OnlyFans

Since the pandemic started in early 2020, I was lucky to retain my day job and be paid a monthly salary. I know a lot of people have been less lucky and had an uncertain time.

Having your career put on pause unexpectedly forced many people to create online content to make ends meet. Earning money from YouTube videos or being on a pay monthly platform like Patreon, has been a great way to keep alive the passion that led them to their dream job. Be it being a pilot who plays a computer flight simulator or a musician who plays TV theme tunes.

Not everyone has the skills or the knowledge to create “intelligent” content. There have been plenty of news stories about people creating “adult” content on sites like OnlyFans during the pandemic.

When I heard about the actress Sarah Jayne Dunn being fired from the TV series Hollyoaks for starting an OnlyFans account it raised many questions in my mind that I thought it worth sharing on here.

The photographs Sarah Jayne Dunn is publishing on OnlyFans are similar to what Lads Mags, if they are still around, print. Skimpy lingerie, boudoir type images that are not out of place for a female celebrity in this day and age. So what is the objection of the TV production company in her making these images? I don’t buy the we are protecting the children argument for her sacking because how many children have credit cards to pay for a subscription.

I’ve never seen Hollyoaks so I have no idea what type of person Sarah Jayne Dunn portrayed in the programme. But if the character is squeaky clean, you would think that a good actor does not need to share the same personality that they are playing because after all they are acting.

There are so few roles for women in the TV and film industries that careers can be very short lived. So creating an online fanbase would arguably be a good career move.

So what is the real problem with the OnlyFans platform? From what I can see, there is an issue with the morality of this particular website. I’m also seeing the complex nature of how our society deals with images of women, the increasing abundance of pornography and the marketing of consensual sex work.

6 July 2023 Channel 4 repeated OnlyFans Got Me Fired: UNTOLD today in which Sarah Jayne Dunn gives her side of the story.

The programme is also on YouTube.