Posted April 23, Reviewed by Lybi Ma. The Covid pandemic led to a change in how sexually explicit content is produced and consumed, with OnlyFans emerging as a prominent platform.
To grasp the impact OnlyFans has had on our culture, think about the last time you heard someone saying:. While some of these statements may be made tongue-in-cheek, they reflect a shift in how we think about sexually explicit material.
OnlyFans and similar platforms have been touted as a symbol of empowerment for content creators, many of whom are female. Here are three research-backed insights to help gain perspective on OnlyFans and its place in modern society. A study found that society perceives women who are engaged in sex work in a devastatingly negative light. The study found that these sentiments were echoed by both women and men, but men were more likely, compared to women, to dehumanize female content creators.
Creating sexually explicit material for an income is sex work, and the mental health challenges that come with this line of work are well-documented. A study published in Sexuality and Culture found that sex workers were likely to internalize the stigma associated with sex work and feel lonelier as a result.
The participants of the study, mostly women, also had low levels of mental well-being. Although external stigma may potentially be lower for creators on OnlyFans and other platforms compared to in-person sex workers, loneliness and poor mental well-being are not linked to external stigma alone.
