Do you know what a Bop House is?
on OnlyFans, sex work, digital safety, and the rampant aspiration to produce porn
Content warning: discussions of sex work, minors on social media, OnlyFans, and pornography
As a bit of background insight, I wrote my undergraduate dissertation about OnlyFans in relation to traditional sex work and digital independence.
At the time of writing in 2021, OnlyFans was seemingly at its peak due to COVID; until now. Before COVID, it was more Patreon-esque; creators of all crafts occupied the platform. Patreon, however, banned adult content in 2018.
I had a few friends when I was 20 who took to OnlyFans sex work to make a bit of extra money when the pandemic first hit. Intrigued, I spoke with them about their entrepreneurial pursuit; they began creating content for the platform when it was first being mentioned on TikTok for a quick cash grab.
Spoiler: it worked. They’re still incredibly successful and set themselves up for success for when they graduated.
I was in awe when speaking to them about their work and newfound success. After all, I (unidentifiably) marketed and (very safely) sold feet pics on Twitter when I was unemployed and 18 - I made close to £400 in a week. I understood the hustle.
I quit when I made that goal amount and told my mom a few years later. We still laugh about it to this day.
Delving into the journeys of pornography of Mia Khalifa, Bella Thorne, and Danielle Bregoli, I explored how OnlyFans fundamentally transformed the sex industry. I highlighted the exploration of authenticity and exclusivity within the platform and the notion of digital autonomy, independence, and safe empowerment within the platform and online sex work.
What was particularly interesting to me within this area of study was the simple fact that while the term “fans” in the platform name would typically imply a one-sided element. The membership aspect of the platform encourages more of a subscription-based symbiotic relationship between creator and customer. It’s an invitation to participate actively, rather than purely as an observational “fan”.
I further learned insider-info from my OnlyFans friends about this arena in particular, and confirmed that (for them) it was always an active relationship that would be nourished. Like a plant. Watering it every so often to ensure it grows and you reap the benefits of its existence.
Except in this case, they were reaping the benefits of were the freshly-paid wallets of lonely + horny men. Their words, not mine.
This method of communication between creator and customer simultaneously develops the relationship but also encourages more content to be purchased. Nurturing an existing relationship to whatever degree it may be, solidifies the suggestion that OnlyFans is a provider of exclusive interactive pornography.
Here’s a more recent 2023 dissertation that delves into the relationship building on OnlyFans.
So when I learned about Bop Houses from Caitlin Pawlowski’s video, I was horrified + NEEDED to discuss it.
What is a Bop House?
And now, it’s not just celebrities. Children are aspiring to be in what are called Bop Houses. Not fully understanding what they encompass, they perceive the Bop residents to be a group of friends making content and living together. Not too dissimilar to a content or hype house.
“A BOP is a ‘baddie on point’ and, among Gen Z, is used to describe a person who uses their body to make money. It’s often also used as a derogatory slur akin to ‘slut’. However, the Bop House girls have reclaimed the term and wear it proudly.” - Elle Magazine
These lavish houses are collaborative content spaces where creators come (lol) together to live, work, and create adult content.
These barely-legal girls don’t even have a fully-developed pre-frontal cortex and are making millions of dollars a month on OnlyFans.
There’s something deeply, deeply saddening and harrowing about Bop Houses.
My 3 areas of concern:
1. Digital subjectivity
In my thesis, I examined the impact Mia Khalifa had on the porn industry but also the topic of independence and digital subjectivity.
Mia Khalifa’s unfortunate experience within the porn industry was instrumental in the education about the negativity, toxicity, and outright exploitation embedded within the sex work industry.
With OnlyFans, sex workers are liberated from the shackles of mainstream pornography “hubs”, and allows for individuals who produce and participate in sex work can create within the confines of their limits.
In this, they can also create a digital or false persona; a “manufactured identity”. This is significant for some creators because it allows them to have a wall of self-preservation. Where deepfakes and AI are so prevalent, this can be beneficial for a lot of creators.
Digital autonomy has developed so massively since I originally wrote my investigative thesis, and it’s terrifying how digital security is not prioritised. I believe digital security should be synonymous with digital independence and taken seriously. The overall power that creators have on OnlyFans surpasses the power dynamic observed in the more “traditional” methods of agency sex work.
There is an overarching power dynamic that OnlyFans creators hold within the realm of which parts of themselves they expose to the world; video lengths, photo sets, frequency of uploads, etc.
In relation to the Bop House, I really wonder if anyone else is talking about the influence these creators are having on their hugggeee following on TikTok. Girls as young as 11 are “auditioning” to be in these Bop Houses.
Caitlin discusses:
“There was also a number of young girls […] dancing around with tight clothing, suggestive dance moves, in their bedrooms; treating this as just another trend-driven TikTok dance” [11:48]
“These videos were created by mostly barely-legal or underage teenagers. A lot of [the girls] has led to a spin-off of the Bop House; Bop House for Minors. I wish I was kidding, but I’m really not” [12:11]
“This is the scary thing for me, that these young girls that idolise these Bops are being programmed to believe that the only value that they can add to society is through their appearance, and that the only life worth aspiring to is one where hundreds of thousands of men pay to see you naked and doing sexual acts on camera” [12:28]
2. The encouragement of sex work from the tender age of 18
I investigated Danielle Bregoli’s experience with OnlyFans. If you live under a rock and have no idea who Danielle “Bhad Bhabie” is, check this out, you’ll no doubt remember who she is.
On April 1st 2021, Danielle joined OnlyFans just after a week of being 18. She posted a since-deleted Twitter post stating “got tired of u asking, so fuck it” with an OnlyFans link and a short promo video.
She made over $1m in her first 6 hours on the platform from subscription fees alone.
Danielle’s choice to migrate to the platform was likely to take advantage of the opportunity to profit off of the sexualisation that many celebrities face. This perpetuates the idea explored in “Hot Girls Wanted”, a 2015 documentary produced by Rashida Jones where “young women who have been drawn into the sex trade”. It also elicits a discourse of the sexualisation of young women and how they harness the sexualisation to their advantage.
Bound in this, is the idea of a shelf-life of porn stars. Why not make money now while you’re hot and young?
3. The accessibility + safety of it all
At the time of writing my thesis, I alluded to the fact that I believed OnlyFans ceases to endanger women, by allowing them to create a sense of community, form friendships, and manifest bonds between other sex workers and clientele.
I do not entirely believe that anymore.
I do believe that it is integral to acknowledge that within the changing digital space (especially within a platform as rampant with porn as OnlyFans), sexualisation on OnlyFans is (most of the time) a conscious and consensual decision.
Since the time of writing that thesis, OnlyFans has simply exploded, and not in a good way it seems.
Being a young girl and aspiring to be a Bop is so incredibly warped and dangerous. The framing of these “friendships” and “bonds” in Bop Houses has created an alternative way to subliminally market sex work to - let’s be real - children. It innately internalises sexuality in young girls.
Because what the actual fuck.
“Now, a young girl can open up her phone and can see hundreds, if not thousands, of OnlyFans influencer models, with these huge platforms and followings that they can aspire to be like” [14:02]
In an age where everything is increasingly becoming digitised and being an “iPad kid” is a common turn of phrase, it’s honestly no wonder why children don’t have normal aspirations anymore.
The emergence of OnlyFans specifically has fundamentally shifted how online porn is more widely accessible (shocking that is even possible, it’s already so accessible) and consumed.
“It’s the aspiration of sex work and porn to such a level that I don’t think we’ve ever personally seen it before” [14:14]
That being said, there needs to be a LOT more discourse surrounding digital safety in the home.
“Over time I grew to form a belief that no woman or girl was ever safe from sexualization, objectification, and/or misogyny […], the operations of sexualization, objectification, heteropatriarchy, and the autonomous devaluing of feminine personhood through specific practices like sexual infantilization which are founded via a pedophilic framework supported and maintained by culture” [this dissertation abstract on self-infantilisation]
I don’t have children myself, but fuck me guys, get your kids who are younger than 14 off of TikTok.
Like, Seriously.
I’m also looking at you, mommy vloggers.
What I find so deeply troubling is the appeal to grown men that these barely-legal Bop House girls have. Mature-looking bodies (no doubt the result of BBLs) paired with infantilised facial expressions and outfits; it’s incredibly disturbing to me as a 25-year-old woman, someone who is relatively close to them in age.
It heavily reminds me of Belle Delphine. Remember her entire identity of pedo-baiting? Ew. On so many levels, ew.
This 2024 dissertation dissects the “Peril in Consuming Little Girl Imagery” - I really recommend reading Chapter 5 specifically on Belle Delphine:
“[…] it is still a choice to represent and appeal to a conglomerate of men who find this type of sexualised and childish content appealing” (p.93)
“Even when wrapped in a bow of cutesy innocence, her content is still designed to appeal to those who have and will sexualize her and enjoy watching her perform this intentional depiction of what it means to be a little girl/child: being innocent, naive, clumsy, curious, cute, slow, and dainty.” (p. 115)
What’s even scarier is that there’s a HUGE market for it. HUGE. Like, $4m a month huge.
I think my biggest concern of all is that this is the future of normalcy that we’re headed towards.
Please, let’s not applaud and normalise this?
Thanks for reading, I appreciate you being here - I don’t really see this specific discourse online anywhere. It demands to be discussed and criticised.
What do you think?
Wow you're never too old to learn, your posts are genuinely opening my eyes.
With the rise of Generative AI, how long before Only-Fans are replaced by electronic counterparts?
The UK is already rolling out Laws to make it illegal to create, download or store Gen AI underage content.