| dc.description.abstract | A new digital platform launched in 2016, named OnlyFans, and on this platform people can create and subscribe to digital content. OnlyFans has gained a lot of media attention, because of the significant sums of money so-called content creators have accumulated through sharing content which can be described as sexual. In this thesis I look at how norms around sex as a commodity might be mediated by a digital platform such as OnlyFans. Through in-depth interviews with female content creators, I explore how OnlyFans is understood and utilized by some of its users. Previous literature has suggested that commercial sex has become mainstreamed in our contemporary western society, and that the digital realm presents a change in the general acceptability of sex as a commodity. From a postfeminist perspective, the empowerment of women may be promoted by the ideal of sexual agency. I argue that this ideal is appears to be easier to play out in the digital realm, especially on a digital platform such as OnlyFans. From a Foucauldian perspective on power, I suggest that sex is commodified in a way which align with productive forces such as neoliberalism. A story of liberal women who take advantage of available technology thus meets the story of a neoliberal economy where disciplinary power dictates the way in which women are “allowed” to act as liberal subjects. From a critical perspective, this story could depict women as equally controlled and exploited as with previous forms of commercial sex, although through disciplinary power they make decisions which are believed to be empowering on an individual level. From a sociology of law perspective, this warrants the question of how law should relate to changes in norms. A norms perspective on law suggests that societal norms influence legal norms. However, in the case of norms around sex as a commodity on OnlyFans, the normalization of sex as a commodity may be considered promoted by a neoliberal context. In other words, if norms around sex as a commodity are changing in favor of neoliberal and postfeminist ideals, the development of a platform such as OnlyFans can be said to fit into this structure. | eng |