Sex sells. It's a fact of life that can't be escaped because sex is a powerful motivator for handing over resources, and it always will be.
But in the age of the internet, it's easy to manipulate that motivation through parasocial means. Be relatively good-looking and offer to flash your bits at a man, and they'll hand over a chunk of their pocket change without too much fuss. Age or marital status doesn't matter. You'll always find a buyer on the web.
That's why OnlyFans is such a successful platform. Women, from their 18s to decades older, join the platform and offer to show their bodies in various compromising positions for the price of a cup of coffee. There are women out there who make millions, with some even putting the payroll of various major companies to shame.
That anyone would sign up to do this is an issue unto itself, but the problem is that so many women have been seduced by the idea of having a successful OnlyFans that it's become a normalized option, so much so that even girls who aren't old enough to join the platform yet have plans to do so once their 18th birthday rolls around.
According to Fox News, the normalization of having an OnlyFans has created a culture where women went from hiding the fact that they offered those services on the platform to now being proud of the fact that they're doing it. A documentarian named Rock Jacobs, who infiltrated college campuses to create a documentary around the phenomenon called "LonelyFans," noticed an uptick in girls who openly brag about it, which is a shift from just two years ago when he started gathering information and footage:
Jacobs points to a notable shift in campus culture since he began filming his documentary series in 2023, with students initially remaining secretive about their online sexual endeavors.
"I think it’s become normalized," Jacobs told Fox News Digital. "I’ve been working on [the film] since 2023, and at the beginning, I didn't think it was something that people were trying to hide. Now it’s something that people are proud about."
In what could signify a startling cultural shift in career aspirations, Jacobs recounted overhearing a group of girls under 18 expressing interest in joining OnlyFans while filming a protest outside a California high school.
"There were girls coming out of the high school that said, ‘Oh, what's wrong with OnlyFans? We're going to do that as soon as we turn 18,’" Jacobs said. "It has turned itself into being something that people want to do right out of school instead of picking a real career."
This problem only mounts as marriages decline, school tuition becomes more expensive, and jobs don't pay as much as they should. The draw to do this is only enhanced by the fact that other women are doing the same, creating something of a permission structure that looks a lot more like an encouragement structure.
However, as Jacob says, the draw of OnlyFans to women is a multi-headed beast, encompassing money, attention, validation, and more. What is often not discussed, though, are the tolls it takes on the women who participate.
As I've said in a YouTube video concerning AI companions, girls who sign up for OnlyFans face a myriad of deep-seated issues, including dehumanization from subscribers that drives them into depression, which is hard to get out of with that constant feedback being thrown their way.
Moreover, the money is usually a lie. Most women don't become successful on the platform, with the top one percent actually making career-level money, and the rest often earning a few hundred dollars or less.
So, all in all, you have a bunch of women signing up to a platform that is becoming more oversaturated by the day, is likely not to pay well, and even if you do get successful, will probably result in people saying awful things to you, making dehumanizing requests, and saying demeaning things about you and your body.
That's not even touching the fact that OnlyFans makes your career prospects significantly harder, and the chances you'll find a stable love life more difficult.
Then there's the safety risk, as Fox News points out:
While the consequences of launching an OnlyFans account while in college could remain strictly social, Jacobs warns creators could also face life-threatening repercussions stemming from posting explicit content online.
Instances of creators facing threats and stalkers have plagued the online community, with Jacobs recalling an alarming incident that he uncovered while filming his documentary.
"There’s one guy that literally drove five hours to a girl’s house," Jacobs said. "[He] broke into her house and was living in her attic."
"The stalkers can be digital, but it can actually turn physical and real – and in some cases, it can get violent."
There needs to be a national wake-up call about OnlyFans, just like there was for other vices. It seems to me that girls across the Western world are being sold on the platform with promises of success, independence, and being in on what their peers are doing, but the risks are too high, and the payoff is usually not worth it.
