The Facebook Post That Started It
The other day I saw a Facebook post about a teacher who had an OnlyFans account, and the comments section was exactly what you’d expect: outrage, moral debates, empowerment arguments, and a lot of people shouting past each other. But I wasn’t really interested in choosing a side. What caught my attention was something else entirely — how normal it has become to even consider OnlyFans as a side hustle.
A few days earlier, in one of the mom groups I follow, someone casually asked if selling feet pictures actually works. And the surprising part wasn’t the question. It was how many people responded seriously, like she had asked about meal‑prep ideas or the best brand of toddler sunscreen. Ten years ago, this would’ve been unthinkable. Now it’s just another Tuesday in a parenting group.
And then, to make it even more surreal, the topic came up with relatives too. Someone said, “Well, if your face isn’t in the photo, is it really a big deal?” And that’s when I realised how deeply this conversation has seeped into everyday life — not just online, but around dinner tables.
The Economics Behind the New “Side Hustles”
Maybe this is the part we don’t talk about enough.
The cost of living is rising rapidly, while salaries are… politely put, not keeping up. People used to think of “extra income” as driving Uber or doing a bit of freelance work. But now the internet is everywhere, and it’s much easier — and more comfortable — to have a side hustle from your couch. (I’m literally writing this blog post as part of my own side hustle.)
And honestly, how are people supposed to survive? Especially solo mums. Especially women whose ex-partners contribute little or nothing, while living their lives exactly as they did before kids. Meanwhile, the mother is juggling childcare, work, exhaustion, and the constant pressure to “make it work.”
So when someone says, “Well, you could make money selling pictures of your feet,” it’s not coming from nowhere. It’s coming from a world where women are expected to stretch themselves thinner and thinner, while pretending everything is fine.
The Anonymity Question: If No One Sees Your Face…
I don’t have an answer to this one. But I do think people feel that if their face isn’t visible, it somehow doesn’t “count.” As if anonymity makes it less real, less intimate, less morally complicated.
But at the end of the day, you still know what you’re doing.
And maybe that’s the real boundary — not whether strangers can identify you, but whether you can sit with the choice.
The Moment I Looked at My Own Feet
I’ll admit it: sometimes I catch myself looking at my own feet and thinking, “Could I make money with these?” My feet are petite, and in some cultures that’s considered ideal. So who knows — maybe I could.
And then I notice the little mole on one foot and wonder, “Would people think that’s a beauty spot or a flaw?” And suddenly I’m imagining what kind of background I’d use, how I’d angle the camera, whether natural light would be better.
And then I snap out of it because the whole thing feels absurd. But the fact that the thought even crosses my mind says more about the world we live in than about me.
Even Actresses Are Joining — What Changed?
What really surprised me was seeing that some actresses — women who were once well‑paid, visible, respected in their field — are also on OnlyFans. And I’ll be honest: it feels strange. Not because I think they’re doing something wrong, but because it feels like a downgrade from a career built on skill, training, and public recognition.
If someone once earned a solid income through acting, why would they need to turn to this?
Maybe because Hollywood pay isn’t the guarantee it used to be. Maybe because aging out of the industry is brutal. Maybe because women’s bodies are still treated as commodities long after their talent is dismissed.
And it makes me wonder — are there male celebrities doing the same? Or is this yet another space where women carry the burden of being “marketable”?
A New Cultural Moment: When Fiction Mirrors Real Life
What makes all of this even more interesting is how the conversation is showing up in pop culture too. In the latest season of Euphoria, one of the main characters turns to an adult‑content platform, and suddenly the internet is full of think‑pieces, debates, and moral panic. And it’s funny — not in a humorous way, but in a surreal way — because it mirrors the exact conversations women are already having quietly in real life.
It’s not just happening in comment sections or mom groups anymore. It’s happening on TV, in podcasts, on TikTok, in group chats. It’s becoming part of the cultural wallpaper. And when a storyline like that appears on a huge show, it’s not random. It’s reflecting something that’s already happening: women trying to survive, trying to feel seen, trying to find options in a world that keeps shifting under their feet.
It reminds me of when YouTube first became a thing. Back then, the idea of ordinary people filming their lives for strangers felt bizarre. Now it’s normal. Maybe OnlyFans is following the same path — something that once felt shocking slowly becoming just another part of the digital landscape.
And maybe that’s why the topic feels so unsettling. Not because of the platform itself, but because of what it reveals about the world we’re living in: a world where privacy feels negotiable, where financial pressure is constant, and where the line between empowerment and survival gets thinner every year.
The Questions We Don’t Want to Ask Ourselves
This is where the topic gets uncomfortable, because it forces us to look inward.
How far would you go if you had no other income? Is it survival, or is it self-betrayal? Is it even about self-respect, or is that just a word society uses to shame women? Would you feel proud telling someone how you earned that money? Would you feel safe knowing strangers are consuming your content? What if the wrong person saw it — a coworker, a neighbour, a parent from daycare?
These aren’t questions with easy answers. They’re questions that sit quietly in the back of your mind, especially when life feels financially tight.
What This Says About Women, Work, and the World
I’m not judging anyone. Truly. I’m just noticing the shift.
We live in a society where:
- women are expected to be everything
- motherhood is unpaid labour
- salaries don’t match the cost of living
- traditional jobs aren’t stable
- the internet rewards exposure over expertise
- and every part of a woman’s body, personality, or life can be monetized
So maybe the real question isn’t “Why are women doing this?” Maybe it’s “Why do they feel they have to?”
I Don’t Have Answers — Just Questions
I don’t have a moral conclusion. I’m not here to shame anyone. I’m just trying to understand what it means to live in a world where women are pushed to monetize every part of themselves — their time, their skills, their personalities, and now even their body parts — just to keep up.
And maybe the most honest thing I can say is this:
I don’t know where we’re going as a society. But I do know that the fact we’re even having these conversations says something important — and maybe a little unsettling — about the world we’re building.
If you want to read more about the invisible pressures mothers carry, I wrote about surviving those early months in Running on Broken Sleep.
