Since the start of the pandemic, the unemployment rate has jumped to roughly 6.9 percent, with the majority of that percentage being women. This is due to the major hits to the economy affecting industries that are typically women dominated such as health care, retail business, and restaurants. As a result, many women have had to look for alternative sources of income, and for some, that led them to OnlyFans. However, since more and more women are losing their jobs and turning to OnlyFans, the app has become overly saturated, leading to many creators not making a lot of money.
Despite the criticism and taboo nature surrounding OnlyFans, current stats for the app include over 90 million users and over one million creators. Of those creators, many have turned to the app out of fear of being evicted and needing money to keep the lights on and to buy groceries. While some have been in luck and have earned enough to make OnlyFans their primary source of income, others on the other hand still have and need other jobs to earn enough to pay their bills and use their OnlyFans as a way to supplement that income.
This however has become an issue for these creators given some companies won’t hire someone or fire them once they find out they have an OnlyFans. One example of this sort of treatment was when a young mechanic, Kirsten Vaughn, in Indiana was fired from a Honda dealership after her colleagues found her account and began to and sexually harass her. In the Buzzfeed article, Vaughn states that “instead of [management] looking at it like, ‘Hey, the guys are kind of creepy,’ it’s, ‘Oh well, you’re the girl that brought this to their attention, and you’re responsible.” Due to situations like this many creators are put into a tough position and must decide whether to continuously search for a traditional 9-5, or make an OnlyFans and still have to scrape together additional funds to make ends meet.
Not only do these creators risk facing professional scrutiny because of their accounts, but they also risk facing more serious and personal consequences. Some OnlyFans creators have received death and r*pe threats, while others have been doxxed. “Doxxing” happens when a user’s personal and private information is released without their permission, and as a result friends and family frequently disown the creators. Another consequence creators risk when getting on the app is the chance of getting “capped,” where users screenshot and record their content and post it to other sites. This not only demeans the work the creators put into their content but also takes money out of their pockets when they need it the most.
The downsides to the app bring forth the question: is it worth it? Many female creators have no choice but to have hope given the detrimental toll the pandemic has had on women-dominated industries. While the app has helped many of these women provide for their families, potential consequences like that above loom over their futures.
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