The interaction between OnlyFans subscribers and creators represents the degeneration of our culture and humanity’s worst inclinations.
Some things in the world can bring out the worst in us more easily than others, and in ways we do not expect. The online subscription service OnlyFans is a prime modern example of this. Men and women are suckered into it because our culture has rotted through to the core. The role of OnlyFans in this can be explained through the seven deadly sins.
The most obvious sin found in OnlyFans is lust. Both creators and subscribers participate and are damaged by it. Women seduce their subscribers through the promise of their sex appeal. The subscribers then objectify these women and pressure them into performing more extreme and perverse acts on camera.
These voracious demands from subscribers indicate the presence of gluttony. The exclusive material found on OnlyFans feeds into the addictive consequences of pornography. It affects the same parts of the brain that drugs do, and when the dopamine receptors are routinely overloaded from binging pornography, it dulls them and requires the viewer to seek more extreme content.
An anonymous ex-OnlyFans creator said this in an interview with Business Insider: “I felt like my subscribers were constantly pushing my boundaries. No matter what I posted, they wanted more explicit content. I ended up sending nude photos a few times even though I didn’t want to because I felt so pressured and they were offering so much money. I would also receive terrible messages that were so degrading, and I didn’t see any filtering system on OnlyFans to block them.”
The overstimulation of dopamine receptors also causes sloth. When pornographic viewers finally stop watching, they go through a sort of withdrawal period during which they become incredibly lazy and unmotivated to do anything else. Most women join OnlyFans because they see it as an easy way to make a lot of money fast. Objectifying oneself is unfulfilling work, and women know it no matter what they might say to brush it off.
One underlying but very present sin in OnlyFans is pride. Many women love the attention their subscribers give them, and our culture props them up as celebrities. Our culture has developed a new view of “sex work”: that sex is liberating, and that it is no more than a business transaction. This means that “sex workers” are independent businesswomen expressing their freedom at its utmost. Actress Leah McSweeney expressed this on the podcast Sofia with an F: “I feel supported. I’m making money. I get to express myself.”
If this is what it means to be a star on OnlyFans, then of course many will see the pros as higher than the cons. The financial possibilities, the attention and potential stardom, and the ultimate freedom of expression are too much not to consider. The envy of those who have promoted their success has spurred the envy of the 2% of women in the United States who have signed up so far.
The perception of fast wealth taps into the other most apparent sin fostered by OnlyFans: greed. Its public image has become one of a gold mine for attractive young women. However, this perception of OnlyFans as a moneymaking machine for any creator is entirely false. OnlyFans is exploitative and takes 20% of the creators’ individual profits, the average earning is $180 per month, and the top 10% of earners make 67% of all profits.
When critics point out the problems of OnlyFans, they incur the wrath of its supporters. Critics threaten their careers, their avenue for pleasure, and their liberty. In The Daily Beast, porn star and top OnlyFans earner Cherie DeVille accused critical lawmakers of “legislating us out of existence just because you have a problem with us.” Our culture has eroded so badly that now even prostitutes and pornographers are creating a victim class.
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OnlyFans may have started out as a way for creators to, in theory, make money through a relatively unregulated channel, but it has opened the door to the most primal vices of mankind.
Combine that with the state of Western society, and it is no surprise that it has created a toxic environment for all parties that strengthens their worst qualities.
Parker Miller is a 2024 Washington Examiner Winter Fellow.