth-wave feminism, youth culture specifically is shaped by social media which for better or for worse fuels a new form of activism; social media/ online activism. It may seem subtler than feminist rallies crusading through cities, but the general impact is immense, with limitless opportunities to educate and protect women against exploitation.

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