Sex Sells

Blonde and beautiful, Ella sits on her bed, nestled into pink velvet cushions and plush teddies. At twenty years old, Ella is somewhat of an extraordinary woman; doing what's expected of her just isn’t enough. A year ago, she left her full-time job, gave up her place at Russel Group University and moved home to care for her father who’s suffering from an incurable form of brain cancer. Despite her seemingly quiet life, Ella receives hundreds of death threats and fat-shaming comments online every day just because she sells nude pictures of herself on Onlyfans.

Onlyfans is a London-based social media service available online and on mobile devices. Since its launch in 2011, the site has grown enormously in popularity both with content creators and with paying customers. Users register an account with the site and begin paying to subscribe to varying content from different creators, paying every month for the exclusive content. Creates can also receive money from patrons through tips provided by a customer when they are particularly satisfied with the service, or through pay-per-view content (PPV).

Joe from Grimsby is currently in discussion with Ella on what he wants to see in his specific PPV content. Whilst the site is marketed towards all branches of a social media platform, encouraging anyone with a larger following to market and profit from the site, it's predominately used for sex work. Ella is one of thousands who use the site for this purpose. Joe, forty-six and father of two is currently negotiating how much a picture of Ella performing expletive acts on herself would cost him to see.

“It's so normal for me now,” she explains, sipping on her gingerbread latte, her fingers twirling the tips of hair bleach-blonde hair extensions. “It's not even a big deal. I’m my subscribers' porn. We talk through my DMs and discuss their lives and any PPV content they want. Sure, for some it's for sexual gratification. But for some, it's a cure for loneliness. I’m the cute blonde on the internet they talk to. For many men, I’m the only woman in their life who has paid them any attention, even though they’re the ones paying me.”

“I get a lot of requests about performing certain acts on myself,” she explains, “a whole lot of people want to pay to see my feet, that's standard. I had one guy pay for a close-up of my ears, nose and mouth It's pretty weird. But mostly, it's standard sexy stuff I get asked for. That's when my account is running and I’m not being threatened with blackmail or exposure.”

In the last week, Ella has deactivated her account, as a direct result of the online abuse she has been suffering. She explained that “despite the widespread reach of only fans and how popular and normal it is, people hate that I do it. I get shamed constantly it's unbelievably exhausting. I deactivated my account this week because people on Twitter were threatening to send my promo pictures to my dad, and to save them so they could send them to my future employer.”

She pauses for a second, swirling the mug of frothy coffee in her hand. “Hang on, my coffee ain’t cutting it for this conversation, do you want red or white?”

This shaming of women who perform same-sex work is abundant online. Despite there being a clear desire for it in our society and there being an extremely profitable market available for sex work, it's judged and ridiculed by many. “People just don’t understand that sex work is valid work”, a wave of burgundy washing over her silicone lips as she pauses for a swing of merlot. “ I’d rather be getting my tits out and earning five grand in two weeks than stacking shelves in Lidl on minimum wage, but thanks for the tip Sharon2384 who has a picture of a dog as her Twitter icon. Solid advice.”

Opportunities to earn vast amounts of money through sites such as Only Fans are abundant. A recent example of the potential financial benefit to gain from this site comes from Kaylen Ward; a twenty-year-old model and California resident. She went viral on Twitter in recent weeks, after she prompted her fans to donate ten dollars to the Australian bush fire relief cause in exchange for a personalised nude photo. She included a list of approved charities, such as the Australian Red Cross or WWF, and raised over $ 1 million by January 6th; just three days after the original posting.

Many women online were champions of this cause, expressing positive opinions about what Kaylen was doing. Yet, it's the same demographic who are quick to shame Onlyfans creators like Ella for the same acts minus the charitable aspect. “I love that she did that. It was amazing and for such a good cause, but…” another sip glazes her lips with a purple hue, “these sort of people, particularly women because it's most women who hate me online, but they seem to be okay with women engaging in sex work, but not when they are the benefiting party.”

Another controversial aspect of Onlyfans and the subsequent selling of nude photos, is the question of feminism: is profiting from your sexuality empowering or degrading? Is it feminist or anti-feminist? Many women, just like Ella, find the experience of taking and selling their nude photographs to be a positive experience at its core: “I’ve found the act of this branch of sex work to be greatly empowering, building my self-confidence and allowing me to provide for myself and my family as a result. Sounds like a win-win when you put it that way. But it's the voices, outside of the app that tarnish the experience of my sex work. The hate I get from people, predominantly on twitter, is vile and is aimed at degrading and defaming my character because I work in the sex industry. So it's a mixture of both.”

“Whether Onlyfans is feminist or anti-feminist is a redundant question, to be frank. Whatever your ideals or your thoughts about my sex work are, it's the choice you have of whether to partake that is truly a feminist win. I can use my own body to profit directly from the patriarchy. That's pretty badass. But equally, if it's not your jam, no one forcing you. You do you sis.”