The sociologist Fabrizio Fratus
Fabrizio Fratus, tireless intellectual-activist born in 1973, Lombard, is perhaps the sociologist who, in Italy, has more than any other suspect, with writings and conferences, the phenomenon of pornography in his more “political” implications, starting from an anti-modernist and communityist point of view (it is, precisely, currently, the main Italian theorist of Communityism). Recently, after setting off, in several editions (the last published by The circle) his essay on the theme, “The ideology of enjoyment“, Written in four hands with the psychiatrist Paolo Cioni, he returned to write on the subject with the new volume “Onlyfans. The new frontier of prostitution and pornography”published by Streetlib. The book investigates, among other things, the relationships between the neoliberal socio-economic model and the social network that has allowed many digital creators to use their body and, in the most pushed cases, also their sexual performances to generate income.
The Onlyfans model has often captured the attention of the most important newspapers, which have relaunched the stories of different women, teachers or employed, including Italian ones, who thanks to this tool, exhibiting their body, managed to earn and set aside much higher figures than those they would have perceived only with their use. So much so that someone has also fired. Let’s start from here, does not seem to you that the morbid attention of the press is likely to push the emulation of these cases further? What is the passing message?
“The media attention that surrounds cases of success on platforms such as Onlyfans is not at all random. Indeed, it is an intrinsic mechanism of the capitalist system that exploits and amplifies these stories for a specific objective: to create an illusion of social mobility and economic independence. The newspapers do not just tell a phenomenon; they actively promote it. The message that passes is clear and dangerous: if you do not do it with your traditional work. You can always sell your body and digital content to achieve success and money. ‘ This type of narration is a way to shift attention from the root of the problem, which is the systemic precariousness and the devaluation of work. Instead of questioning why a teacher does not earn enough to live dignity, his decision is enhanced to undertake an alternative way, presenting it as a choice of individual freedom. In this way, the capitalist system is self -ustified and distracts the masses from the struggle for the most equipped wages “.
What society is the one in which a human being manages to maintain better by making videos pushed online which, perhaps, teaching in a school after years of study and sacrifice?
“The society that enhances success on Onlyfans compared to that of a teacher is a society that has replaced the intrinsic value of work with its profit and entertainment potential. Teaching, care, production of knowledge – all fundamental activities for collective well -being – are devalued because they do not generate an immediate and spectacular profit. On the contrary, the creation of pornographic content, which is based on exposure Body, is remunerated in an disproportionate way because it fits perfectly in the logic of the capitalism of the platform, which monetizes the attention and hunger for entertainment. themselves’ to the best digital bidder “.
In the past, feminism has fought to free the woman from constraints and oppressions, to claim her autonomy and dignity. Today, the performance of the body on digital platforms is presented as the peak of this liberation. But is it really the case?
“No, it is not. The impression of freedom that is felt on these platforms is illusory. Women who sell sexual content do not get rid, but re-imprison themselves in a new form of exploitation. Their body, which should have been a symbol of autonomy, becomes a production tool, a good to be exposed, to be sold and consume. They are brought for money to meet the requests and fantasies of a public, losing control over their own image. And on one’s dignity.
We widen the field to the whole world of digital content creators, not only related to sex, but of all kinds: often these boys and girls, men and women are said to be free because they are independent of an employer. In short, it is the new frontier of what was once called, with emphasis, “entrepreneur of himself”. The impression, however, is that these people, regardless of the earnings, make a life, forced to be perpetually connected and under the constant threat of a “Shitstorm“…
“Even for creators of content not related to sex, the narrative of independence and freedom is an ideological trap of the capitalist system. These individuals are not free entrepreneurs; they are, in reality, highly precarious workers who internalize all the risks and costs that were once borne by the employer. The apparent absence of a ‘head’ is compensated by the constant need for self-defrutation. But a pounding availability is no longer an employer, but the algorithm, which decides who is seen and who is not, and a fickle and trait audience hostile. Producing uninterruptedly to not be forgotten.