Online Sex Work of Women on OnlyFans: Oppression or Empowerment?

Year 2024, Volume: 25 Issue: 1, 39 - 56, 07.10.2024

Mediha Dilara Cılızoğlu

Abstract

(Online) Sex work is a hot topic in feminist literature which is mainly studied with respect to two perspectives towards sex work: oppression and empowerment. This study aims to understand “How online sex work of women on OnlyFans can be interpreted and try to understand if OnlyFans can be explained through the perspectives of victimization and empowerment. For this purpose, this paper will provide a theoretical discussion about two main debates (oppression and empowerment) in the literature; be analyzed by taking OnlyFans as a case. Study results show that women's online sex work experience cannot be explained purely by oppression or empowerment paradigms, instead coexistence of oppression or empowerment should be taken into account. Secondly, emphasizing only the oppression or empowerment paradigm underestimates women’s differences that directly affect women’s online sex work experiences. Thus, intersectional analyses that are taken into women’s age, race, and gender considerations are necessary in order to understand women’s OnlyFans experiences. Last but not least, women’s experiences of online sex work can change according to the motivation behind being a sex worker in OnlyFans.

Keywords

OnlyFans, online sex work, women, empowerment, oppression, descriptive literature analysis

OnlyFans Platformunda Kadınların Çevrimiçi Seks İşi: Baskı mı Güçlenme mi?

Abstract

(Çevrimiçi) Seks işi, feminist literatürde genellikle iki perspektife dayalı olarak incelenen bir konudur: baskı ve güçlenme. Bu çalışma, "OnlyFans üzerindeki kadınların çevrimiçi seks işi nasıl yorumlanabilir ve OnlyFans'ın mağduriyet ve güçlenme perspektifleri aracılığıyla açıklanıp açıklanamayacağını anlamaya yöneliktir. Bu amaçla, bu makale, literatürdeki iki ana tartışma (baskı ve güçlenme) hakkında teorik bir tartışma sunacak ve bunu bir vaka olarak ele alarak analiz edecektir. Çalışma sonuçları, kadınların çevrimiçi seks işi deneyiminin sadece baskı veya güçlenme paradigmalarıyla açıklanamayacağını, bunun yerine baskı veya güçlenmenin bir arada var olduğunun göz önüne alınması gerektiğini göstermektedir. İkinci olarak, sadece baskı veya güçlenme paradigmasına vurgu yapmak, kadınların çevrimiçi seks işi deneyimlerini doğrudan etkileyen kadınların farklılıklarını küçümsemektedir. Bu nedenle, kadınların OnlyFans deneyimlerini anlamak için kadınların yaş, ırk ve cinsiyet gibi demografik değişkenleri içeren kesişimsel analizlere ihtiyaç vardır. Son olarak, kadınların çevrimiçi seks işi deneyimleri kadınların bu işi hangi motivasyonun ile yaptıklarına bağlı olarak değişkenlik göstermektedir.

Keywords

OnlyFans, çevrimiçi seks işi, baskı, güçlenme, betimleyici literatür analizi

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