From Fallen Woman to OnlyFans: Respectability, Sexuality, and the Legacy of Stigma

From Fallen Woman to OnlyFans: Respectability, Sexuality, and the Legacy of Stigma

History

Millie Jennifer Graves

2025

Female sexuality has long been a site of controversy and stigma — from its representation in eighteenth-century print culture to nineteenth-century legislation, and now within contemporary feminist discourse surrounding platforms like OnlyFans. Although modern society often views itself as sexually liberated, the persistent media outrage directed at women in the sex industry, rather than at the men who consume their work, suggests otherwise. This project seeks to challenge that narrative by examining how women, both within and outside the sex industry, have resisted such stigmas and asserted their voices throughout time. It will analyse three primary sources from different historical contexts and compare them with an interview I conducted with a contemporary sex worker, Kayla Wilde.

Sex work, Female sexuality, OnlyFans, Gender Double Standards.