Despite certain influencers presenting sex work as empowering – by posting TikTok’s about their luxury cars, designer clothes and mansions – we can look to harassment of these creators as proof that the ‘empowering’ side of sex work is futile. For example, TikTok and OnlyFans creator Sophie Rain was stalked by a fan - who later broke into her house.
We can look to the sex trafficking trade as further proof of the dark side of the sex industry – due to it’s cruel exploitation of women. On social media, OnlyFans creators imply this work is an empowering ‘choice’. In reality, at its core sex work is an industry that profits off of the exploitation of women. When debating the relationship between online sex work and feminist progression, Bonnie Blue and Lilly Phillips are two key influential figures that must be discussed.
Recently, both women have been at the forefront of online feminist discourse for their controversial explicit content. Clips from interviews with both of these women circulate on apps such as Snapchat and TikTok. For example, Lilly Phillips filmed a behind the scenes documentary of her 100 men challenge. At the end of this documentary, she is seen crying and asking the cameraman to give her a moment of privacy. Undoubtedly proving that behind the hypersexual persona, these women are still ultimately being exploited.
Bonnie Blue has emerged as an antifeminist figure who mirrors the tactics of influencers like Andrew Tate—leveraging outrage, provocative soundbites, and cultural backlash to build a platform. While Tate appeals to disillusioned men through aggressive masculinity, Blue channels scepticism toward modern feminism, often framing it as a source of societal decline. Both thrive on polarization, presenting themselves as truth-tellers in a world they claim is corrupted by political correctness.
We can look to recent crime, such as the 2023 stabbing and killing of a 17-year-old girl for “refusing flowers from a boy” on the way to school, as illustrative of the impacts of Tate’s social media presence. Consequently, I feel Blue’s similar online persona has the potential to spur on similar violent crimes.
Blue pushes a hyper-sexual narrative that implies women should be sexually subservient to men. My concern doesn’t lie with young adults, as there’s a level of media literacy that allows us to realise the damaging nature of extreme graphic content (such as Bonnie Blue’s 1000 men). However, I do feel it will have lasting negative impacts for younger teenagers and even children. Not necessarily as it normalises hyper-sexuality, but because it normalises damaging sexual stereotypes.
Social media is undoubtedly fuelled by desensitising media, but adding sexual politics to the mix may have long-lasting consequences on real life. The question is: when the cameras turn off, what culture has been cultivated?