The economist released a piece in their magazine 1843 called ‘OnlyFans: a day in the life of a top(less) creator‘ on January 10th, 2020, written by Sirin Kale a freelance writer from London. It follows the past of Lucy-Ann Brooks and through the interview touches on topics of women’s control and the porn industry.
Brooks is an ex-porn star who was enlightened when she found out about OnlyFans, it completely changed her life and carrier. She averages 20,000 euros she claims because she runs her app like a business with scheduled events and constant pictured being posted.
Kale goes on to talk about OnlyFans, which is a British company with 12 million users registered each paying on average between 5 and 15 euros a month. The reason why the app works is because of the culture we live in today, Timothy Stokely the founder of OnlyFans explains, “OnlyFans hits the sweet spot between influencer culture and web camming.”
With the change in the porn industry and the fast-expanding mentality to not pay for porn creates a declining industry, “As with any industry in decline, as profits crumble, labor rights and pay are affected. Female performers may be paid £300 for a shoot, with another £100 thrown in for extra sex acts.” making OnlyFans the best choice for anyone in the sex industry.
The biggest part Kale covers and expresses the most opinion on is the opportunity that OnlyFans has presented women with, they are 100 percent in control, whereas before the porn industry commodified women’s bodies and kept most of the profits. OnlyFans has a standard 20% commission and leaves the rest to the content creators. Women using the site decide what the make, when, and who gets that content. OnlyFans is helping empower the women using their site by letting them have control.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with the lifestyle these women are choosing for themselves, Brooks sister also has an OnlyFans at one point and was fired from her job for such. So the repercussions can be great.
Now that we’ve covered what was talked about and the ideas behind the article were going to take a closer look. Kale’s sources are not linked but are credible with the interview from Timothy Stokely and Brooks. As with most of the article on OnlyFans, there is a close analysis of 1 or 2 people’s lives and how it has helped them. This, unfortunately, has no basis of what to compare to, what are only girls in the industry making? the only comparison is with what the writer had which is what brooks’ was making before and after OnlyFans.
My biggest problem with this article is that there is no information: no links, no information on the writer and her credentials, limited sources, this doesn’t create a rounded article that the reader can fact check. Brook’s could or could not be made up, many OnlyFans content creators don’t use their real name and even if that is her OnlyFans name unless you buy her content there is no way of knowing the truth in her story.
If I was a teacher grading this assignment she would get a B-, Although the article was riveting and written great unfortunately there is not enough information on where her information is coming from creating a strong sense of distrust from the reader.
