On Friday I shared on Twitter and Instagram stories that I started an OnlyFans. For the less-perverted among my gentle readership, OnlyFans is a website where people post naughty photos and videos and other people pay to see this material. So, only click this link if you want to see naughty bits.
It’s kind of a meme that between the ubiquitous boredom, horniness, and, for some of us, money woes, everyone and their mother is joining OnlyFans. But today I learned it’s kinda true. According to VICE, in the last month, new sign ups to OnlyFans have increased 75%. They’re gaining around 150,000 new users every 24 hours.
So, why did I start posting naked pictures of myself to the internet? It’s a combination of things. First off, I want to reassure you that I’m not particularly hard-up for money right now. Thank God.
I mean, it’s always nice to have a side hustle. I’ve debated monetizing this blog for years, but could never quite pull the trigger for a number of reasons. Chief among them is that writing about what I care about is probably the most important thing in the world to me. And doing something for money tends to really suck a lot of the joy out of it. I already spend eight hours a day writing about what people will pay me to write about. I want a place that’s just for me and my goals outside of making money.
I was definitely inspired by Aella and Caroline Calloway, both writers and thinkers who recently started their own OnlyFans. Last week or the week before I was contemplating following their lead with a friend. He warned me that people might not take me as seriously if I started posting nudes to the internet. Which I think is patently absurd misogynistic sex-negative bullshit. I remember when I was writing libertarian op eds a woman wrote that women who pose naked for “gorgeous ladies of liberty” calendars or post photos of their cleavage are making it harder for other, more respectable women to be taken seriously. Like, what? What the fuck do my boobs have to do with my brain? Am I only allowed to display one of the two? And definitely what the fuck do my boobs have to do with your brain, or lack thereof? The idea that a woman can be sexy or taken seriously is absurd on its face and I want to smash it to smithereens once and for all. I mean, I’m very extremely not the first smart, interesting woman to take her clothes off for the world to see. But one more can’t hurt.
And while I’m doing okay financially, I’m not able to give as much to charity as I’d like. So it’s nice to be able to donate half the subscription price this month to Decriminalize Sex Work.
I am not so financially secure that I don’t have to worry about how this will impact my future employability. All I can say to that is that I’m probably not going to thrive in a work environment where hiring managers discriminate against sexually liberated women. Deep down I trust that I will continue to be able to find work where I can be me. This may turn out to be false. But I’ve spent my whole career putting things on the internet that were supposed to make me unemployable but I keep getting jobs because of what I post for free. Because this is who I am. And it’s not bad.
Oh, right. And the biggest reason I joined OnlyFans. I love getting compliments on my appearance! I like it when people tell me I’m hot and sexy and desirable. I like knowing that people want to have sex with me. I love the attention, especially attenuated by the distance of the internet, where I can choose where and when and who to engage. It’s really fun!
I also hope it helps bring more attention to my writing. As much as I write for myself, I do enjoy knowing people are enjoying and thinking about what I’m thinking about. The only thing better than someone telling me I’m sexy is when they tell me I’ve changed their thinking on some issue or another. I love when people meaningfully engage with my work, telling me things I didn’t know and sharpening my thinking. If this can help that, all the better.
So. All that to say, it’s just $10 to subscribe and this month half of it goes to Decriminalize Sex Work. People have been kind enough to ask if they can support my work without seeing my nudes. I’m going to set up a Patreon or something soon.
Kisses!
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