EmRata, OnlyFans, and the Price of Control

What can Emily Ratajkowski’s Experience Teach Us About OnlyFans

By Lisa Alexander

On September 15, 2020, supermodel and feminist icon Emily Ratajkowski broke the internet with her essay "Buying Myself Back: When does a model own her own image?" As I scrolled through the imagistic and nuanced writing, I realized the story was far from the joyous fairytale of empowerment that I expected. In her first-person narrative, Ratajkowski recounts the many times she toyed with the idea that she does not own her image, which as a model, is so much of herself.

First, a photo Ratajkowski posted on Instagram was turned into a piece of art by Richard Prince. "It felt strange that a big-time, fancy artist worth a lot more money than I am should be able to snatch one of my Instagram posts and sell it as his own," writes Ratajkowski. Next, and perhaps most chilling, is the story of her photoshoot with Jonathan Leder. Leder sexually assaulted Ratajkowski during her "Darius" photoshoot and illegally published the nudes in a book titled "Emily Ratajkowski Collector Edition." Though Ratajkowski fought with tooth and nail—and thousands of dollars—against a forged photo release, she eventually gave up.

As Ratajkowski's vulnerability bled onto the page, so did her resolve in deciding to let go of the situation by "carving out control" where she can find it. But I couldn't let go of her gripping story. I lay awake that night thinking about what I had read in the article. "This is the girl that was naked in 'Treats!' magazine and bounced around naked in the Robin Thicke video at that time. You want someone to believe she was a victim?" said Leder when asked about the controversy. "Emily Ratajkowski Collector Edition." "Emily Ratajkowski... Collector Edition." Does owning our sexuality, like she does, mean that we lose control of ourselves and forgo our boundaries? That we could be "collected?" Why was there more backlash around Ratajkowski posing for consensual nude photos in "Treats!" magazine than around Leder publishing photographs of a vulnerable 20-year-old without her consent? And soon, I began to wonder what this meant for non-celebrity, everyday sexual women. If rich and powerful women are held hostage by patriarchal legal structures, what chance did normal women have? 

OnlyFans, a subscription-based platform where members sell/purchase content, seems to have taken the world by storm. Women have decided to control and monetize their bodies in a world that will do so regardless and leave them with none of the benefits. But do these newly empowered entrepreneurs lose their right to privacy, dignity, and respect as soon as they bare it all on screen?

In the hope of finding out, I began to do research. I found OnlyFans has a less-than-decent security system for their creators. Though you can't download from OnlyFans, it allows screen recording, and there are no barriers to saving content onto a subscriber's device. 

In February 2020, OnlyFans made headlines because 1.6 terabytes of saved user content were illegally circulating. After this privacy breach, the only protection creators had was to pursue expensive lawsuits covered by revenge porn/copyright legislation. Again I learned that no amount of fame or money could secure you the rights to your image—in fact, it may do just the opposite.

All this begged the question: Why look for leaks rather than consensual exchanges? With so much free porn on the internet, why is there such a massive market for content without consent? 

The unfortunate truth is we live in a society that allocates more respect to men who violate women's privacy than to women in control of their bodies and sexuality. This is evident through the sold-out copies of Jonathan Leder's book and the active market for leaked OnlyFans content. The unfortunate truth is people take women's sexuality as an excuse to take away women's control of themselves – the way so many used Ratajkowski's past to justify her being unwillingly "collected." The unfortunate truth is that on the internet, undermining sexually liberated women's privacy and violating their consent is a price many can and will pay for a way around paywalls. So to my fellow women, continue living sexually, freely, and authentically. Demand deference when and where you can. Prepare for and face the harsh criticism of the media head-on. In doing so, we forge the way to a world where women are respected enough to control their bodies without forfeiting all rights to privacy in doing so.