31 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: What's the current feminist take on OnlyFans?
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Comment by dumdumnumber2 at 03/11/2020 at 00:36 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The real question is, let's say you already have a guaranteed basic income or a realistic viable alternative to this line of work, would you still be doing it?
What if you have a basic income, but you could be paid millions to work on onlyfans (or any job really, since this seems to be an economic perspective rather than feminist-focused)? Won't you always have some "master", whether it's your body forcing you to eat (and therefore make choices based on how best to satisfy that urge) or your unnecessary desire for extravagance (millionaire) that leads someone to pick a line of action that results in best meeting that desire?
Comment by [deleted] at 03/11/2020 at 17:08 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Really insightful answer. Thank you.
While gig economy apps like Uber and Lyft offer you to "be your own entrepreneur" and "set your own hours," you too are a wage slave still. I suppose this can be extended to OnlyFans. The real question is, let's say you already have a guaranteed basic income or a realistic viable alternative to this line of work, would you still be doing it? If these women WOULDN'T be doing this kind of work without missing rent or a debt payment or going hungry, then I suggest that this sex work is demeaning and ultimately harmful to their autonomy. Assuming this work is done out of an otherwise precarious life, these women are dominated by the political-economic system, which in turn forces them to subject themselves to the whims of men who are willing to pay.
Byung-Chul Han, Maurizio Lazzarato and David Graeber kind of delve into this. When labour becomes immaterial, you exploit yourself. The development of the gig-economy transforms the power dynamic/relationship by making you the one who exploits as well as the the one who is exploited, instead of the traditional distinction between the master and the slave (e.g. owner vs labourer). When you are encouraged to "become your own master," you become the master and the slave both: you exploit your own self.