Modern day sex work has taken a pertinent form. With platforms like OnlyFlans being so readily available, sex work can be purchased or indulged in wherever you may be. Particularly interesting is the way in which celebrities and influencers have used their large following and popularity to generate larger engagement with their OnlyFans accounts, with it slowly becoming the norm for many famous women to start creating OnlyFans content alongside their careers. In many ways, this is revolutionary for sex workers, whose safety and autonomy is incredibly increased through working on these platforms. But what we must call into question is how this transition has affected society at large. 

Bonnie Blue is particularly well known for using the phrase “barely legal” when referring to the 18 year olds she has sex with, alongside the world record she broke having sex with 1057 men in 12 hours. Whilst creating content like this that is conspicuously alarming, Bonnie’s comments and general attitude about women’s sexual roles are what seem to accrue a significant amount of attention too. Having called women “lazy” for not always satisfying their husband’s sexual needs (and offering these men sex with her for free alternatively) and bragging about the severe injuries she obtained from the 1057 men, lots of women are becoming frequently concerned about Bonnie’s messaging. 

I want to be particular here in recognising that my criticisms are not a naive plea to paint Bonnie as being solely responsible for the harms and consequences of sex work. She is a product, marketed by a misogynistic institution that keeps sex workers in a perpetual cycle of harm. She is still (to an extent) a pawn in the game of sex work, pushed, pulled and exploited by the hand that feeds her. Yet, this does not alleviate her from being responsible for creating content that sustains and glorifies violence against women. 

Through her platform, what we have also seen is that men are ardently consuming and engaging with her and her content. This gives rise to the reality that there’s a huge demand to watch and engage in sex where women are treated as a mere means to ejaculation- and that they understand women to be ok with that. With the reality that her social media will have reached most young people, we have come to further instill the idea that this is how women deserve to be treated. If teenage boys know that 1057 men lined up to have sex with Bonnie Blue, free to treat her unaccompanied by her humanity, how do we expect to ameliorate women’s sexual experiences? Or even the bare minimum, to denounce and decry violence against women? Selling sex as a commodity isn’t anything new, but profiting from endorsing and normalizing the idea that sex is something that’s done to women, not with women, is where things get harrowing. 

Integral to society’s persistent treatment of women’s sexuality, is the idea that it doesn’t belong to us. Whilst Bonnie Blue freely wield’s her sexual liberty, she simultaneously wages a war on other women’s sexuality- particularly teenage girls who are learning about who they are. Through endorsing the idea that being beaten in sex is desirable, enjoyable and sexy, the minds of women and young girls are shaped to understand sex as a performance, painful and unpleasant to serve the gaze of patriarchy. To men and boys who should know better, Bonnie’s message endorses that women are no more than flesh and blood, an opportunity to use women as a means to an egoistic end.  

Knowing the extent to which young men and boys are consuming brutal, dangerous and harmful pornography mixed with a rise in right wing attitudes amongst them, the legitimised violence against women as endorsed by Bonnie Blue is not what we need to fill the ears of young men with. Social media creates an atmosphere where we can forget one another’s humanity, interacting with people like they don’t exist. We underestimate the transition of this behaviour from the internet into real life, it doesn’t take much to bring what you’ve seen online into your day to day life. On average one woman in the UK is killed every three days at the hands of a man. It is clear that valuing, recognising and respecting women’s humanity is not something that society has encouraged men to fully understand yet. As social media drip feeds young people narratives about female sexuality, before teenagers reach adulthood, their perspective of how to treat women will be formed. I fear our perception of humanity is rapidly in decline, distorted and warped by the cracked lens of social media. And whilst the rhetoric produced by the likes of Bonnie Blue may feel abstract and far away for some, women are haunted by its indefatigable presence every single day.

Take violence against women and girls off your bank statement, Bonnie.

Lola Cook