Online sex work isn’t as easy and glamourous as many of you might think, especially when you want to start discussing the treatment of people of color (POC) in the adult industry. Online sex work consist of but not limited to; webcamming, being a phone sex operator, providing a virtual girlfriend expereince, being a virtual dom(me), clip/audio/photo sales, OnlyFans, using premium Snapchat, etc. There are times you can profit off your race and your appearance, but oftentimes it gets to the point where you’re fetishized, harassed, abused and often people will try to force you into a stereotypical box, forcing their race play fantasies onto you.
After six years of being a Black sex worker, you start to pick up on little trends, or dare I say tradition, of treatment towards sex workers of color. Six years of online sex work, moving from platforms such as Tumblr to Twitter to now the most popular sex worker website OnlyFans (and yes, this is a sex worker website no matter how much they choose to deny or ignore us.) You really begin to see the difference in treatment from both colleague sex workers and our clients, the difference in expectation of our self-worth, our content quality, content prices and boundaries.
Sex workers of color are far too often ignored and silenced in the community, and with an online community or platform, you can blatantly see this trend over the years.
Far too often because you are a person of color, especially in my case being Black, the stigma and violence you face everyday is disgusting. How customers will blatantly try to haggle your prices, compare you to white sex workers, demean you for being Black or a POC, say you’re not worth X amount of money.
Looking at how you’re treated on the internet as a sex worker of color right now. Black sex workers have gone through a ring of nonsense during the rise of police brutality, racial injustice, racial inequality and the rise of protest. The way we were treated at the onset of protests in June was extremely tokenizing and performative on the part of “allies”. Sex workers of color are far too often ignored and silenced in the community, and with an online community or platform, you can blatantly see this trend over the years.
It’s extremely insulting to have white sex workers, who exist more comfortably in this community, profit off their privileges of whiteness every single day, then ignore you and only share people like them. But when you’re Black and exhausted with what is happening to your people, they get to choose a week to perform and finally share your content like they care. Personally, I got very upset that I made more money because of oppression, I had more engagement because they wanted to color their timelines and gained more followers because of white guilt.
Why is it that every single day as Black sex worker online, I haven’t gotten a break? Why do we have to continue to work a thousand times harder than anyone else, but still take the brunt of everyone’s bullshit and then add your crippling exhaustion because the world doesn’t like you? The vast layers and layers of oppression that sex workers of colors carry is too much, to then be treated as invisibile or undeserving of support by people we’re suppose to consider our peers and community.
I interviewed three online sex workers with varying racial backgrounds to give perspectives on treatment and expectations of SWoC in differing online services. I appreciate how open and honest they were in providing their experiences.
When you have multiple intersecting marginalized identities, you begin to see the differences and compare them within the community, and realize that those marked as “other” are oftentimes both discriminated against from customers as well as within our community.
We all know that working in the adult industry isn’t a singular or equal experience of rainbows and sunshines. When you have multiple intersecting marginalized identities, you begin to see the differences and compare them within the community, and realize that those marked as “other” are oftentimes both discriminated against from customers as well as within our community.
Minnie Scarlet
Independent and OnlyFans Creator
T: What services do you offer that are online, and what have been your experiences?
M: My main focus online has been my OnlyFans site and xoMinnie.com, where I post a variety of videos and photos. I’ve shot for big porn companies and done things outside of porn, but my favorite thing by far has been producing my own content for my own sites. It’s not always just broadcasting straight up sex; I do a lot of behind the scenes, FAQ videos, and even sometimes covering popular songs on guitar on livestream – just whatever I’m feeling at the time. I’ve been really lucky to be able to show a range of content and have an audience that appreciates it all. Mainstream porn is cool, but I prefer to have the freedom to market myself how I want. There’s also way less pressure to do specific sexual acts, work with people I don’t want to work with, all of that! The happiness translates into the content and it shows! Of course, there’s a market for everything, so whatever works for me might not work for somebody else and vice versa. That’s the beauty of working for yourself online. Being able to own your own content is a freedom that shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Choice is what dictates if something is degrading to me or not.
T: Do you feel that your race/ethnicity play a huge part in your business?
M: The way we look, including our ethnicities, is a huge part of our businesses! One of the first descriptors people go to when describing me, regardless of how efficient they are in English, is “Asian.” While not untrue, it’s pretty boring. But in porn, most people’s ethnic backgrounds will be sexualized and marketed. Non-white performers will sometimes be pushed to be the stereotype of their ethnicity in scenes whether it be in their behavior, language, or wardrobe. Some performers don’t mind, but it’s all about choice! Choice is what dictates if something is degrading to me or not. I recognize people have preferences of all types so people who like Asian women will find me regardless. “Asian” is written on my face. I don’t necessarily need chopsticks in my hair to convey that. Being an independent performer has allowed me to work without constantly thinking about my ethnicity or my race being fetishized. In a lot of ways, being a lighter-skinned performer has allowed me privileges that other performers don’t have. The porn industry is not exempt from colorism and you don’t have to go far into “interracial” categories to see that.
Alana Reign
Streamate Cam Model
T: What services do you offer that are online and what have been your experiences?
A: I cam on a website called Streamate. My experiences with the site thus far have been quite interesting, but stressful at the same time. Some days are extremely glorious for me and some other days are slow. It isn’t the most consistent thing, but it is helping me put food on the table during this pandemic.
T: Have you noticed any patterns of discrimination, racism, and/or harassment?
A: Yes. I get a lot of requests for race play, where customers want me to be the slave and they want to be the slave master. And I’m not talking about the typical ‘BDSM slave/slave master dom’ type of roleplay either. Like legit historical slavery like you would see in Roots. I even had a customer requesting me to call me the ‘N [word]’ once and I immediately blocked them out of my chatroom.
T: How have you had to find ways to cope with this “common” behavior?
A: I just block them and go on with my day. Since it is all virtual, blocking them and removing them from my space is super easy. I’m not in close proximity with them nor they don’t have any idea where I truly live, so blocking them out of my room is no issue.
T: Do you feel that your race/ethnicity play a huge part in your business?
A: Absolutely! I don’t show my entire face (I wear a mask during my shows) and I feel like if I was a skinny white girl with blonde hair, fake tits and who shows face, I’d make a killing and the customers on the site would take me more seriously.
Bimbhoe
Onlyfans Creator
T: What services do you offer that are online and what have been your experiences?
B: Online I currently sell access to my OnlyFans, in the past I had sold access to an exclusive snapchat and even offered online sugar companionship in the beginning. I think with sex work you can categorize people’s relationship with the job as a savior storyline or one that vilifies the suffering, thanks to sex work I have some pretty things I’ve bought myself and some memorable online moments which sent me downward spiraling into mania.
T: How have you had to find ways to cope with this “common” behavior?
B: I do a lot to take care of my mental health, I have access to medication and therapy which keeps my mental health stable and easier for me to handle the rogue criticisms of anonymous assholes. The block button works too.
T: Have you had to change your brand or ways of advertising your services?
B: Back when I was making “low quality” posts when the trolls would come out to attack, I definitely learned to clean up my image, and not post such explicit content on the timeline. Having a paywall between what customers can see and what trolls can roast you on definitely helps big time.
Hell blackfishing is what has white women drowning in money from decaucasing themselves to be tan with curls, plump lips, snatched waists, thick thighs... so while my existence is a trend at the moment I have to capitalize off of myself.
T: Do you feel that your race/ethnicity play a huge part in your business?
B: One of the main reasons why my race and ethnicity is in my bio is due to business. For many like myself I can take advantage of my privilege by being a lighter complected individual with a foreign background. Society is big into the “light skin ambiguous foreign” look [right now], hell blackfishing is what has white women drowning in money from decaucasing themselves to be tan with curls, plump lips, snatched waists, thick thighs… so while my existence is a trend at the moment I have to capitalize off of myself. The current meat market has a niche for light skin thick women which is what I mainly see on my twitter TL, I can find 5 look-a-likes in a day killin it in the top OnlyFans %.
When you’re starting your online sex work career as a POC, there are measures you have to take to make sure that your mental health is in check at all times. Trolls and incels infest the Internet and have no issue starting issues with us any given day. The block and mute button are our best friends while working online.
I highly advise joining and reaching out to retweet and engagement groups, or even just support groups of other sex workers of color. It really makes a difference to how you operate and cope with the treatment within the community.
I just want any new sex workers to know that you matter so much!
I just want any new sex workers to know that you matter so much! Your work is important and it will get the support and recognition that it deserves.
Check out their pages and support all of their work!
Twitter and Websites:
Bimbhoe – @Bimbhoe | onlyfans.com/bimbhoe
Alana Reign – @Meet_AlanaReign | streamate.com/cam/AlanaReign
Minnie Scarlet – @MinnieScarlet | xoMinnieUncut.com
My pages to find me:
TrashyFemme – @Trashyfemme | TrashyFemmeTalks.com
LeliahSade – @LELIAHSADE | onlyfans.com/LeliahSadeXXX